The Consumption of Magic (Tales From Verania 3)

“So you’ve pointed out.”

“I forget that sometimes.”

I glanced at him. He was watching the cleanup. “Why?”

“Why do I forget? Because you’ve got an old soul, Sam. At many things, you are beyond your years. And at other things, you are exactly where you should be. I have to remind myself of that every now and then.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You do not have the knowledge I do, Sam. And I’m not trying to minimize anything you’re going through. I’m not trying to take away from everything you’ve experienced. But the life you’ll lead will be a long one, and there will be consequences to the choices that you make.”

That didn’t sound good. “And what about the choices you made? What are the consequences?”

He smiled sadly. “I’m living them. Do you think I wanted this for you?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “It doesn’t seem like you gave me the choice, does it?”

He shook his head. “Had I told you everything when you were a child, what do you think you would have done?”

And yeah, he had me there. “I would have done everything for you,” I muttered. “But at least then I would have known I was a pawn from the start.”

His hand fell upon my shoulder again. “You were never a pawn,” he said, sounding as angry as I’d ever heard him. “And I will not have you say such again. Do you understand me?”

I nodded dumbly.

“Sam,” he sighed. “Your fate may have been written in the stars, but you must believe me that even if it hadn’t been, even if I’d been a stronger man in my youth and had done what needed to be done, I will always believe that we would have found our way to each other. You may have a destiny of dragons, but my destiny has always been you.”

“Godsdammit,” I said with a large sniff. “You can’t just say stuff like that. You know how I have feelings about you being sappy as shit.”

He looked rather pleased. “That I do.”

“Manipulative.”

“A little, sure.”

“You’re buttering me up, aren’t you?”

He arched an eyebrow at me. “Pardon?”

“Whatever you and Randall were talking about. Before. I’m not going to like it, am I?”

He opened his mouth, then closed it just as quickly. He watched me for a moment before he tried again. “No. I don’t think you’ll like it very much.”

“Fuck.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Ryan turned then, the conversation with Justin seemingly ending. He scanned the field until he found me, and the smile he gave was brilliant and bright. Even in a field of death and gore, my heart tripped all over itself at such a sight.

“We need to talk,” Morgan said quietly.

“You breaking up with me?”

He jostled me a little.

“Fine,” I said. “Let’s talk.”

Ryan’s smile began to fade.