Page 21 of To Bind a Dark Heart

“—demon.” She sighed. “So much for that.” She decided to walk for a bit to give Sunshine a break from having to carry her weight. Taking up the reins, she started off.

“Burn the house down. Burn the whole damn field, I say,” Merlin growled. “Teach them a lesson.”

“For the last time, no. I won’t. They’re scared. They have every right to be scared of you. Of both of us.” She shook her head. The sun was starting to set, and the sky was a beautiful array of wonderful colors. Oranges, reds, purples, yellows, and pinks filled the sky as the clouds glowed.

There were birds circling high above. They were the size of condors—and one of them was bright turquoise, like a parrot.

Avalon was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

Maybe I will stay here. Maybe it won’t be so bad, after all.

The universe took that exact moment to teach her a lesson for being hopeful about her future.

For a few seconds, she didn’t understand what had happened. She just felt a splitting pain. Like someone had pinched her back extremely hard. It reminded her of that one time she caught herself on a rusty nail in the barn.

“Ow—” She looked down.

She stared at her stomach.

Suddenly, the world became very complicated.

Right before her eyes, Merlin changed. His form shifted from that of a human to one that was very much…not.

It was a demon. There was no other word for the thing standing in front of her. Easily twelve feet tall, it resembled a black panther if it had been crossbred with a gorilla. Its front arms were much longer than its back haunches. Claws the length of her forearm looked like those of a tiger, if it hadn’t scratched at a tree for far too long.

Curling, twisted and jagged horns jutted up from its head. One was broken off, and a thick slash of a scar obscured one eye, the orb itself being glassy white. Its other eye was glowing a wicked, fiery red. Its sharp, dangerous fangs were damaged as well. One was missing.

The demon roared and charged in the direction of the farmhouse.

Holy shit, Merlin is a demon.

Ow. Why do I hurt so much?

Eod was barking. Sunshine had reared up and was running toward the woods.

It didn’t really matter to Gwen at the moment. Pulling up the edge of the chainmail, she watched as blood began to ooze down her stomach. That was a little more important than the demon, all things considered.

What she was staring at was an arrowhead. Right where an arrowhead had no business being.

Three inches to the left of her belly button. It must have punched through the chainmail in the back.

Her head began to spin.

Her knees gave out.

The world went black.

SIX

When Gwen came to, everything was kind of a blur. She was lying on her side on something soft. Well, soft-ish. Softer than the ground, at any rate. Groaning, she placed a hand to her side where something hurt like a motherfucker.

Oh right. Arrow. That whole thing.

“Don’t poke at it.”

The gruff voice of Merlin jarred her out of whatever hazy place she had been in—that weird spot between sleeping and awake. Or in her case, unconscious. She had plenty of experience with passing out, after all.

“And don’t let the damn dog lick it.”

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