He gasps and jerks forward, smashing his head into mine since I’m so close to him.
I hastily stabilize him before clasping his face. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay.”
Riley looks like he’s on edge, and his magic is wildly fluctuating as he grabs his chest and groans.
“Your magic feels like it’s out of control; are you okay?” I ask.
“I don’t… I don’t know. There’s this… pain in my body and I can tell it’s from losing Conquest. It’s like… he was a part of me. Am I that connected to my brothers and sister? Fuck.”
“Well… I guess we accomplished what we set out to do,” Vero grumbles.
“We got Conquest killed,” Riley snaps.
“Yes, which means the fourth world is safe for now,” Vero says. “You didn’t even like the guy.”
“I don’t know what I thought of him,” Riley admits while I hold him close and gently rub his arm. “It just… doesn’t feel good that he’s gone. It… hurts.”
“The connection between the four of you is likely more entwined than you’ll ever imagine,” I explain, setting a hand on his chest before I broach the topic that has pained me the most out of all of this. “Riley… the hourglass was broken.”
Riley hesitates before swiftly reaching for his chest. “I remember the hourglass breaking. Does this mean that I’ll die like Aemon promised?”
I swallow the fear that’s bubbling up inside of me while Riley looks down at his hand where the burn has blistered and there are cuts from the shards of glass.
“I don’t feel that severe longing,” Riley says thoughtfully. “I feel… I feel like… I can breathe for the first time in my life.”
“Does that mean the hourglass breaking was good?” Mickey asks. “I mean, I wouldn’t put it past that asshole to have lied to us about it. Or maybe it didn’t break in the way Aemon was alluding to, but instead, the spell on it was broken?”
“Whatever Conquest did shattered it,” Riley answers. “Right before he died, there was this… influx of magic that felt almost overwhelming, and it just… shattered it.”
“It kept me from getting close to the two of you,” I say, feeling upset that I failed to be the one to protect Riley. I can feel my power growing, but it still wasn’t enough. If Conquest hadn’t been there, would Riley even be?—
Riley flicks me on the forehead. “Knock that off.”
“Knock what off? I was just being handsome.”
“Don’t make me vomit,” Vero growls.
“Can gods vomit?” Mickey asks.
“I have the desire to whenever I’m forced to deal with the group of you,” Vero grumbles before dropping a journal on Mickey’s head and walking toward the door.
Mickey grabs it and gasps. “Youdowant to be my friend! I knew you did!”
“I will burn that journal and make you watch. And then I will rejoice in your tears.”
“Joke’s on you, I only cry when I have to get up earlier than seven in the morning.” Mickey whips open the book and then gasps again. “This is a different language than the last one!”
Vero turns and smirks. “I never said it was the right journal. It was just a book.”
I debate telling them that he went, “This journal seems powerful, I suppose that irritating person could make use of it,” and grabbed it just for Mickey, but I think he enjoys the distress on Mickey’s face too much to say anything.
“Riley… Riley, I need you to read this for me… after a nap. It needs to marinate first.”
I feel rather uncertain how it’ll marinatebeforehe even reads it.
“Vero is a god too, so he can probably figure out the language,” I announce, and Vero whips around and curses me to a thousand deaths. It’s very dramatic for a man who just doesn’t want to do story time with another man who wants to become the best of friends with him… and probably see him naked.
Mickey grins and Vero fucks off with remarkable speed, only for Mickey to whip out the walkie-talkie and say, “Meet me in my room in an hour, big boy. Over.”
