“Are we?” he said. “I look forward to it.”
I debated keeping the whereabouts of Justin from him just for spite, but I wasn’t that type of person. Well. Not completely. “Dimitri told us where Justin is.”
“Of course he did,” Morgan muttered. “And he just volunteered up this information without asking for anything in return.”
“To be fair,” I said, “he probably felt bad about the tree molesting Ryan.”
“Everyone should feel bad about that,” Ryan said.
“I don’t,” Gary said.
“I don’t,” Tiggy said.
“I sort of do,” I said. “But not really.”
“I’m going to leave them here,” Ryan said, leaning over and speaking into the crystal. I tried not to even think about his breath on my hands.
“I don’t blame you,” Morgan said. “I’ve thought about it countless times. Where is he?”
“In a keep to the north. The fairy said it was forgotten. It’s in a valley outside of a village. Tarker Mills. I’ve never been there before. I don’t think I’ve even heard of it. And if they were having problems with a dragon, why has nobody spoken of it before? Surely they would have seen it coming and going.”
“That’s near the mountains,” Morgan said. “They grow corn. And no, you can’t sell them on the firework corn.”
“I wasn’t even thinking about it,” I said, even though I really was. A hamlet whose main crop is corn? It was destiny.
“I’ll see what I can find out about a keep,” he said. “I’m assuming there was a structure there at some point. A tower. A church. Something. Head to Meridian City. Check in at Old Clearing to make sure it was the dragon attacking the sheep and burning the earth. I want you out of those woods as soon as possible, Sam.”
“Because of your secret reasons,” I said. “Friends don’t keep secrets, Morgan.”
“Wizards do,” he said. “Stay safe. I’ll tell your parents you are alive and as foolish as ever. I’m sure they will be pleased.”
“Love you, boo,” I said.
He groaned before the crystal went dark.
I looked up at the rest of them. “Well, I think that went well, don’t you?”
“Morgan’s going to murder you when we get back,” Gary said.
I shrugged as I put the crystal back in the pack. “We won’t be back home for six months,” I said. “He’ll calm down by then.”
“He remembers long time,” Tiggy said ominously. “He remembers everything.”
“Nah,” I said. “We’ll just buy him some chocolates from that shop he likes or I can just alter his memories. Either way, we’ll be fine.”
“Candy or memory alteration,” Gary said. “Those aren’t extremes.”
“You’re extreme,” I said.
“Thank you.”
“Shut it. Let’s beat feet before it gets any later.” We started walking down the road. I only made it four steps before I realized we weren’t being followed. I glanced over my shoulder as Gary and Tiggy continued on.
Ryan stood where we’d left him, hands curled into fists at his sides.
“You cool?” I asked him as I walked back up to him.
“Six months,” he said, staring off over my shoulder.