The Lightning-Struck Heart (58 page)

“The great Sam of Wilds. How lucky he must be.” She nodded and took a step back. “It’ll be just a moment.” She was up the stairs and out of sight before I could say anything more.

Mama’s boys whispered quietly to one another as they watched me. Undoubtedly they’d overheard my conversation with the girl. They knew of Moishe’s fascination with me. It was not a love thing, or even a like thing. It was, for lack of a better word, about lust. Though I didn’t think it was for me personally. If Ryan had a magic kink, then Moishe had a power kink. I had both in spades. What better way to destroy my virginity than with someone who wanted what I had.

Or, at least, that was the plan.

Of course, it was never that easy.

“You foolish, foolish boy,” Mama growled from behind me.

I rolled my eyes and turned around. “Figured you’d get here first.”

She looked beautiful, as always. A long, onyx wig fell around her shoulders and back. Kohl-lined eyes, smoky and thick. Deep red lipstick, sticky and sweet. Her nails were short and black, the illusion of breasts cinched tight in a black and red corset. She wore knee-high riding boots over skintight silk leggings. She held a crop in one hand, smacking the leather against her other. She looked like she was going horseback riding.
Sexy
horseback riding.

She jerked the end of the crop under my chin, forcing me to look up into her eyes. The leather scraped against my skin. “What are you doing here, Sam?”

“I didn’t ask for you.”

“No. You didn’t. But this is my establishment, and you should know better than anyone that whatever happens under this roof, Mama knows. Now. I’ll ask one more time, because we’re friends and I love you very much. You will answer me truthfully, or I’ll tan your hide in front of my boys and you will
like it
.” She dropped the crop from my face and reached out with a large hand, grabbing me by the wrist. She pulled me into a room where two twinks were sitting in front of a mirror, applying blush to their cheeks.

“Babies,” she said, voice soft and kind. “Mama needs the room. You can use the mirror at the end of the hall to finish up.”

“Yes, Mama,” they both said, eyeing me curiously before leaving. Mama closed the door behind them.

“That’s how rumors start,” I told her. “They’re going to tell everyone you’ve become a working girl again.”

“Ah,” she said. “Like I would actually charge you for anything.”

I grinned at her as I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest. “You love me.”

“I do, though I am having a difficult time remembering why just now.” She sat on the recently vacated stool in front of the mirror and looked at her reflection. She brought a perfectly manicured pinkie up and brushed it across her lips, brushing away a flake of lipstick.

“Mama. It’s not—”

“Cut the bullshit, Sam.” Her eyes found mine in the mirror’s reflection.

Fine. I could do that. “I’m here for Moishe.”

“I gathered as much when Natasha came into my office and told me.”

“Natasha has a big fucking mouth,” I muttered.

“Where is your knight?” she asked.

“He’s not
my
knight.”

Mama rolled her eyes elegantly, because she could be no other way. “Hogwash and poppycock, that. He belongs to you more than he belongs to anyone else. He is your cornerstone after all.”

I narrowed my eyes. “And just how the hell did you know that?”

She picked up a makeup brush from the vanity and brushed it under her eyes. “Didn’t know for sure until right this moment. I suspected, but confirmation is always better.”

“How do you know what a cornerstone is?”

She laughed. “Precious, I’m Mama. I know everything.”

“Then you’ll know he swore an oath to the Prince,” I said. “An oath that binds him into marriage.”

She sighed. “No. I didn’t know that.”

“It doesn’t matter. I rescued Justin, now have a pet dragon father who licks Gary’s butthole, and will be forced to attend the wedding of the century.” I grimaced. “You know, I usually don’t complain this much.”

“A pet dragon father,” she said, lips twitching.

“Yeah. Apparently I can talk to dragons. Or, rather, dragons can speak Veranian if I’m near. Magic is the shit, you know?”

“If I didn’t have the Tilted Cross to worry about, I’d be following you wherever you went,” she said. “The things you’ve seen and done fill my cold, crusty heart with adoration and envy.”

“There’s nothing cold and crusty about you,” I said dutifully. And because there wasn’t.

“I suppose not,” she said. “The gods know I’m not getting any younger.”

