Sort of.
But hey, fuck it. It counted.
So I’d already done it once.
I could do it again.
“Why do you have that look on your face?” Ryan asked me suddenly.
“What look?” I asked.
“That scrunched-up, constipated look you get when you’re planning something that I usually end up not liking because it’s dangerous and or requires you—” He glanced at Tiggy before continuing in a low voice. “—sticking weird things in me because you think it’ll be kinky.”
Tiggy snorted, because of course he’d heard. He heard everything. But like a good giant, he let it go. Gary was such a bad influence.
“Well if I wasn’t thinking of sticking something in you, I am now,” I said. “Thanks for that. You couldn’t keep your sexy words until we were out of here? We’re on a quest, babe. We don’t have time right now to get down.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“Tiggy?”
“That’s what he said.”
Ryan glared at him. “We just fist-bumped. I thought we were cool!”
Tiggy squinted at him. “Just one time. Settle down, Knight Delicious Face.”
“He got you there, dude,” I said solemnly.
“I don’t know why I put up with any of you. It’s not like—” He broke off as he gave me a weird look.
“What?” I asked, looking down at myself. “Do I got something on me? Is it a fucking bug? I swear to the fucking gods, if it’s a gigantic bug, I am going to burn this whole place to the ground—”
“Not a bug,” Ryan said. “It’s, ah. Your eyes. They’re getting… brighter.”
“Like all red and shit?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh. Keep your hands to yourself. I know I’m irresistible to you right now, but now’s not the time, Ryan.”
“Bright, Sam,” Tiggy said quietly. “Feel it?” He reached over and tapped my forehead. “Here?”
I nodded. “It’s—I can’t understand it. It’s… like I’m underwater. I can hear something, but it’s muted, you know?”
“Is it hurting you?” Ryan asked, jaw tensing.
I shook my head. “No. It’s not. It’s just… strong.”
“You know where we’re going, don’t you?”
I didn’t even try to lie. “Yeah. How’d you know?”
“You’ve been leading us very deliberately. Like you knew.”
“It’s pulling me.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?”