Page 31 of To Charm a Dark Prince

“What?”She sat up.

“Shutup,girl,” the cat said through a hiss. “Keep your voice down.”

A knock on the door. “Are you all right, my lady?” It must be one of the guards outside the room.

“Y—yeah, I’m fine, thanks,” she called back. “Just stubbed my toe.” She laughed nervously.

Silence. The door didn’t open.

Letting out a breath, she put her hand over her face. “I hate this so damn much.” At least she remembered to keep her voice down. Hugging the sheets to her chest, she glared at the cat. “And I’m not going to seduce him.”

“He seems to be doing all the work for you already.” Merlin walked to the foot of the bed and sat there. If a cat could look disgusted, he did. “He must have a particular attraction to imbeciles.”

“You know, I don’t really want to help you when you’re being such a jackass.” She lay back down, not wanting to deal with him. There was gray light streaming in through the windows between the cracks in the heavy curtains.

“You have no choice. I am your only way home. And your only other path leads to imprisonment within the Crystal.”

“Mordred said I couldn’t go home.”

“And you believed him? You really are a fool.”

She resisted the temptation to throw a pillow at the cat’s head. But barely. “Okay, so explain to me how helping you gets me home then. In detail. Because he said it couldn’t be done.”

“For a normal elemental, yes. But you’re borrowing my power. It doesn’t belong to you. If I am restored to my full strength, I can break the bond between us. You’ll be a normal mortal human again, and I can open a portal back to Earth and send you on your way.”

“Was that so hard?”

“What?”

She lifted her head to shoot him a look. “Telling me useful information.”

“Yes, in fact. Because now you might turn around and blather it all to our enemies.” He thumped his tail against the comforter. “Better to keep you in the dark as much as possible.”

“Whatever.” She lay back down and turned her back to him. The bed was warm. She was achy and tired. “Dumb cat.”

“I amnota cat.”

“Until you tell me what you are, you’re a dumb cat.” She shut her eyes. Maybe he’d just go away. “And I’m not going toseducehim. He has knives for hands.” Besides, what would a sixteen-hundred-year-old immortal, who was basically a demigod, and aprince, want with a woman like her?

Well, he did call her a princess.

No, no, no. Bad Gwen. Bad, she scolded herself. She was not considering it. She wasn’t. Mordred was dangerous. He had killed people. A lot of people. He was keeping the magic of Avalon prisoner in the Crystal-thingy. She was not going to entertain the idea of—

Merlin bit her foot through the comforter.

“Ow!” Somehow she managed to keep her voice down. She kicked at him reflexively, but he jumped away. “What was that for?”

“Ignoring me.” Angry tail swish.

She sighed and pulled the blanket up over her shoulder. “Go away. I’m not going to seduce him.”

“Well, you certainly aren’t going to outwit him.”

“I might want to help you more if you were nicer to me, y’know. Flies with honey instead of vinegar, and all that.” It was clear that she wasn’t going to get back to sleep. Flopping onto her back, she stared up at the wood ceiling of the room she was in. The exposed beams and rough-sawn planks reminded her of the barn at home.

Home.

That was why she had to help the dumb cat.Home.Avalon meant adventure, excitement, and magic. But also death and danger. Home was safe, even if it was probably a burnt pile of rubble. But she didn’t need to make the choice yet. She didn’t even have a choice to make. “He said he’ll train me to use my power. That’s a start, right? Maybe if I can control the fire, he’ll leave the necklace off.”

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