“Listen to me. There’s nothing you can do. You can’t make it on foot. Your magic cannot transport you there.”
“But Randall can take you? I’m getting real sick of your godsdamned rules, Morgan. I can help—”
“Don’t you think that’s what he wants?” Morgan demanded. “Don’t you think you’ll play right into his hands?”
“He was already here. Myrin was already here.”
Silence. Then, in a whisper, “What?”
“He came for me. I held him off.”
“You what? How in the name of the gods—”
“And he almost died doing it,” Ryan growled down at the crystal. He stared at me defiantly, as if daring me to speak against him. “Myrin almost killed him.”
“North, Sam,” Morgan said. “Don’t make me tell you again. You have a job to do.”
“Morgan—”
“Sam.”
“What about the King? The Prince? My parents?”
“They’ll be safe here. The Castle Guard is on it. There is no stronger hold than Castle Lockes. We’ll—”
“Blast it, Morgan, are you still blathering on to that thing? We have to go.”
“It’s Sam,” Morgan said to Randall. “Myrin’s already found him. They escaped.”
“Hey!” I barked. “We didn’t escape. I kicked his motherfucking ass.”
“Aren’t you just a special snowflake,” Randall said, and I could picture the constipated look on his stupid face. I was going to turn so many things of his into dicks the next time I saw him. “You have your orders. North, Sam. Don’t tarry. Mind me now. We’ll meet you at Castle Freesias.”
And then the crystal went dark.
“That motherfucker hung up on me,” I snapped. “That… that… I can’t even think of an awesome insult because I’m so pissed off!”
“You heard them,” Ryan said. “We should head north.”
“Damn right we should. But we’re not going to.”
Ryan sighed. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”
“Dude. You know me. There’s trouble. And I need to be smack dab in the middle of it. Mama’s there. I have to help her.”
Ryan was already throwing our clothes into the packs. “I’m sure she’s probably already leading an army of whores as we speak.”
“Dude,” I breathed. “That is the best army ever.”
Ryan grinned wildly at me. It really was a breathtaking thing.
“We’re gonna kick so much ass,” I said.
“Damn right.”
“Kiss my face,” I demanded.
He did just that.