A Destiny of Dragons (Tales From Verania #2)(158)

“She’s worried,” Ruv said, breaking the silence.

I didn’t need to ask who. “Why?”

“Because she doesn’t think you’re taking this seriously. That this is just a game to you.”

I snorted. “She doesn’t know me.”

“Does anyone?”

“Gary does. And Tiggy. Kevin. Ryan.”

“So you say. But I think sometimes you hide behind a mask, even to them.”

“Right,” I said dryly. “And this is based on…?”

He shrugged. “Observation. It’s what I do. I watch. Your sass and snark. You have magic, but you mostly use words as weapons. There is great power within you, Sam, but you choose to hide it away.”

“I’m pretty sure you were there when I destroyed all those sand mermaids,” I said. “In fact, I know you were there.”

“And it was an impressive display. But I think you’re scared to show it.”

“Great,” I said. “It’s always fun to be analyzed. Because I don’t get enough of that in my life.”

“I’m not Morgan,” he said, and for the first time, I thought I saw a little crack on the cool fa?ade. “Or Randall. I’m not Vadoma. I’m not trying to control you.”

“Then what are you trying to do?”

He turned toward me. I didn’t move away. “I’m trying to understand my part in this. All my life, I’ve been told I would be this… this thing to you. That I would be by your side and act as your cornerstone.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “But I had nothing to do with that.”

“I know,” he said. “And I don’t blame you. But you have to understand. Where your world was changed because of a destiny of dragons, mine was changed when the path I’d been set upon ended against a wall.”

“How did she know?”

“About me being your cornerstone?”

“Being a cornerstone, yes.”

He shrugged. “She said it was part of what she’d seen. In her visions.”

“And you took her word on that?”

He smiled at me, wide and handsome. “No, Sam. I took it on faith.”

“Sometimes faith steers you wrong.”

“Maybe. But it’ll still be there when I need it. Do you have faith, Sam?”

I thought of my mother and father.

Gary and Tiggy.

Kevin.

Morgan and Randall.

The King.

Justin.

Pete, my guard.

And Ryan. Of course I thought of Ryan.

“Yes,” I said. “I have faith. And they have faith in me.”

He was close. I didn’t know when that had happened. His hand was on mine, pressed against the wood. His eyes were dark, glittering in the starlight.

“I could have faith in you,” he said.

“You shouldn’t.” My magic burned.

“I could be that for you.”

“You won’t.”

“Sam.”

“Ruv.”

“I’ll ask you once. Do you believe that I could be your cornerstone?”

I swallowed thickly. “You could have been. But you won’t ever be. Because I found the one who makes me whole. And that’s all I have ever wished for.”

He smiled sadly… and pulled away. I slipped my hand out from underneath his, thankful that he wasn’t pushing this.

“This is where our paths diverge, isn’t it?” he asked.

“I think so,” I said honestly.

He laughed. It sounded a little hollow, but I didn’t blame him. If anything, I blamed Vadoma for filling his head with something that could never be. It was yet another life she’d interfered with, and it wasn’t fair. “For what it’s worth, Sam of Wilds, I think you aren’t what anyone expects you to be.”

I smiled at him. “Thank you, Ruv.”

He leaned forward, and for a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me. Before I could pull away, he pressed his lips to my forehead, the lightest of touches, and then he was up and walking back down the dock. His footsteps fell away until there were no sounds but the water.

I looked up toward the stars and breathed.




RYAN FOUND me a little while later. I’d been planning on using the summoning crystal to talk to Morgan, maybe even Mom and Dad, but the crystal was back in the room I shared with Ryan, and I couldn’t force myself to go up and get it. I was too tired, too angry, too worried, too… everything.

I heard someone step onto the dock behind me, felt it shift. I tensed for the briefest of moments but then settled. I knew who it was. I didn’t even need to turn around. Soon enough, I felt a hand on the back of my neck, the fingers scratching into my hair. I hummed quietly and leaned against him when he sat next to me. I laid my head on his shoulder, and he rested his atop mine.

“Okay?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah,” I said. “Just… a lot. You know. In my head.”

“Gets loud, huh.”

“A little.”

“Need anything?”

“Just you. Just… you.”

He chuckled. “That I can do.”

He gave me time to parse through my thoughts, to try and put the pieces together and to discard the ones that wouldn’t fit. He didn’t know everything, but only because I hadn’t told him. Given what Morgan had told me before we’d left Castle Lockes, I hadn’t been able to work through it all. It’d been swirling around my head, the betrayal of it all, the anger, the anguish. Coupled with the fact that I had no idea what to expect in the desert, I wasn’t sure I could have given it the time it needed.