“And notice how polite I’m being by not asking the lady her age, even if she’s given me an obvious in.”

She gave me a shark’s smile. “How lucky you have practiced restraint. I’d hate to see what you’d look like without testicles.”

And so because I loved her, I told her everything. About the cornerstone business. About Ryan. About being force-fed coercion through corn. About cults and fairies and rescuing princes from ancient keeps. By the time I finished, my voice was hoarse and my heart was sore.

She was quiet for a time. Then, “Drowning in someone’s skin will not help you forget the other.”

I shrugged. “At least I’ll feel wanted.”

She turned to me then and stood. She reached out for me, her hands cupping my face, and I leaned against her touch. Regardless of how ruthless she could be, regardless of her own claims of being cold-hearted, she was still Mama to me. My fairy drag mother. The woman who had taught me to trust myself and my instincts. Morgan could teach me magic. My parents could teach me morals. Gary and Tiggy could teach me brotherhood. But Mama taught me that while life had sharp edges, it would only cut you if you allowed it to.

She said, “You
are
wanted. The heart that beats in your chest is the most wonderful thing I’ve ever been witness to. It hurts, precious. I know it does. But like all things, it shall pass and you will be all that much stronger because of it.”

I hugged her then. She made a surprised noise at the back of her throat as this wasn’t something she typically did. With anyone. But I was a hugger and she was my friend. Her arms came around me tentatively, her hands clasping at my back. She smelled of vanilla and clove. It was lovely.

She left, after a time.

Moments later, there was a knock at the door.

I opened it.

Moishe looked me up and down.

“Wizard,” he said, his voice full of sex and magic. “I heard you asked for me. How may I be of service?”

I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into the room, slamming the door behind us.

Later, I walked through Meridian City toward the gates.

I passed by a newsboy shouting out the headlines.

“
THE GOOD KING ANNOUNCES ROYAL WEDDING IMMINENT
!
PRINCE JUSTIN TO WED KNIGHT COMMANDER RYAN FOXHEART IN A MONTH’S TIME
!
READ ABOUT IT HERE FIRST
!
THE WEDDING OF THE CENTURY IS UPON US
!”

Homecoming

I
WASN
’
T
surprised to find Morgan of Shadows waiting for us a mile outside of the City of Lockes, even though I hadn’t spoken to him in days. The traffic on the Old Road had gotten heavier as we approached the city, and people continued to give us a wide berth, eyeing Kevin warily as he smiled at them, showing way too many teeth for anyone to feel comfortable around him.

One minute I was fighting the urge to run for the city gates that I could see on the horizon, and the next I felt a wave of peace wash over me. I took a stuttering step, stopped. Took a breath. Let it out slowly.

The crowd parted before us and there he stood.

Maybe I should have been embarrassed by my actions. Maybe I should have shown the slightest bit of decorum. I was the apprentice to the King’s Wizard, after all.

But fuck that. I hadn’t seen my mentor in almost three months. I’d faced things I’d never seen before. I’d been loved and broken. I’d eaten a shitload of corn laced with a truth serum.

So I don’t know that I can be blamed for running full speed at him. I don’t know that I can be blamed for the way my eyes burned when he smiled widely and opened his arms. I don’t know that I can be blamed for the sound I made, that broken, wounded noise that crawled out of my throat when his arms wrapped around me. I felt his magic wash over me, and for the first time in weeks, I thought I was able to breathe. I let my forehead rest in the crook of his neck as he held me tightly.

He said, “I know. I know.”

Because he did. He knew. He’d missed me as much as I’d missed him. This was the man who had rescued me from the slums with his pink shoes and exploding nipples. The man who had allowed my parents to follow us to the castle. The man who saw fit to give us a better life than our station dictated.

But most of all, he knew because he was my friend. One of my very first.

He knew how much I was hurting.

He knew what it’d cost me.

He said, “I am so very happy to have you home.”

I nodded against his neck, not trusting myself yet to speak.

He said, “Your parents will be so thrilled. They have missed you so.”

He said, “The King will never let you out of his sight again.”

