Free My Merlin Awakening by Priya Ardis Page B

scratch, Toto,” I rasped. I cried out when he touched the edge of the giant hole of melted skin and meat that now made up my side.
    “Scratch, my ass,” he said.
    “I like your ass.” The words came out as barely a whisper.
    Vane let out a forced laugh. “Hold on, Ry. This is going to hurt.”
    He put a hand right over the charred area. This time I screamed. A faint red glow spread from his hand.
    I blacked out.
    I woke up in what must have been just a few minutes time. I still lay in the hallway. Dim light wavered from sconces. Matt sat next to me. I pushed myself up on my elbows. He helped me sit up. We sat side-by-side in the hallway alone.
    “Where did everyone go?” I asked as I touched my burned side. My coat and shirt were beyond repair, but my skin felt smooth. Not even a burn or scar remained.
    “They went to check the rest of the house. We did come here for a purpose.”
    My head against the wall, I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes. “Killing the gargoyle drained you?”
    I doubted another wizard would have been able to do it all. Making something that big explode was supposed to be impossible, unless you were…
    His lips curved up into a small smile. “I am Merlin.”
    “Stop reading my mind,” I snapped.
    “I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just that… your thoughts are loud.”
    My cheeks puffed out. “I’ll work on that.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    I made a face. “You seem to be saying that a lot lately.”
    Silence stretched between us. Finally, he said, “I had to save Excalibur.”
    Oliver’s words rang in my head. “ Save the girl or save the sword.” He’d chosen. “You knew I wasn’t hurt that badly. You knew you could heal me later.”
    “Yes. But I still took a chance.”
    “Luckily, I was there to clean up your mess.” Vane marched into the hallway. He dropped down beside me and cupped my face. “Ready to go home, Ryan?”
    “What? You found… whatever it was?” I said.
    Vane shrugged. “No, but we will. You’ve risked yourself enough. Grey can take you home.”
    “Stop ordering me around.” I put my hand on his shoulders and hoisted myself up. For a second, I thought I would tip over and fall on top of him. Vane braced himself for just that, but I managed to stay upright.
    “Good,” Vane said in a no-nonsense tone, but from the corner of my eye, I noticed a small smile.
    “Nice play, Coach,” I muttered.
    Behind me, Matt got up slowly. “Did you find anything?”
    Vane shook his head. “We’ve searched every corner of this house. Other than the strange layout of the place, I haven’t seen anything remotely haunting. Do you think that dog of a gargoyle found it?”
    “I don’t think so.” Matt rubbed his jaw. “Oliver wouldn’t have tried to get Excalibur if he had.”
    “Or me,” I said.
    Pulling me close to him, Vane squeezed my waist.
    “Did you look in the secret staircase?” I said.
    Vane frowned. “What secret staircase? I read that whole book, House of the Seven Gables , by what’s-his-name. It didn’t mention any such staircase.”
    I rolled my eyes. “What a good researcher you are. Hawthorne didn’t know about it. They discovered it later. But it’s where all these cold drafts and odd feelings are supposed to have originated.”
    Vane gave me a sheepish look. “I didn’t bother to read further, once I made the connections.”
    I patted his shoulder and started down the hallway, toward the center of the house. “Still want Grey to take me home?”
    “Don’t get smug, Swiss cheese,” he said at my back.
    I winced, instinctively touching my side, but kept walking.
    Vane and Matt followed.
    “I would have known about the secret staircase,” Matt said.
    “Yes, the Mighty Merlin, who just allowed the damsel to rescue him,” Vane mocked.
    Grey and the other guardians stood gathered in the room past the hallway—a dining room. Porcelain dishes and plates had been set up on a long wooden table as if expecting dinner guests.