“I am regretting every decision I ever made about you,” he retorted.
“Lie. Don’t front. I make your world brighter.”
“Please, please, please don’t say anything like this to Randall,” he said. “And whatever you do, do not try to awkward hug him. That will not go over well.”
“Yeah, he doesn’t strike me as the hugging type. But then, he didn’t strike me as the dick nose type and look how that worked out.”
“This is going to end in disaster,” Morgan said.
“Have a little faith, huh?” I said. “I’ve got this. I just have to get through the whole traveling up close and personal with Ryan while going to rescue his fiancé thing and then we’ll be just peachy.”
“Can you do it?”
Probably not, but I chose the path of false bravado. It was easier. “I’m Sam of Wilds,” I said with a rakish grin. “I can do anything.”
He wasn’t fooled one bit. “Sam.”
“I get it, okay? I know what I’m doing. Okay. Most of the time. Well. Sometimes. But this time, I totally do. I got this, okay? It’s going to suck, sure. But it’s not about me. It’s about rescuing Justin and making sure he gets back home safe and sound. That is my priority. And I can do this.”
“I know you can,” he said quietly. “And the fact that you’re even doing it in the first place says much about your character.”
I scrubbed my hands over my face. “Enough with all the feelings. If we keep this up, I’m going to want to braid flowers into your beard. And I’m very good at braiding. Just ask Gary.”
“Enough feelings,” he said. “I’ve got something for you.”
“Presents? Gimme, gimme, gimme. It better be expensive. And engraved.”
“It’s priceless and not engraved at all.”
“Oooh,” I said. “I am very okay with this.”
“Wizarding secret,” he said. He pulled open a cabinet and pulled out a black box. He turned and placed the box on the table next to my Grimoire. “Open it.”
The box itself was made of stone, intricate carvings on the lid and sides. I recognized some of the runes. Sun. Earth. Clarity. Foresight. The box was old. Probably ancient. Runes like this weren’t used in the every day. This was elder magic, from when the world was young and magic was a more visceral thing. I felt my own magic shiver as I traced the clarity rune with my fingers.
I lifted the lid. It was heavier than I thought it’d be.
There was a white cloth inside. Soft and smooth. I pulled it apart.
In the cloth lay a red crystal about the length of my finger. It was thin and cut with precision.
And I had absolutely no idea what it was. I touched it gently and smiled when a bright spark shot off in the crystal.
“It’s a summoning crystal,” Morgan said.
“A summoning what now?”
“You’re given one once you pass the Trials,” he said. “It allows a wizard to contact other wizards who have touched the stone. This one was specifically made for you by Randall. Only he and I have touched it, so you can only contact the two of us.”
“Contact?” I asked. “How?”
“It won’t be corporeal,” he said. “I’ll be able to hear you through the stone, and you’ll be able to hear me. You think of me when holding it in your hand and I’ll feel the pull of it through my own stone.” He reached into an inner pocket of his robe and pulled out a blue stone, much the same cut and size as mine. “Use it sparingly, Sam. It’s not a toy.”
“I’m so going to use it as a toy,” I told him. “I’m going to use it at three in the morning just to tell you I miss the sound of your voice. Do you think Randall will recognize me if I try to prank summon him?”
“And this is why apprentices aren’t given these stones,” he said. “Because of shenanigans.”
“My shenanigans are awesome,” I said. “But why give this to me now? I’m not going through the Trials with Randall. That’s still years off.”