Page 22 of To Charm a Dark Prince

Gwen woke up slowly with a huff. She was lying on something soft, and buried underneath what felt like heavy blankets. The last thing she remembered was a giant dragon taking off with her on it. She screamed. A whole lot. Again. And blacked out.

Again.

She really hated her panic attacks. At least the stupid necklace that the prince had put on her was keeping her frombursting into flames.She had so many questions. How much of the legend of Arthur was real? Which version was real? Was he reallytheMordred?

Don’t be an idiot. He can’t be the same Mordred. He’d be over a thousand years old, and super dead. He’s probably just named after Mordred.

A billion questions she had nobody to ask. This was why she had always loved history and literature. It always blended together in weird and fascinating ways. For now, she was warm and cozy. She was sore and exhausted. She had no idea how long it had been since Merlin had opened that hole into Avalon, but it had felt like weeks. As far as she knew, it was only a few hours.

She buried herself deeper in the warmth and shut her eyes, trying to process everything that had happened and come up with a plan. She had todosomething. Besides kick Merlin across the room for having gotten her into this mess.

“Congratulations, you’ve screwed everything up.”

Speaking of…

Lifting her head, she squinted. Sitting in the corner of a jail cell was the cat in question.

Wait.

She sat up so quickly her head spun and for a second she thought she might be sick. Groaning, she leaned against the wall and tried to take stock of where she was.

Her parents had taken her to Disney on a trip when she was young. She had gone on thePirates of the Caribbeanride and seen the animatronic prisoners inside a janky, ancient-looking jail. And now she found herself in one.

Iron bars separated her from a hallway and the cell next to her. She was in the corner of a small room. Across from here were two more cells and a guard’s station that sat empty. Candles burned in sconces bolted onto the walls, and there wasn’t a window to be seen. There was only one doorway in or out of the space.

She was alone in the room, except for the cat.

She glared at him. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Hiding! Do you know what kind of trouble you’ve gotten usbothinto?” He bared his single tooth and snarled at her. “You’re going to get us both put in that Crystal. I won’t go back. Iwon’t!”

She blinked, stunned at his outburst. He had sounded almost frantic at the end. “I…I’m sorry.”

“You should be.” The fur on his back settled down. Picking up one paw, he licked it before wiping it over his brow. “And you have that blasted thing around your neck. Your first step is to get that thing off.”

“Okay, but why? It’s keeping me from setting things on fire.” It made perfect sense, really. She couldn’t say she blamed Mordred for putting it on her.

“Do you want to get into a brawl with him? Engage in fisticuffs, perhaps?” He shook his head.

“I—I guess not, but I don’t understand what—”

“If you want to defend yourself, then you will need to be able to summon fire. And you cannot do that with that thing around your neck.” His tail thwacked against the stone floor.

“I didn’t let him doanything, he—”

The cat kept interrupting her. “I need to restore my full power if I am going to return you home. And you heard what Grigory said, didn’t you?”

She stared at him silently.

Merlin let out a long, suffering sigh.

“Give me a break!” She picked up a pebble and tossed it at him. “I’ve had a lot to deal with, and you aren’t telling me the whole story. I’m trying to deal with everything that’s being thrown at me a mile a minute, and—” Then it hit her. “Oh. All the magic in Avalon is in the Crystal and that means…” Her shoulders drooped. “Your power is in the Crystal.”

“Shecanlearn. How wonderful.” He huffed. “Yes, girl. You were meant to help me overthrow the prince and break the Crystal. But you cannot do that, if you are trappedinsidethe blasted thing.”

“I can’t overthrow anybody.” She gestured at herself. “Look at me.”

“Well, now we may never have to learn if that’s true. All hope might already be lost. The guard has gone to tell the prince you’ve woken up. He’ll lock you in the Crystal for certain, and I will likely be dragged in there with you.” Merlin hissed.

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