Lightning burst from my heart as I exploded.
Big big.
“ARE YOU sure about this?” Randall asked me.
“Yeah,” I said. “Sort of.”
“That doesn’t sound convincing.”
“Well, it’s a pretty fucking far-out-there idea.”
“That might be an understatement. You’re sweating.”
“Uh, yeah. You would be too if you were about to tell your sexy boyfriend you need to kill him in order to save Verania from a supervillain.”
Justin groaned. “How is this our lives?”
The King patted him on the arm. “I ask myself that all the time. Isn’t it wonderful?”
Randall didn’t look convinced. “We don’t—”
“Look,” I said. “I can’t… I don’t want to kill them all. That’s not who I am. But something has to be done. And you have to let me be the one to tell him. This is a sensitive subject, and—”
The flap to Justin’s command tent opened. Ryan entered, frowning. He looked from Randall, to Justin, to the King, before finally settling his gaze on me. “I got your message. What’s going on?”
“Hi,” I said. “I need to murder you to save the world.” I winced. “Shit.”
Randall put his face in his hand.
The King shook his head.
Justin sighed.
Ryan said, “What.”
“Sensitive subject,” Randall hissed at me.
“Okay, listen,” I said to Ryan. “You know the whole me being weird and bringing the bird back to life thing? So, like, I want to kill you and then bring you back to life, but not really doing the bird thing, because we don’t know what that’d do to you. And stuff.”
“And stuff,” Ryan said.
I beamed at him. “See? He got it right away.”
“This is madness,” Randall said. “Sam, do you know what will happen to you the moment he dies? He has been your cornerstone for only a short amount of time. Your bond is strong, but even you will not be able to escape the repercussions of such a devastating shock to your system. This isn’t something to be taken lightly. You’re talking about killing Ryan. I banished Myrin to the realm of shadows and lost a decade. What do you think it’ll do to you to murder the one you love?”
“I’m not you,” I retorted. “Something you’ve reminded me of again and again. I’m not going to turn Dark.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I won’t.”
“How do you even know that’s what Myrin will make you do?” Justin asked.
“Because he’ll see Ryan as Sam’s last connection to the world of light,” Randall muttered. “He’ll think of it as the greatest sacrifice. If Sam is willing to kill his cornerstone, then there is nothing he won’t do to become Dark. He’ll be convinced. And then there’s the matter of the prophecy.”
“I like being alive,” Ryan said, sounding dazed. “I don’t know if I’ve ever really told you that before. But I really do like it.”
“I’ll bring you back,” I promised him. “Like I would ever let you get away from me. We’ve got to grow old together, remember?”