“He means nothing to me.”
“No? Then your task will be a simple one.”
Shit.
Myrin the Bright Star smiled a terrible smile and said, “You must kill your cornerstone.”
There was a beat of silence, and then Tiggy and Gary exploded, struggling in Kevin’s grip. “No!” Gary bellowed. “Who the fuck do you think you are? You listen to me, you little bitch. I am going to gut you. Kevin! Set me down! It’s time to end this, Unicorn Style!”
“Sam!” Tiggy cried. “No, Sam. Bad, it’s bad!”
Kevin didn’t let them go, even when Gary’s horn began shooting rainbows and glitter. It bounced off the dragon’s chest, his blood keeping Gary’s magic from harming him.
Ryan stared down at me, jaw clenched.
I looked away.
“You speak pretty words I wish to hear,” Myrin said gently. “And they show me just how much we have in common. You’ve read my Grimoire. You know the lengths to which I’d go to make my vision of a glorious future come true. What I’ve given up. How those close to me chose to lock me away as the shadows tore down my mind and rebuilt me from the ground up. I won’t make you go through that, Sam. You are powerful, yes. I have great respect for you. But even one such as you must do what is necessary in order to realize your full potential.”
“Kevin,” I said through gritted teeth, “set Ryan down.”
“Kevin! You do that and I will never forgive you!” Gary snarled. “Sam, what the fuck is wrong with you? You can’t be seriously considering this?”
“Is Sam a Bad Sam now?” Tiggy asked tearfully.
“No,” Gary retorted. “This is just a game, right? A trick. He’s fooling. He won’t—Kevin, why the hell are you doing this?”
“Because Sam told me to,” Kevin growled. “And I must obey.”
“But we were—he doesn’t control—Ryan! Run! Run, godsdamn you!”
But Ryan stood there, just out of reach. His eyes were narrowed and his jaw tensed, but he stood tall and proud, left hand in a fist at his side, his sword in his right. His armor shone brightly in the sun. I’d never seen him look more handsome. Even as the Dark wizards began to yell insults, jeering wildly, he never looked away from me.
“So, this is it,” he said.
“Yes,” I said. “I suppose it is.”
“I always knew you’d be the death of me.”
I smiled faintly. “What can I say? The gods wished it so. I’m—”
“Enough,” Myrin said. “No more discussion. Sam. Do it now, or I shall do it for you. Either way, Knight Commander Ryan Foxheart will die.”
I nodded tightly.
Ryan never looked away.
I worry.
About what?
The prophecy. About what I saw. What I showed you.
We don’t know how much of that was real. How much was you or the gods or Ruv playing all of us.
This is true. But Sam, I don’t know that it matters. You saw him as clear as day. Ryan, your cornerstone, the life taken from him, his body cold. He escaped death once, but I fear that won’t happen again. I know you think my magic false, that I am nothing but a street magician, but I promise you, that isn’t the case. I worry it may come to pass. That Ryan Foxheart will meet his end in order for the prophecy to be fulfilled.
Vadoma had been right.