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She laughed. “I think this goes well past fucked up.”
“Not for Avalon.” He snorted. “Trust me. Well, I’m going to go get a pot of coffee going. I think we’re in for a long walk.” Shoving himself up to his feet, he grunted.
“We?”
“Do you think I’m going to miss out on all the fun?Please.I want a front-row seat to this shit show. It’s gonna be spectacular.”
“Do you know that because of your weird psychic powers?”
“Nope.” He laughed once. “I just have a brain. Who knows? Maybe I’m wrong about this one.” He went back indoors, finishing his thought as he went. “But I don’t think I am.”
No, she didn’t think he was either.
TWELVE
It was after breakfast that Gwen sought out Grinn. The demon was on the edge of the wizard’s front lawn, avoiding all conversation with anybody, and sitting in that “angry loaf” position that cats did when they wanted to sit down but also wanted to make sure they could nope out or attack at any point.
He glanced at her with his red eye and then turned his attention back to the woods. “What?”
She sighed. Great. Already off to a great start that day. “I think we should head back to the keep. It feels stupid to have walked all the way here only to walk all the way back, but…” She shrugged. “I don’t know a better way.”
“Why?” He sneered. “Eager to go back to your lover?”
Yes.“No.” She folded her arms across her chest as Grinn snorted in disbelief. “The fact of the matter is, we need Caliburn to fix this. He wants you dead or whatever, and I don’t want to go down with you.”
“I will not lose to him.”
“I don’t wanna take that chance. The only way I get out from the middle of you two is if I’m no longer attached to you. And the only way to do that is with Caliburn.” She was rolling the dice that the Prince in Iron wouldn’t just decide to kill her alongside the demon, but that was a risk she was going to have to take.
It was clear from her dreams that she desperately wanted to apologize to him and see if there was a way forward for their sorry excuse for a relationship. If that’s even what it was. She had no idea how Mordred really felt about her—whether or not she was just a distraction or if she meant anything.
She supposed she should start with that. Because if he didn’t care about her, he’d probably use her to get to Grinn. Bait, or whatever. If he did care about her, maybe he’d help her out of her situation.
Step one—get back to Mordred.
Step two—figure out how Mordred felt about her. If he cared, tell him about Grinn and that whole messy situation. If he didn’t care about her, or didn’t care about her enough, well…
Her options there were either to help Grinn get Caliburn or not. She’d cross that bridge when she got to it.
At least I have a plan. It’s a terrible plan, but it’s a plan.
“Either way,” she continued. “We need Caliburn. And the only way to get to it is through Mordred. So it makes sense.”
“And what is your plan? To ask for the most powerful relic in Avalon?” Grinn huffed, clearly thinking she was an idiot.
“Maybe, yeah. If I explain to him—”
“Explain?” He laughed. “You truly are a fool. He is more likely to use you to weaken me. If he learns you have my powerandwe are linked, do you think he would hesitate to impale you on iron spikes? You do not understand how much hatred he holds in his black heart for me.”
“I wouldn’t talk about black hearts.” She rolled her eyes.
“And it is for that reason that I know him. We share the affliction.” He sat up, curling his tail around his front legs. “No. He will use and manipulate you in the name of the greater good. He will sacrifice everything to see me defeated.”
He was probably right, but damn it, she wanted to have a plan. “So, what do we do?”
Grinn went silent for a long moment, staring off into the woods. The gears were clearly spinning. “We go toward the iron keep.”
“I just said—”
