“No. I will not. I won’t ever. You can just cut that shit out of your diabolical scheme right now.”
“My diabolical scheme,” he repeated.
I squinted at him. “You do have a diabolical scheme, don’t you? I mean, you’re a villain, right? The big bad? It’s kind of in the job description, dude.”
“Oh,” he said. “Is it now?”
“Wow, you sort of suck at the whole villain thing. Am I going to have to tell you how to do this too? Yikes. I think the star dragon might have seriously overestimated your abilities. That’s… slightly depressing. Oh! Don’t get me wrong. I’m super glad that you’re… like that. I just thought there would be more of a challenge.” And why the hell could I not feel any of the others? Why couldn’t I at least get through to Kevin?
“I think there may have been a bit of a misunderstanding,” he said.
I snorted. “You’re telling me. Are you going to need a moment to shift your worldview back to being a bottom feeder?”
“You talk too much.”
“Eh. I’ve been told that before. Still my thing. Dude, just listen, okay? Can you do that? Okay. So. You won’t get the dragons. I already have two of them. I know the star dragon had to come to you and whatever—which, let’s be honest, as far as prophecies go, that’s really sort of lame—but you won’t get what I have. Kevin is mine. Zero is mine. The other three will be mine. You won’t have them.”
“You’re a bit of the cocky sort, aren’t you?”
I shrugged. “Prophecies from the gods will do that to you.”
“You forget,” he said, taking another step forward, and this time I felt it. The water didn’t ripple, it fucking cracked under his feet, like it was something solid. It reverberated through me, like it was a physical thing, rattling my bones and causing my skin to vibrate. “The prophecy wasn’t just about you.”
I took a step back. I didn’t mean to. It showed weakness. It would lend credence to the idea that I was afraid. I couldn’t show him that.
Even if it was true.
Because I was alone and facing Myrin, the dark man in shadows.
“The dragons—”
“Here’s a hint, Sam,” Myrin said, smile dropping from his face. “It’s never been about the dragons. I don’t want the dragons. Those are all yours, kiddo. Gather them. Don’t. I don’t give a fuck what you do with them. In the end, it won’t matter. For them. For you.”
“What? Then what hell is your plan?”
“I thought you said you hated it when villains monologue?”
“Wow, way to throw my words right back in my face—”
He took another step, and it was like I was getting assaulted by his magic. It wasn’t the morganhomesafe melding that happened with my mentor. This felt like it was forcing itself on me, like it was trying to take me over. The hook in my head pulled sharply, causing me to groan as I was enveloped by him. By everything about him. I’d never had this before
. Never felt strength like this before. Not even when Randall had given me his all that day in the field when he’d brought the lightning down upon me.
This was more.
“You have no idea what it’s been like,” he said, eyes blazing. “What I’ve learned in the shadow realm. It was hell, it was pain and torture, but it was an experience, Sam. It changed me in ways I never expected. It made me more than I ever thought I could be. And when the star dragon came to me? When he told me my destiny? That was the day I knew, the day I transformed. The seal was cracked, and I began to slip through. They didn’t even notice. Randall and Morgan didn’t notice. It took a long time, but I did it, Sam. I slipped through.”
“Monologuing,” I said through gritted teeth. “You’re… still… monologuing.”
“They can’t feel you,” he said. “If that’s what you’re wondering. The others. Your little cabal. Your cornerstone. None of them can feel you. I’ve cut you off from them so that we could have this little… chat.”
“Gods, shut up,” I snarled at him as I was forced to my knees. The weight of his everything bore down upon me, and it was rust and shadow, harsh and biting. I pushed through it, searching for the gold and the green. Searching for my way back home.
The smile on his face was a nasty thing. “Don’t you want to know why? Don’t you want to know what this is all about?”
“Fuck… you.”
“Sam. Sam, Sam, Sam. Don’t you see? No. I am your father.”