He squinted at me. “But you’re standing right in front of me.”
“Oh my gods, has hanging out with the others decreased your IQ? We’re dream-walking.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“You’re dreaming. I’m dreaming. We’re in the same dream. For all intents and purposes, this is real.”
His eyes widened. He took a step toward me, raising a hand to my face. He stopped right before his fingers brushed against my cheek. “You’re here?” he whispered. “Sam, this is really you?”
I nodded, unable to speak.
He didn’t hesitate. He kissed me, long and deep, his arms coming around me, holding me tight. I didn’t think I’d ever felt anything so sweet.
He broke the kiss, resting his forehead against mine, breathing me in. “Hi,” he whispered.
“Hi.” I sounded giddy.
“I miss you. Are you okay? How’s Randall? Is he treating you right? Do I need to kick his—”
“I’m fine,” I said, laughing. “Everything’s fine. I’ve…” Told him things I haven’t told you. Important things. “I miss you too.”
“You know I’m coming, right?”
I waggled my eyebrows at him. “So it’s going to be that kind of dream, is it?”
“Gods,” he said, sounding awed. “You’re so stupid. I love you.”
“Thanks! Kind of.”
He kissed me again. He tasted as he always had.
He finally stepped away, trailing his hands down my arms. “How are we both here?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is it the I don’t know when you truly don’t know? Or is it the one where you have an idea that I’m probably not going to like very much.”
“Yikes. You know me too well. I might need to change it up a little bit. Keep the mystery alive.”
“You’re a wizard,” he said wryly. “There’s always going to be some kind of mystery because of the secrets you have.”
I took a step back.
He frowned. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
I looked away. “I don’t… I don’t mean to keep secrets.”
“I know. It’s just part of the job description, I guess.”
I shook my head. “No. Not anymore. Ryan, there’s things I have to tell you. Things I’ve kept from you. You need to know. Everything. It’s—”
Wizard, the trees whispered.
“Uh,” Ryan said. “What the fuck was that?”
“Just because we’re dreaming and I haven’t seen you in weeks and now there are ghost voices coming from the trees does not mean you can curse, Foxheart. You are a knight. Think of the children. Also, I don’t know what the fuck that was, but I might have an idea.”
“There are no children in our dream—”