A Wish Upon the Stars (Tales From Verania 4)

I wiped my face, and my hand came away wet. “That didn’t stop him from taking Morgan away.”

“No,” Ryan said. “It didn’t. And he’ll pay for that. In this life or the next.”

“In this one,” I said. “He’ll pay for it in this one.”

They had no response to that.

They left me alone for a moment, moving toward the far corner of the garden.

I didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry I failed you? I wish I’d been stronger? I wish you’d never come for me that day in the slums? Nothing seemed even remotely adequate to the tangled knot in my chest. He loved me as I loved him.

And maybe that was enough.

“You jerk,” I said with a sniffle. “You asshole. You brave, foolish idiot.”

Wherever he was, I figured he’d be laughing at me in that way he did, eyes crinkled, mouth quirked in a small, knowing smile.

There was a loud mechanical groan, and I snapped my head up in time to see Justin pulling his hand away from the wall as it slid away to the right. I winced at the scrape of metal and stone, hoping the trees around us muffled the worst of it. When it creaked to a stop, what remained was a small doorway, hidden behind thick vines.

A secret entrance.

Even with the gravity of the situation, even standing upon the grave of my mentor, I couldn’t help but feel a small thrill of excitement race through me at such a sight. I wondered if there were any others in the castle. It seemed possible.

I trailed my hand along the words on the plaque one more time before I went to Ryan and Justin, both of whom were peering down a set of stairs that had appeared behind the wall, of which only the first few steps were visible.

They looked at me as I came to stand beside them. I shook my head before they could ask whatever questions were on their tongues. “So, this is fun.”

“Fun,” Justin repeated.

“Secret passageways in secret gardens. Yeah. That’s pretty fun.”

Ryan smiled. “I thought the same thing when I found out.”

I arched an eyebrow at him. “And when was that?”

“After I was promoted to Knight Commander.”

“Really. You kept it from me for that long? And after you gave me so much shit in Castle Freesias for keeping things from you. You’re kind of a bitch, Foxheart. Sexy as all hell, but still a bitch.”

His grin widened.

“Oh my gods,” Justin muttered. “I can’t take either of you anywhere.”

“How far down do these stairs go?” I asked, looking into the doorway again. “We’re not above the dungeons here.”

“A ways,” Justin said vaguely.

“You don’t really know, do you.”

“There were spiders when Dad showed me the first time,” he mumbled. “I don’t like spiders.”

“Ah,” I said wisely. “It’s a good thing you’ve got us, then, eh? And by us, I mean Ryan, because I also don’t like spiders, so he can go first and scare them all away and make sure we don’t get bitten and die.”

We both looked at him expectantly.

“You guys both suck,” he said with a sigh.

“You would know,” Justin said.