“I know. But you need to breathe. Sam, your magic is everywhere. Even I can feel it, and you know what that means.”
It meant that any magical creature would be able to feel it too.
Say a unicorn. Or a half-giant.
A dragon.
Or a sand mermaid.
I was probably broadcasting like a godsdamned beacon.
I tried to pull it back as much as I could.
With Ryan there, it should have worked. He was my cornerstone. Even if I doubted everything else in the world, I would be certain about that. Ryan Foxheart was my cornerstone.
And I knew that every cornerstone worked differently for every wizard. I knew it was a private thing, a magical thing between two people, a bond unlike any other. He made me stronger. Better. We were building my magic into something that had never been seen before, if Randall and Morgan were to be believed.
So it should have worked.
It had in the past.
Any time I’d felt slightly out of control. Anytime we’d fought villains or faced danger, there was always a sense of control. He was my control.
So it should have worked.
And for a moment, it did.
I felt the magic dull.
The red in my eyes must have faded, because he smiled at me. “There you are,” he said. “I knew we could—”
Then:
Wizard, a voice said, low and growly. Feel you. Hear you. Smell you.
Everything came surging back. My spine snapped ramrod straight, mouth falling open as I shuddered against it.
“Shit,” Ryan said. “It’s not—”
“Ryan,” I gritted out. “Watch… your motherfucking… language.”
“Oh my gods,” he said. “You dick. How could you even think of that right—”
“Uh-oh,” Ruv said.
“What uh-oh?” Ryan said. “Why uh-oh?”
“We have company.”
“Uh-oh,” Ryan said weakly.
I had enough of my faculties left about me to know that wasn’t good. I looked where Ruv was pointing and almost wished I hadn’t.
Because off to the right, crawling slowly along the surface of the sea of sand, was a sand mermaid.
“Sweet molasses,” I managed to say.