Page 26 of To Charm a Dark Prince

It took her a second to realize what he meant. “Oh my God, you’re terrible.” Picking up a grape from the table, she threw it at him. She didn’t really know where she got the gall. For a moment, she panicked. What had she just done?

He caught it in mid-air before it hit him. Seemingly untroubled by her harmless violence, he ate the grape in question. “Projectile fruit was not what I had in mind, but suit yourself.”

What an odd man. She had seen him twist a man’s head around backwards. He had impaled somebody with his giant floating sword. And he was playful and flirty. And…being kind ofniceto her.

It was all too weird. She needed to not get hung up on the details. She had a bigger picture to worry about. Even if the details weresupercool. “So. What does being an elementalmean?The mayor didn’t quite tell me the whole story. What am I?”

“The magic that fueled Avalon is chaotic at best. It chooses conduits, for lack of a better term. You and I, and those imprisoned, are those whose nature has been consumed by its power. Each of us is gifted in one way or another. You, with flame. I, with iron. The knights who you saw beside me are elementals as well, though their conditions are…” He paused, a darkness crossing over his expression. “Unique. And a story for another night.”

He had so many secrets. But she supposed being sixteen hundred years old would do that. “And you won’t tell me why you’ve imprisoned all the other elementals?”

“The story is long and unpleasant. Bluntly, I am not in the mood to tell you, as I am enjoying your company.” His expression stayed dark, but now it had grown cold. “For the little time you remain willingly in my presence.”

Sure,thatwasn’t foreboding as fuck or anything. What the hell was she supposed to do with that? “Um…okay?”

“I did it not for my own thirst for power, I can assure you. I did it to protect Avalon from itself. That is as much as I have the stomach to recite at the moment.” And there was the tone of the man she had been expecting to meet. Not the friendly, flirty one. This was the man that the asshole cat had made him out to be. Mordred’s tone left no room for argument. It was clear he was used to being in charge and expected her to obey.

And she wasn’t about to push his buttons if she could help it. Nodding, she decided to try to change the subject. “You said you don’t know what to do with me. What do you mean?”

“Well,” he began, as he finished off his goblet of wine and refilled it from the jug. “Quite simply…here you sit, the product of escaped magic. Magic I have sworn to imprison and contain for the betterment of Avalon. I should put you with the rest of the elementals. And yet, I find myself deeply curious as towhyandhowyou were chosen. Especially if the force behind this strange turn of events is malignant.”

She didn’t know much about “Merlin” the cat, but she would call him pretty malignant. But if she told Mordred the whole story, she was going to wind up trapped in the Crystal. She didn’t want to lie to the man—even if he was dangerous—but she didn’t know how to tell him the truth.

As if seeing her conflict, he shut his eyes. “Yes, I understand that this means you cannot tell me what you know without putting yourself at risk.”

“Which is why I keep bringing up the topic of torture.” She wrinkled her nose. “It’d make sense.”

“Contrary to what others might have told you, I am not a monster. I abide by the rules of this land. You are my prisoner of war, Gwendolyn Wright.” Those rust-colored eyes met hers. “And prisoners of war are honored guests, and not to be harmed.”

She supposed that was some small measure of relief. “But at some point, you’ll get frustrated and chuck me into the rock with everybody else.”

“Most likely, yes.”

She sighed and rubbed a hand over her face. “I want to go home.”

“Would that I could.” He shook his head. “Sadly, I cannot without shattering the Crystal. And even still, with your power linked to Avalon, so is your life. In time, you would wither and fade.”

That was what Merlin had told her. At least the cat wasn’t feeding her total bullshit. “Is there any way to…un-elemental myself? To give this up?”

“If there was, I would have stripped the power from my compatriots instead. It would have been a kinder fate.” He studied his metal gauntlet for a moment, turning it over and flexing his fingers one at a time. “We are what we are…as unjust as it may be.”

“How did you become an elemental?”

“Avalon simply chose me.” His expression went somehow colder than before. “It was power that should have gone to my uncle. I am not meant to be—there has never once before been an elemental of iron. Nor shall there be one after me, I suspect, when I have failed and been rendered to dust.”

Cheery.

She swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Forgive me.” He shut his eyes again, looking suddenly exhausted, like the weight of the whole world was on his shoulders. “I am told I make for miserable company.”

Something in her heart broke for him unexpectedly. There was so much tiredness in that statement—so much loneliness and sadness. She reached out before she could stop herself, and placed her hand atop his metal gauntlet where it rested on the table.

Rust-colored eyes met hers, his expression unreadable. But perhaps just a little surprised.

Shyly, she pulled her hand away and bit back an apology. She’d already made an ass out of herself, no need to keep digging that hole. “I mean, this—um—you’re a lot better than what I was expecting.”Way to go, idiot.She cringed and slapped a hand over her eyes. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong.”

He laughed quietly, and his hand was then over hers, the cold of the metal against her skin strange but not unpleasant. “I will take that as a compliment and thank you for judging me on your own and not from the words of others.”

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