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t scared at all?”
He shrugged. “Hey, maybe that’s why I’m curious. You seemed a little scared back there, too. Maybe that’s an even better reason for us to give it a shot. Exposure therapy, you know?”
I narrowed my eyes, squinting at him warily.
“And if you think I’m bothered at all about, you know.” He waved his finger around my general head and torso area. “All this? About you constantly being seconds away from turning into a murderous psycho? I’m not worried at all.”
“Oh. Sure.” I folded my arms. “You aren’t?”
“Not a little. Double-edged sword, you know? It all comes down to how you use your power, and I’m pretty sure you have an even stronger hold over it now.”
I could barely see anything from squinting so hard at Asher, but he just stood there on the sidewalk, beaming at me. Most days it comforted me to know that this deceptively vacant man-boy formed the emotional backbone of the Boneyard, how he was basically a living, breathing pep talk.
“Come on,” he said. “What’s that you’re always saying when you’re about to do something stupid? Always asking us to trust in Dustin. Pssh.” He chucked me on the shoulder. “Dust. When are you going to trust yourself?”
I pressed my lips together, but the idiot was right. “Damn it, Asher.”
He smiled even harder, his grin as bright as the sun. “Come on,” he said. “Under this tree. Is this shadow big enough?”
I ruffled my hair, chuckling. The kid wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Yeah, that should be about right.”
“Okay,” he said. “Quick. While no one’s looking.”
I sighed and stepped into position, placing my feet squarely in the center of the tree’s shadow. Asher was right. It was terrifying, seeing my command over the Dark Room waver, having it ripped away from me. But knowing that I could win it back brought me some small comfort.
And really, it all came down to power. If anything tried to wrest control away from me, then I simply had to be stronger. I’d come a long way from merely using the Dark Room for transportation, to actually using it as a weapon – and now, to bonding its power with my blood. Like a muscle, really. And like a muscle, the only way to get better was to keep using the Dark Room, over and over.
So I did. I threw my arm over Asher’s shoulder, checking his face for hesitation. All I saw was bright-eyed excitement, maybe mingled with the slightest, most distant hints of nervousness, like a thrill seeker about to go on a rollercoaster.
“Are you ready?”
Asher nodded, his head going so fast I thought it would snap right off his neck.
I knocked on the Dark Room’s door, and Asher’s body went tense as we sank into the shadows. Ironic, considering it was his little speech that got me all confident about using my power again.
There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to be fine. I already knew that. So maybe I wasn’t meant to wear the Crown of Stars. Fine. I had something better. I was, after all, the Dark Room’s lover, its lessor, its lord and master.
As Asher and I faded from reality, my intention crystallized. It was time to dig deeper into the Dark Room, to navigate its nameless, nightmarish corridors, to truly learn to call it home.
I never needed a crown, you see. I had a kingdom all along.
END
