Page 105 of Runaway Magic
“You’re an idiot if you think that thing over there is the Stillbringer,” Hester scoffed, but the look in her eyes showed uncertainty.
“Do you really think I could have done what I did to your lover and his army if he wasn’t?” Marshall asked. “Guardians are impressive, but even we have our limits.”
“Speak for yourself, boss. I’m easily that impressive. I just didn’t want to embarrass you by outshining your moment.” Jack put on a humble air and leaned an arm on Marshall’s shoulder. “I’m wonderful like that.”
Marshall huffed and gave Jack an indulgent smile. Somehow he managed to continue to come off as a leader rather than the cat-herder Cym was beginning to suspect he was.
“He can’t be the Stilbringer," Hester whispered, and she stumbled backward with an expression of dawning horror. “If he was… no… he can’t…”
Hester seemed to collapse into herself.
“I can assure you he is. Which means your lover died because you’re an idiot. You could have siphoned off enough magic from Cym to fuel your sweetie enough to dethrone the demon king if you’d known what he was.” Jack all but crowed with satisfaction. “I love a happy ending. Thanks for existing, Cym. This evening turned out to be fucking amazing.”
“I’m sorry Hester, but Cym won’t be joining you on your trip back to the Source. I’m sure you can understand,” Marshall said,cracking a small triumphant smile. He turned to Cym and asked, “As the patriarch of your family, you have the right to decide her fate. Do you want me to execute her now, or would you like her to face your family first before she goes?”
Adelle came over to Cym and Fourteen and put a gentle hand on his arm, ignoring the warning in Fourteen’s eyes. “She’s going either way, Cym, so you don’t have to worry about having her death on your shoulders. The Guard has a zero-tolerance policy for people who deal with demons. You do have the right to bring her before your family, though.”
Cym having the right to ask for anything was blowing his mind, so he couldn’t even begin to come up with an answer.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Marshall said. “It could go a long way toward getting your family to accept you as their patriarch.”
“What if I don’t want to be the patriarch?”
“Then we’ll help you discover what you do want to be, but don’t dismiss the idea right away. You’ve had a lot of terrible things to deal with, and you need time to process it all before making any big decisions.”
“That’s advice, Cym. Not an order,” Adelle said, shooting Marshall an irritated look. “He might beourcaptain, but he’s not in charge of you.”
“Yet.” Jack cut in. “If he becomes your teacher, he’ll be in charge of you until you stop being his student. And you should really let him teach you. Unless you enjoy people randomly flipping out around you all the time.”
“You want to be my teacher?” Cym blinked up at Marshall, who gave him an encouraging nod. “And you can teach me to control my power?” Cym didn’t even know it could be controlled.
“Marshall’s the best there is at controlling a shitload of power. No one else can even come close,” Jack bragged like he’d created Marshall himself.
Marshall rolled his eyes at Jack and said to Cym, “I’d be happy to have you as a student, Cym, and yes, I can teach you to control your powers. I did a study last century on the previous Stillbringer, so I know how to help you.”
Cym’s eyes began to tear up. He was getting so many good things all at once. After endless years of nothing, having anything good offered free of charge seemed like a fantasy. At any moment he half expected it to all be torn away when he woke up in his gussied-up prison to discover he’d just fugued out again and dreamed it all.
Cym clutched Fourteen’s jacket with both hands and gazed at him anxiously. If he had to, he would give it all up—the new friends, the glorified and mysterious title, and the promise of being able to control his powers. He could accept any of that to be nothing but an illusion, but he couldn’t give up Fourteen.
Cym knew he wouldn’t survive the loss.
“You better fucking be real,” he said, all but begging Fourteen.
“I’m very real. I promise.” Fourteen had a soft smile in his eyes, and it was just for Cym. Fourteen was going to forgive him for his idiocy. He wouldn’t be acting this way if he wasn’t, and Cym vowed then and there to become worthy of it.
“Folks, I hate to break up the joy fest here, but Hester is opting for self-deletion over there,” Jack had turned away from them to watch Hester, presumably to give them privacy, but from what Cym had gleaned from their short acquaintance, he had doubts about whether or not Jack cared about petty things like privacy.
Wait. Self-deletion? Oh shit. The red of Hester’s magic had begun to build up inside her, but instead of expanding outward like it would if she was casting a spell, it stayed in her chest, increasing in intensity.
“What?! No, I haven’t decided yet!” Cym wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to decide on something like when a family member should die, but he certainly couldn’t do it right now.
Hester was responsible for ending the lives of so many innocent people, though, and his family deserved the right to confront her. But if Cym made the decision, wouldn’t that mean he was agreeing to be the head of his family?
“Fuck you, you little shit,” Hester rasped. “I’m not staying here a second longer than I have to. If the guardians are too cowardly to do their job. I’ll do it myself.” Her essence grew brighter, and her core began to swirl.
“I can kill her for you,” Fourteen said calmly. He could have been offering to kill a spider so Cym didn’t have to.
It was kind of sweet, actually. But…
