“Well, yeah. Just said I was new, so.”
He chuckled. “Right. You did. Forgive me. Your name?”
My throat clicked as I swallowed. I didn’t think Purity of the Blushing Virgins was going to fly here. So I said, “Bill,” because it was the only innocuous name I could think of.
“Bill.”
“Yes. That’s me. I’m Bill. Bill the… Dark. Horse. Yes! Bill the Dark Horse. That’s my wizarding name. Because I’m evil. Just like you. Curse you, heroes! I hate you so much!”
His smile was toothy. It reminded me of a dragon. “You’re an odd sort.”
I shrugged awkwardly. “Yep. That’s pretty much me and this entire situation. Ha ha. Awkward.”
“Do you know who I am?” he asked as he took another step toward me.
I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. I shook my head, keeping my expression bland.
“Really. That’s… unexpected. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Ruv.”
He extended a hand toward me.
I had a split second to decide whether I should shake the hand of a traitor or break his fingers and then kick him in the nuts.
I shook his hand.
It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. His hand was cool, his grip firm, and his thumb brushed against my knuckles. I had to remind myself that I had to let him go, that it probably wasn’t smart to attempt to dismember him here and now.
He held my hand for a beat longer than he should have and said, “You seem familiar to me. I wonder why that is?”
I shrugged as I pulled my hand away. “I get that a lot. I have one of those faces, I guess.”
“We’ve never met?”
“No. Hence why we just shook hands in introduction.”
“That we did. Interesting. Tell me, Bill the Dark Horse. Why are you here?”
I squinted at him. “Like, in the castle? Or existentially. Because those are two very different things.”
He chuckled. “I like you. You’re different.”
That wasn’t the compliment he thought it was. “Thanks. I try.”
“You’re touching the marker. You have been since I found you.”
I hastily pulled my hand away from the obelisk. I felt cold at the loss of it. “Yeah, it’s….”
He waited.
I shook my head. “It’s nothing.”
“Oh, it’s not nothing,” Ruv said, moving so he stood on the other side of the obelisk. “I don’t think that word could ever be used to describe the man it represents. Morgan of Shadows was certainly more than nothing.”
Hearing my mentor’s name on his lips was almost enough to cause me to forget why I was here and who I was protecting. I wanted nothing more than to tear this man apart, to break him until he was begging for me to stop, and even then, I would say no, and he would—
I took a deep breath.
I let it out slowly.