He said, “You’ve gone into the wilds and brought back a dragon. How unexpected. And how so very like you.”

He said, “Hush, little one. Don’t be sad.”

He said, “I know, Sam. I know. But you must listen.”

He said, “The Prince and Ryan arrived home two weeks ago.”

He said, “They returned without incident on horseback to make up time on the road home.”

He said, “Justin requested the wedding happen immediately.”

He said, “The King wanted to wait for you.”

He said, “The Prince agreed, but only just.”

He said, “So I must ask of you the hardest task I’ve laid at your feet. You must be brave and strong and stand by my side at the wedding. You must honor your future king and the choices made, though your heart may be breaking. But you will
never
stand alone, because I will always be by your side. And once this impossible task I have asked of you is complete, I will take you away and we will see what we see.”

He pushed my head up with his kind hands and brushed the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs. His eyes were warm, and I could see the love he felt for me on his face. And I loved this man too. More than I could say.

Morgan of Shadows said, “Can you do this, Sam of Wilds?”

And I said, “Yes,” even though it felt like a lie.

He kissed my forehead, and I was
home
.

T
HEY
GAVE
us our moments, but as soon as I’d regained my composure, Tiggy and Gary bounded up, prancing around Morgan. He chuckled and hugged them both.

“I missed you, tiny wizard,” Tiggy said, rubbing his face in Morgan’s beard.

“It’ll be nice to have intelligent conversation again,” Gary said. “It’s been difficult being the only intellectual amongst the group for weeks on end.”

I rolled my eyes. “Because that’s a real thing.”

“It is,” he insisted. “I am way smart and you guys are dumb and made me dumber because of it.”

“No,
you’re
dumb and Tiggy and I elevate you back to the level that could be considered functional.”

“I help,” Tiggy agreed.

Gary huffed. “I don’t even know why I try with you two. It’s obvious my breeding and social standing are far above your own and therefore I shouldn’t even be associating with the two of you. Gods know why I do. You’re
welcome
.”

“What are you grinning at?” I asked Morgan, who stood beside us, eyes closed, looking more serene than I’d ever seen him before.

“The noise,” he said, opening his eyes. “How I have missed the endless noise.”

“I’m taking that as a compliment,” I decided.

“You should,” Gary said. “You don’t get many of those.”

“I have brooms,” Tiggy said proudly.

“Oh look,” a high-pitched voice rumbled. “There’s a dragon. People should pay attention to him too. Like stupid wizards and unicorn sexual partners and half-giants who steal my brooms.”

I rolled my eyes and looked back at Kevin, who was staring at us innocently.

“I don’t know who said that,” Kevin said. “It wasn’t me.”

“Morgan,” I said. “This is the dragon. Kevin.”

“Sam,” Kevin hissed. “You’re not doing it right. You
promised
.”

“I’m not saying it!”

“Sam!”

“Grr. Fine! Morgan, may I present to you, the fearsome Beast from the East, the great creature who had a religion built up around him until he ate the leader, his holy dragon-ness… Kevin.”

Kevin posed, wings spread, looking fierce.

The crowd that had started to gather around him said, “Oooooh.”

“We practiced that for two days,” I muttered. “Two.
Days
.”

“Shhh,” Kevin said. “Let them bask in me.”

“You have found another one,” Morgan said in awe, “that is exactly like the rest of you. How in the name of the gods do you
do
that?”

“Like the rest of us?” I echoed. “Bitch, please. I am my own man. I am an
individual
.”

“Singular,” Gary agreed. “Unique like a summer storm rolling over snowcapped mountains.”

“My broom is my favorite,” Tiggy said. “It is my broom and I love it.”

“Bask in me,” Kevin breathed. “
Bask
.”

“You’re right,” Morgan said drily. “Absolutely nothing alike. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Are you done yet?” I asked Kevin. “You have to meet Morgan before he gets grumbly. He doesn’t like being in sunshine too long.”

“I don’t get grumbly,” he grumbled. “And I like my skin free of wrinkles.”

“A few decades past worrying about that,” I pointed out because I could and he needed it. He’d probably gotten very full of himself while I was gone. I couldn’t let that happen.