“It might as well have! And Tiggy, don’t think I’ve forgotten about you! You’re gonna get yours, you can bet on that, yes, sir. You think you can just wave goodbye at me and not get into trouble? Oh, you are sorely mistaken, my friend. You’re in deep shit too!”
Tiggy patted my butt and said, “Okay, Sam.”
“Stop placating me!”
“Pretty Sam. Pretty, loud, boomy Sam.”
I pointed my finger at Ryan, craning my neck to look back up at him. “So much trouble.”
“What’s he screeching about now?” I heard Gary ask.
“Martyrs!” I yelled. “I’m surrounded by martyrs!”
“Oh boy,” Gary said. “He’s getting loud. That’s never a good sign.”
“Put me down!”
Tiggy did just that, but apparently I wasn’t as recovered as I would have liked. As I stumbled forward, Gary was there to stop my momentum, my hands going around his neck, his mane soft under my fingers. My legs were shaking, and I sagged against Gary, letting him take my weight for a little bit.
“Kevin,” I heard Ryan say. “Can you go grab Ruv? I don’t think he can make it over.”
“On it, boss man.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Sure thing, boss man.”
“Godsdammit. Just… get him.”
“Leaving now, boss man.”
“You okay, kitten?” Gary asked, rubbing his cheek against mine. “That was… impressive.”
“I’m fine,” I muttered. “I don’t… I don’t know what happened.”
“You put on a very powerful display,” Gary said softly. “Something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.”
“Great,” I sighed. “Because that’s just what we need right now. Me getting more out of control.”
I felt Gary shake his head. “Don’t think we can call it that, Sam.”
“Maybe. Whatever it was, I’m sorry it took too long. I know you don’t like to worry.”
Gary pulled back so he could look at me. “Took long?”
I tested my legs, bending slightly at the knees. They still felt a little soft, but it was getting better. My strength was slowly returning, which was a good sign. “Yeah, I don’t even know how long I was stuck in that storm. Felt like ages before I found Tiggy and Ryan.”
Gary opened his mouth and then snapped it closed again.
“What?”
“Sam,” he said slowly, like he was choosing his words carefully. “It only lasted seconds.”
And that sent a chill down my spine. “What?”
Gary glanced at Tiggy and Ryan before looking back at me. “Ryan and Tiggy went under. Kevin and I were about to come after you and them when you just… exploded. Sam, I could taste the magic in the air. One minute you were standing and the sun was shining, and the next, there was a thunderstorm overhead and the sand just rose around you. We could barely see you on the path. Before we could even shout for you, you were struck by lightning and then you were moving.”
“Moving,” I said. “I don’t—”