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The hatch opened. “No!”The hatch slapped shut.
All right. Now she was getting annoyed. Balling her hands into fists, she glared at the wood surface. “All I want is for you to hear me out. Just listen to me. If you can’t help me, or don’t want to help me, we’ll leave.”
Grinn started to say something. Without turning to him, she flipped him off. That seemed to be enough to shut him up for the time being.
“Just hear me out, please. I’m not here to cause problems.”
“That’s all you people do!” The mage didn’t even bother opening the hatch that time. Just shouted through the door. “Go! Away!”
Now what? She took a deep breath and tried again. “Listen, buddy. I have had ashitmonth. My house was set on fire by my asshole cat who turned out to be a giant demon bent on world destruction. I have been chased, drugged, and lied to. I was the prisoner of the Prince in Iron. I’m the reason he destroyed the Crystal. I’m now apparently in the middle of some giant impending three-way war, and I don’t know what to do. But one thing I do know, is that I’m stuck tethered to this big crotchety asswipe—”
Grinn growled. She ignored him.
“—and I’d really like to figure out what to do about that. Oh! I almost forgot. I also got shot by some chucklefuck with a bow. So I would really,reallyappreciate it if you would listen to me for ten minutes.”
The hatch opened. “Let me say it in words you’ll understand.Fuck off!”Thwack went the hatch.
That was it.
That was absolutely it.
She was done. Stick a fork in her, she was done. “Open this door and listen to me or I swear tofuckI will burn your goddamn house down!” She burst into flame.
The door swung open. The man on the other side was not what she was expecting. She had figured he would be some old man with long white hair and a long white beard. Not a dude in his early forties, with unkempt, dirty blond hair and day-old stubble. He was wearing linen britches, no shirt, and an open dark blue velvet robe that had seen better days. He scratched his stubble. “Well, you could have just started with that, you know.”
Narrowing her eyes at the wizard, she put out her fire. Great. Another smartass. That’s all she needed.
Eod barked at the man once in greeting, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth.
“Nice to meet you too, young man,” the mage replied to the dog. “And yes, I’m sure I have something for you to eat inside. At leastyouhave manners.” He shot Gwen a glare.
“Me? I tried to be nice!”
“Mm-hm.” The sorcerer looked over her shoulder at the demon. “I’ll talk to you. He stays outside.”
“But—” Grinn stepped forward.
“Nope. I’m allergic to demons.” The wizard stepped aside. Eod took that as his cue to run in, nails scrabbling on the wood floor as he made himself perfectly at home, sniffing everything interesting.
“Come in, Gwendolyn Wright.” The wizard held his arm out to gesture for her to go in. He smiled at her as if everything leading up to that point had been a game. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Yeah. Avalon was going to give her a serious headache.
NINE
“We will need assistance, dear Lancelot, lest you think we can battle the prince on our own.” Zoe had invited Lancelot back to her home as her guest, and he had not hesitated at the idea of sleeping indoors for a few nights.
The Gossamer Lady had asked for time to think through her decision, and now it seemed she had come to a conclusion. Lancelot looked up from where he had been sitting outdoors, sharpening his blade.
Not that it needed it.
But it gave him something to do.
“Oh?” He stood. “Have you decided to join me?”
“It is…difficult for me, you must understand.” Her delicate wings draped from her back like a cape. “To stand against the prince is to stand against my beloved. I do not wish to join the fray directly.”
Lancelot nodded once. He could not say he blamed her. He had never had to do battle against someone he cared for. “But…?”
