“I don’t know how I found it in the first place.”
“But you know of it now,” he said. “Look for it.”
And I did. For the longest time I did. I looked all over. Up and down and left and right. The sky, the ground. The buildings. My parents. Morgan. The crowd. The stone boys. I didn’t see it anywhere and just as I was about to tell Morgan so, something danced just out of the corner of my eye and it was green, it was so green, and I thought, Hello. Hello, there.
Morgan took in a sharp breath. “You found it. I can feel it. It’s so… expansive. How have you never…?” He shook his head. “Can you grab it?”
And I could. I did. I would learn later that I didn’t find it right away because I was looking too hard for it, but the moment I stopped pushing, it started pulling. I touched the green and it was warm and kind and I said, “Yes. Yes.”
And I pushed. Hard.
The alley shook again and people gasped and shouted as they took steps back. There was another crack, and the group of stone boys turned back into flesh and blood and bone.
Nox, who’d been caught midyell, continued, “—gonna fucking kick your ass, Sam!” before he squeaked and came to a stop, seeing the alley had quite a few more people in it than he remembered.
My dad growled, “If you touch my son, I’ll cut off your arms and beat you with them.”
“Wow,” I said in complete adoration. “That was graphic and amazing.”
My mom said, “And I’ll cut off your legs and shove them so far up your anus that you’ll taste your feet at the back of your tongue.”
“Dudes,” I whispered to everyone. “That’s my mom.”
Morgan said, “And I’ll make your nipples explode.”
“I started that rumor!” I told Nox. He didn’t look very happy at that. As a matter of fact, he looked downright frightened. It was a good look on him, all blond hair and bright eyes. If he wasn’t such a dick, I’d have thought him handsome. But he was a dick.
(But he was still sort of handsome.)
“Please don’t make my nipples explode,” Nox whimpered as his gang of jerks cried behind him.
“Don’t steal from old ladies who make ugly mittens and pants for obese people,” Morgan said, “and I might consider not exploding your nipples.”
They agreed immediately and fled the alley in a cloud of teenage angst and hormones.
“You’re so rad,” I told Morgan honestly. “Almost up there with my mom and dad. Not the same level because no one ever will be. But, dude. Like, so close.”
He smiled at me. “Thank you, Sam. I’m glad you think so because I have a feeling you and I are going to be spending quite a bit of time together for the foreseeable future.”
“You want to be my friend? Okay, that’s cool with me. But you have to come over to my house at least three times a week.” I took him by the hand and started pulling him out of the alley, reminding him that he still hadn’t told me what a succubus was and that we’d really need to come up with
code names for each other, like Wolf Fighter and Star Explosion. He told me he already had his code name in Morgan of Shadows. And then he said that one day I’d have my own code name and everyone would know it. I asked him how old he was. He said two hundred and forty-seven. I told him I knew he was so old.
The next day, there was a package delivered from the castle. Pink, pointy shoes in just my size. I wore them every day. I also wore the ugliest mittens that Mrs. Kirkpatrick made especially for me for getting her cloth back. They were hideous and I showed them to everyone.
Three days after the shoe delivery, we were moved into the castle and I became the apprentice to the King’s Wizard. My mom worked in the King’s garden and tended to as many flowers as her heart desired. My father was given a position in the forestry service, reporting directly to the King. When All Hallowed Day came the next winter, he was put in charge of the gift giving and every child in the slums was given a carved wooden toy.
To say it caused an uproar is a bit of an understatement. A boy from the slums who would become the next King’s Wizard. A family plucked from obscurity and made the faces of the ideal dream. Some people were happy for us. Others resented us completely and fully. Still others were jealous of the position I was in, having trained years upon years to be considered in the position of Morgan’s apprentice.
But I was blissfully unaware of all the talk because I was too busy being kickass and learning magic, and it wasn’t until I turned thirteen that I realized I hadn’t felt the need to wish upon the stars in a very long time.
CHAPTER 3
Face Full of Sass
WE STROLLED triumphantly back into the City of Lockes, only a day after Lartin the Dark Leaf met his gross end in a cave in the Dark Woods.
Pete was on duty at the castle gates. He’d gotten older and fatter, there were lines around his eyes, and his hair was mostly gone. But he was still the best castle guard ever.