The Consumption of Magic (Tales From Verania 3)

I laughed and shoved him away. “Bastard,” I said, sounding disgustingly fond.

“You love me.”

“Don’t even know why.”

“Gods, you guys are literally standing on top of the bodies of your enemies and have still found a way to make the situation worse with your flirting. There is a time and place for that, and it’s behind closed doors so none of us have to witness the travesty that is your relationship.”

I shoved Ryan out of the way and hopped through Dark remains to stand in front of Justin, who was glaring at me. City guards were making their way toward us, and if there were any Darks left alive, I was sure they’d be taken to the city jail. Morgan or Randall would need to make sure their cells were warded so the Darks couldn’t use magic to break out.

“Why are you so pale?” Justin asked as I stepped over a finger in the grass. Then his nose wrinkled as he took a step back. “And why do you smell like that? Sam, you stay away. If you even think of touching me, I will find a way to make your life a living hell for the rest of my days. You do not get to put your sick on me.”

I stopped just in front of him, smiling as widely as possible. I hoped there was no vomit in my teeth. “You came to Meridian City because you were worried about me.”

“Go fuck yourself,” he said coolly.

“Nah,” I said, ready to take our friendship to the next level. “I’ve got your ex-boyfriend for that.”

He gaped at me.

I waggled my eyebrows at him.

He snorted and shook his head begrudgingly. “Okay, Haversford. That was… good. I mean, I really want to stab you with a sword, but I’ll give you that one.”

“Best friends 5eva!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake.”

“This must be awkward for you,” Randall said to Ryan.

“You have no idea,” Ryan muttered, trying to scrape Dark wizard off the bottom of his boot.

“How do you survive?” Randall said dryly. Then, “Morgan, a word, if you please.”

That couldn’t possibly be good, especially since both of them glanced at me before walking far enough away that I couldn’t hear them, no matter how hard I tried.

But before I could devise a way to listen in on whatever they were saying (because I just knew they were whispering about me, the jerks), my name was bellowed in such a way that said that if I didn’t respond, I was going to have one pissed-off unicorn on my hands.

And nobody wanted that.

Gary looked furious as he stood beside Kevin, glitter still sloughing off him in small bursts. Tiggy was standing next to him, running a finger up and down Gary’s snout, one of the few things that could get Gary to calm down.

Kevin was staring mournfully at the ragged hole through his wing, which was a lot bigger than I’d initially thought. The edges were bloody and frayed, but it looked as if the bleeding had slowed.

“Look at this,” Gary snapped as I came up next to them. “Would you just look at this. He’s got a hole in him, Sam. A hole.”

“I can see that,” I said lightly as I made my way toward them. “Kevin, all right?”

“I’m hideous,” Kevin said sadly. “Who is going to want to climb all over my junk now? I can’t even fly when it’s like this. What good am I if I can’t fly? Do you know what that makes me, Sam? I’m a lizard now. I’m just a gigantic lizard who can’t fly because of the hole in his wing.”

“Oh, you,” I said, trying my best to be empathetic. “Oh, just… you. You’ll be all right, friend. Okay, my guy? It’s… not even that noticeable. You’ll be totes fine.” I added, “Buddy,” for good measure.

Gary and Tiggy both turned slowly to look at me.

“What?” I asked.

“You are the worst at trying to make people feel better,” Gary hissed.

“I do suppose it’s another hole to put something into,” I said. Then, “Wait. I really shouldn’t have said that.”