“To put it bluntly, kitten? You were surrounded by a gigantic ball of lightning and were moving almost faster than the eye could see. One moment you were on the walkway, and the next, you were electrifying everything. It was so bright, we had to look away. When I could see again, the sand, the mermaids… everything was gone.”
“Huh,” I said. “That’s… something.”
Gary leaned in until his face was pressed against mine. “You want to know how it happened?” he asked, breathing heavily. “Because I can tell you.”
I was going cross-eyed trying to look at him. “Why did it happen?”
He panted against my face. “Because of love.”
I groaned and pushed his face away. “You shut your fat mouth.”
He was laughing, but it had a hysterical edge to it. “Sam, I’m not even joking. You thought Tiggy and Ryan were in trouble, and you literally destroyed a sea of sand to get to them.”
“Hey! They were in trouble! They were the ones stupid enough to get themselves sucked under!”
“I love you too,” Tiggy said. “You my favorite wizard.”
“Damn right I’m your favorite wizard,” I muttered. “Too bad you’re both on my shit list right now.”
Ryan wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him and kissing the side of my head. “You love me,” he said into my hair.
“You can go fuck yourself.”
“You love me.”
“Less and less every second.”
“You love me.” He kissed me again.
I clung to him, just a little bit. “You can’t do that,” I said in a low voice. “You can’t do that to me again.”
He turned me until he could cup my face in his hands, forcing me to meet his gaze. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. “You came for me,” he said. “Even though I told you to go.”
“You have stupid ideas.”
“Oh gods,” Gary moaned from somewhere behind me. “They’re going to start getting sappy. Tiggy, kill me now.”
“No,” Tiggy said. “Tiggy loves you. No killing.”
“You adorable, wonderful giant. How I cherish you.”
“You came for me,” Ryan said again. “Just like I would come for you.”
“I never said I was smart either.”
He leaned in and kissed me sweetly, lips lingering. I wanted to deepen it, make it more than it was, but I knew it would be tinged with desperation. I still felt frantic, the image of him slipping under the sand burned into my mind.
“They’re so fucking cute it’s terrible,” Gary said. “Tiggy, will I find love that makes other people want to vomit and punch me in the spleen?”
“You did.”
“Why, I have no idea of what you speak!”
“You an idiot,” Tiggy said succinctly.
“Don’t do that to me again,” I murmured against his lips. “I swear to the gods, if you die, I will resurrect you just to kill you myself.”
I felt him smile against me. “Deal. And stop worrying about the magic.”