The Consumption of Magic (Tales From Verania 3)

“You lying sack of crap,” Gary said. “You were sober. Completely and utterly sober.”

I sat up.

Mama’s office was in disarray. Paintings hung crooked off the walls, books knocked off the shelves. Those little wooden spheres that Feng had hidden in the room were lying on the floor, fuses unlit.

Everyone had been thrown to the floor. Tiggy was helping Gary sit up in the hallway, brushing his mane back out of his eyes. Justin sat propped up against the wall near Mama’s desk. He looked slightly dazed but otherwise unharmed. Mama was spitting mad as she pushed herself to her feet, glaring down at one of her stilettos where the spiked heel had been broken. Letnia adjusted her eye patch, staring at the blackened form that had once been Feng. Morgan was brushing his hand over his beard, and Randall was brushing his hand over his eyebrows, trying unsuccessfully to bring some order to them.

Ryan was on his hands and knees, shuffling toward me. He had a small cut above his right eye, and I felt a dark twist of anger at the sight of him having been hurt. It was such a small thing, but I didn’t like it when he bled. He seemed to do that a lot. It was unacceptable.

“It’s fine,” he said, knowing that look on my face.

“It’s not fine.”

“Now you know how I feel every time you get thrown into a building or decide to explode things such as yourself. Which, by the way, why do things always have to explode with you?”

“It looks cooler that way,” I said.

“Right. Of course that’s the reason.”

“Please, you like it when I do magic.”

He rolled his eyes. “Maybe I’ve started to change my mind.”

I snorted. “Riiiiight. You’re telling me that you didn’t get a boner watching what we just did.”

He looked horrified as he started to blush. “Sam,” he hissed at me, eyes darting to Morgan and Randall. “Shut your gosh darn mouth.”

I grinned at him. “Dude, I love you so hard. You don’t even know.”

I could see him trying to remain stern, but then those little crinkles around his eyes appeared, as they always did when he was happy about something. “Yeah, yeah,” he said, even though we both knew that was bullshit.

“And I notice you didn’t deny the boner thing.”

“Sam!”

Mama stalked over to Feng’s prone remains, growled low in her throat, and gave a swift roundhouse kick to the side of his head. It exploded in a dark snowfall of soot and ash. “That’s what you get for fucking with Mama,” she spat down at headless Feng. “You bitch.” Then she squared her shoulders, brushed her hands down her corset, turned to me, and said, “Precious, we really need to talk about the things that seem to happen when you come here. My possessions certainly aren’t cheap. Though I suppose this is the perfect time to redecorate. Maybe something a little more modern.”

I gave her my most winsome of smiles. “I’m a trouble magnet. My bad. Sorry about that.”

But before she could say another word, there came the loud roar of a furious dragon that reverberated through the walls of the Tilted Cross.

I sighed. Of course it wasn’t over.

“That was Kevin!” Gary exclaimed, eyes wide. “Not that I care at all if he’s in trouble and possibly dying and crying out for me to come save him! But someone should probably help him. You know. Because it’s the right thing to do.”

I stared at him.

The skin under his right eye twitched.

I stared at him some more.

He took off down the hallway, bellowing loudly about how he had to do everything himself because he was surrounded by incompetent idiots, leaving a large trail of glitter behind him.

Tiggy ran after him, screaming his battle cry.

“Gods,” I said. “I love those assholes.”

I pushed myself up and ran after them, because I would follow them anywhere.