“This?” I snapped at him. “This is Kick Myrin’s Ass Part Two. Capitalized, so you sure as shit know it’s true.”
He sneered at me as he squeezed my neck even tighter. “And just what is your plan?”
“You wanted the dragons?” I managed to say. “Well guess what, motherfucker. You’ve got them.”
From above came a great roar.
The pulses in my head bloomed bright and strong.
The blues were the strongest.
They said, Here, Sam. We’re here. We’re here. And we have a plan. You must trust us. You must put your faith in us. Prepare yourself. Because this must end, one way or another.
The world exploded around us and—
Chapter 20: A Destiny of Dragons
I OPENED my eyes.
Through a canopy of trees, I saw a sea of stars.
I sat up.
I was in the middle of a forest. The air was warm. The grass was cool.
Randomly, on my feet were a pair of pink shoes, the tips of which curled up.
I pushed myself up slowly.
In the distance, through the trees, I saw what looked like the lights of fairies.
I remembered everything.
The way Ryan had fallen, lungs made of stone. How I’d torn right down the middle.
The lives I’d taken after. Caleb and Ruv.
I’d felt them die.
And for a moment, hadn’t I relished it? Hadn’t I wished that it’d been all the Darks?
I had. I’d been more powerful in that moment than I’d ever been before.
I pushed through the trees.
Morgan had told me once that every person, whether a wizard or not, had the propensity for darkness inside of them. That it all came down to choice. “You are,” he’d told me once, “who you choose to be. It’s as
simple as that, little one. And I am here to help you make the right choice, because I believe in you more than I’ve ever believed in anyone before.”
I’d been too young—too naïve—to understand what he’d meant.
I did now.
Because being a force for good was so much harder than being one for evil.
I came upon a large clearing where the fairy lights burned bright.
Except—they weren’t fairies, were they?