Page 97 of To Charm a Dark Prince

Standing there, doing their job, were two suits of armor. They turned to look at her.

“I…um…I’m going downstairs.” Good. That was a great explanation. She nailed it on that one, didn’t she? She winced. She was not cut out for this kind of B.S.

Like a cartoon, they lowered their lances to cross them in front of the door, blocking their way. Merlin was standing next to her and, when she glanced down at the cat, she figured she wasn’t going to get any help from him.

Taking a breath, she held it for a moment before letting it out. “I’m going to go melt the Crystal. Mordred is passed out asleep on his study floor. I drugged him. He won’t blame you, he’ll blame me. I don’t want to hurt you—I don’t know if I can.” She held up her hand and let it catch fire. “But I really don’t want to try.”

They glanced at each other, then turned their attention back to her. After a pause, they uncrossed their lances. Either they wanted the Crystal gone, or they had a sense of self-preservation. She didn’t want to know which.

“Thanks.” Extinguishing her hand, she headed past them. The mangy black cat ran ahead and down the stairs, clearly eager to be free. Hope, small and fleeting but there all the same, began to spark in her heart. Maybe she could pull this off! Maybe she could really go home!

She jogged after the cat. He took the twisting turns and corners like he knew the way by heart. Which was fine by her. She didn’t want to linger longer than she needed to. Who knew how long the drugs would last on Mordred? She really didn’t want to find out the hard way.

It wasn’t long before the cat slowed down as he reached a hallway she recognized. The ones with the massive iron doors. She walked up to them and let out a breath. No handles. Mordred had just sort of…gestured at them, and they had opened. Which made sense. Finding a spot to tug on, she tried to budge them—no dice.

“You’ll have to melt them, idiot.” Merlin was sitting some fifteen feet away, tail curled around himself.

“I know, but I figured it was worth a try, and—” She sighed. “Never mind. Why are you always so mean to me?”

“I am mean in general. Deal with it.”

“Hopefully, I won’t have to for much longer.” She shrugged off her cloak and kicked off her boots. She didn’t want to burn them up. Standing in front of the door, she shook out her limbs like she was about to run a marathon. “You’re gonna keep your promise, right? That you’ll send me home once this is done?”

“Yes.”

She glared at him.

“I said yes, what more do you want?” He huffed. “Just do it already, will you?”

Grumbling, she cracked her neck from one side to the other, and shut her eyes. She ignited herself, feeling the fire crawl over her like a warm blanket. She snickered. That was still so cool. Picking up her hands, she studied them as they blazed with fire—no, blazed andwerefire. Focusing, she turned her palms toward the door and let loose the same jets of flame that she had when she had been fighting with Mordred.

The fire hit the doors and curled along the metal surface.

“Hotter, Gwendolyn.” Merlin sounded just a little nervous. “You have to burn hotter.”

“I don’t know—ow!” She yelped and jumped to one side. The little fucker had bitten her ankle! “Don’t make me kick you, you—”

“Look.”

Her fire was no longer reddish-orange, but a bright yellow. Huh. It had worked. “I still hate you.” She turned back to the doors. She didn’t want to waste the moment. This time, when she blasted the doors, she saw the metal start to heat up. She focused, trying to burn hotter. She made herself remember everything that she had gone through. Falling. Waking up in a crater, naked. Merlin’s assholery. Lancelot’s suffering. Mick cheating on her.

The color shifted again, growing brighter until it was a greenish tone. The doors began to liquify, slowly oozing into puddles of burning goop on the ground.

She didn’t know how long it had taken, but by the time the doors were melted enough for them to get through, her ears were ringing and she was exhausted. She let out a long breath and doubled over, resting her arms on her thighs. “Shit.”

“I hope you’re up to this. That was nothing compared to what’s next.” Merlin was already going ahead, jumping over the puddles of molten iron and into the eerily glowing room.

“Look, I know you’re not wrong, but do you have to be such a dick about it?” She followed after him once she felt like she could breathe without passing out.

“Yes.” He was sitting at the edge of the pool of magical shards, staring up at the massive Crystal. “Get to work, Gwendolyn. I do not think we will have much time.”

Standing at the edge of the pool, she rolled her shoulders. It was just like that time she had to run the marathon in track class. She hated track class. And she had failed at running the marathon. But that wasn’t the point.

Cracking her knuckles, she held out her palms toward the Crystal and let loose. She tried to focus all her energy. Tried to burn hotter. Harder. She had to melt the Crystal.

She hadto.

She had to.

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