Page 44 of Kings and Monsters

"Maybe you should come and sleep with me to keep warm." He smiled, and it was seductive as death itself.

"Maybe I should stab you in your sleep and just take the Hunt by right of conquest," Rosa said.

"And you wonder why I want you as a general."

Once his snores were echoing around the cavern, Rosa stripped quickly and got into the hot spring. Now that the tension of the bargaining was over, she felt every single ache and pain in her body. Twisting in the water, she saw the huge bruises that were beginning to blossom from her fall through the temple floor.

Rosa wondered how Merlin and Arthur were doing, but she wasn't game enough to try to leave the caves. She sat in ashadowy corner of the pools and allowed herself to cry a few sad and angry tears.

Rosa hadn't lied to Gwyn; if Balthasar was dead, she wouldn't return to Gwaed Lyn. How could she go back to that life without him in it? Knowing it was the truth made her cry a little more. At least in the Hunt, she could forget who she was. Rosa pushed the thought away.Balthasar is not dead, she reminded herself firmly. She said it over and over in her mind like a mantra, willing it to be so. She wasn't going to roll over and give in to her despair until she held his lifeless corpse in her hands. She wouldn't end up like Eirianwen and Bleddyn, centuries lost because she hadn't done everything in her power to be sure.

It wasn't until Rosa was dressed in clean clothes and wringing water from her long hair by the fire that she realized that despite his snores, Gwyn's eyes were open and watching her.Fucking gods. Rosa fought the urge to hurl a rock at him.

Pretending she hadn't seen Gwyn, Rosa rolled herself in furs and went to sleep, hoping that wherever he was, Balthasar would know she was missing him.

Merlin watched helplesslyas Rosa followed Gwyn into a cave in the mountainside. He took a step forward when Arthur grabbed him by the bicep.

"Don't do it, Merlin. This isn't the time to pick a fight," Arthur warned in a tense whisper. The warriors around them had all moved their hands to their weapons as if sensing Merlin had every intention of going after their god.

"I can't just leave her in there alone."

"Yes, you can. Rosa is Bleddyn's child as much as you are. Just because she doesn't have a dick doesn't mean she can'thandle Gwyn on her own," Arthur said. "You remember that time we sent Gwenhwyfar to treat with the Saxon King? Same thing."

"It is not! Gwen was dealing with a mortal, and Rosa is stuck with a god. A promiscuous god of hunting, fighting, and fucking, to be precise."

Arthur sat him down in front of a fire. "Rosa isn't exactly human either, Merlin. I know you want to protect her, but acting like an overprotective male makes you?—"

"Don't you say it, Pendragon?—"

"It makes you Bleddyn. Even he had enough sense not to try and stop her from coming."

"Only because he thought I would protect her!"

"Wake up, you daft prick. She doesn't need your protection. If you hadn't noticed, you have enough to worry about."

"I can't lose her like I lost Nimue!" Merlin exploded, his indifferent facade finally breaking.

Arthur placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You didn't lose her. From what you told me, she was taken. There is a difference. She survived the queen for hundreds of years. What makes you think she can't do it again?"

"She shouldn't have to! She's only caught up in this again because I wasn't strong enough to send her away from Gwaed Lyn when she first arrived. Even when I still hated her, I couldn't let her go because I'm a cruel, selfish bastard." Merlin dragged his hands through his tangled curls. Arthur was looking at him as if he'd never seen him before.

"There are times since I've woken where you are so different to how you used to be, and then you are the same chaotic man I knew," Arthur sighed. His grey eyes ran over his face. "I'm starting to think I never really knew you at all. Merlin in love… Who'd have even thought it was possible."

"Don't give me that. You saw me in love with Morgan."

"Love isn't what you two had," Arthur grunted. "You two used each other to patch over old pain. It's not the same thing. By the end, it was a twisted thing, and I knew there would be violence. You aren't like that with Nimue. I know it, even without meeting her."

Merlin snorted. "Whatever you say, Pendragon. Don't you have better things to focus on instead of analyzing my moods?"

"Better things such as how all of these dead ones look like they are getting ready to skin you alive?" Arthur had a hand casually resting on top of the hilt of Excalibur, as if he were waiting for them to pounce.

Merlin rose to his feet, knives in his hands, and turned to face the dead men and monsters who had been moving in behind him. "The suspense is killing me. Which one of you is going to be first?"

There was a shudder as the overly brave fae began to surge forward…and then they all stopped, like puppets that had their strings cut.

"The bounty is gone," the closest one said, lowering her knife in disappointment. "Now we will need to trade."

"Trade for what?" Merlin asked in surprise.

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