Page 10 of To Charm a Dark Prince

Okay. That was cool, right?Don’t focus on the scary shit. Focus on the cool shit. You’re on Avalon. The real Avalon. That means they were more than just stories. You wanted an adventure—here it is!“But. But he was real? King Arthur was real? And this—this is the same Avalon?” She cringed. “You’re not the real Merlin, are you?”

“No.”

“Jesus, sorry.” Frowning, she paused for a long second. He had been so emphatic about that, it had felt personal. She opted not to poke the angry cat’s buttons as much as she could help it. “So…you need to get your power back and then you can send me home?”

“Yes.”

“How do we get your power back?” Rubbing a hand over her face, she couldn’t believe what she was saying. She was talking about restoring some wacky magical power to her asshole cat so that she could go home. From Avalon.

He laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. Come to think of it, Merlin sounded like he smoked a case a day and chased it with rubbing alcohol. He sounded just as old and scruffy as he looked. “Let’s focus on one thing at a time, shall we?”

“I guess. Can one of the things we focus on soon be getting me some clothes, though? This isweird.”

“It isn’t as strange in Avalon as you might think. But yes. I would appreciate it as well if you weren’t nude. Namely, because it will be one less thing for you to whine about.”

“Do you have to be so mean? None of this is my fault. You dragged me here.”

“I dragged you here because I had no other choice.” He glanced back at her again. “When I came to Earth all those years ago, I could either die or join our life forces together. I chose to live. Now, you and I are bound together until I canfixthis.”

“What do you mean, ‘join our life forces together?’ What did you do to me?” Fear ran down her spine at the notion.

“It means our lives are shared. If you grow sick, we share the illness. If I were to suffer a fatal wound, you would bear half of it.” He sounded so annoyed. Either because of the situation they were in, or because he had to explain it to her like she was a kid. Her vote was both.

“So that’s why you’re so damn old and mangy and haven’t died yet.” If he was going to be a pain in the ass for her, she was going to be a pain in the ass for him.

“I am not—” He grunted. “Never mind. The fact remains. I need to regain my power. If I do that, you will go home, and I will finally be free of you.”

“Gee, I’m so sorry I’m such an inconvenience.” But there was a part of her that was so curious about being inAvalon.Magic was real! That would be incredible, if it weren’t so terrifying. She wondered how old Avalon really was. Or who lived there. Or why. Or who this Iron Prince was and why he was so scary.

Maybe once she got clothes and had a chance to figure things out, she might get the opportunity to talk to someone who was a bit nicer than Merlin.

Speaking of. The cat huffed. “Apology accepted.”

She rolled her eyes. “And you won’t tell me how we’re supposed to get your power back?”

“No. Not yet. Not until I have a better sense of the situation. I have not been to Avalon in ten years. And while things rarely change here”—he snorted, as if it were some sort of inside reference—“who knows what has transpired in my absence. Also, the less you know, the better.”

“Look, I know you think I’m pathetic, but—”

“You are.”

She glared at him. “But don’t you think I should know exactly what we’re supposed to be doing here?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because if—no, perhaps it is a when—you are captured and tortured, the less you know, the better.”

“What?”She stopped walking. “Torture? They’re gonna torture me?” Waving her hands in front of her as if to shake them off, she tried to breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

“See? This is precisely why I’m not telling you anything.” The cat sat down in the path and looked at her, the end of his tail flicking with his irritation.

“You—gee, I’m sorry I’m reacting to the idea of beingtortured, you shitstain.” She put her hands over her eyes and felt herself on the edge of panic again. Now wasn’t the time. In. Out. In. Out. She focused on her breathing until she could hear the world around her again and not just her pounding heartbeat.

When she didn’t feel like she was going to pass out, she dropped her hands and let out a long exhale.

“Better?” The cat set off again. “Try to keep up.”

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