A Wish Upon the Stars (Tales From Verania 4)

He grunted, looking slightly pained. “Right. That’s something we’re going to discuss, mark my words. But now we need to move. Once outside the castle, I’ll be able to suck us through my magic—godsdammit.”

I grinned at him. “You missed me. Admit it.”

“I shall admit no such thing.”

“We can’t forget Lady Tina,” Justin said. “She’s waiting for us near the entrance to the secret garden.”

“We absolutely can forget her,” I said. “Like, it’s actually really easy to do.”

“Lady Tina?” Randall asked, sounding confused. “What in the name of the gods is she doing here?”

I rolled my eyes. “She’s apparently Ryan and Justin’s new BFF and does assassin stuff or whatever. Apparently when you and I disappeared, they decided to fill the void with evil.”

“She’s not that bad,” Ryan said.

“She assisted in the plot that led to the death of Morgan of Shadows,” Randall growled. “And you stand there and tell me she’s not that bad?”

“Eep,” Ryan squeaked.

“She’s reformed,” Justin said. “I vouch for her.”

Randall eyed Justin for a long moment before he nodded. “So be it.”

“Pushover,” I muttered under my breath.

“What are you all standing around for?” Randall barked. “Move.”

We moved.

IT HAD been easy, really.

Our luck had to run out sometime.

There were voices outside the passageway that led back to the garden.

I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. Ryan stood stiffly in front of me after dousing the torch he carried. The others were gathered behind us with Randall bringing up the rear.

“Why have you stopped?” he hissed up at us.

“There’s someone out there,” I whispered back. “We don’t know who it is.”

Randall groaned. “The King’s escape will not go

unnoticed for long. We don’t have time for this. Find out what is going on and deal with it.”

“You deal with it!”

“I’m old and I just climbed the world’s longest staircase. Do you think I’m in any position to handle ruffians?”

“This is why elderly people are put into homes,” I muttered to Ryan.

“I heard that!”

“Look,” Ryan whispered, “I’ll go up. You stay here and protect the others—”

“With what? Magic? Myrin will know we’re here. It’s better if you stay. I’ll go, just to see who it is. If it comes down to it, you know I can talk my way out of anything.”

“That’s not—”