A Wish Upon the Stars (Tales From Verania 4)

I wish for his death daily.

When will he leave?

BREAKTHROUGH TODAY.

I understand more than I ever have before.

I was staring down at an equation that I’ve been studying for years, the solution out of my grasp, when all of a sudden, it made sense. I don’t know how I never saw it before. It seems so simple now. If Myrin hadn’t bumped my elbow when he had, spilling the ink, I might have—

Wait.

He’s not—

It can’t—

Oh no.

TWO WIZARDS? Together? Absolutely not!

Is what the Great White would say.

Cornerstones. They are useless.

They distract from what’s important.

I find myself agreeing with him.

But still….

What if?

No.

It’s better if I don’t even think about it.

MYRIN BROUGHT me a flower today.

It was a dingy little thing that looked as if it’d been sat upon after being ripped from the earth.

He was grinning when he handed it to me.

I took it, only because he would have continued to stand there with that dopey look upon his face.

It doesn’t mean anything.

Obviously.

(DRIED FLOWER petals pressed between the pages.)

MYRIN STARES at me when he thinks I’m not looking.

It’s creepy.

I must watch him closer when he’s not looking at me.

JUST ONE date, he says.

You won’t regret it, he says.