My Boyfriend Merlin (Book 1, My Merlin Series)
Page 23
“Helped save,” I corrected.
Vane smiled.
“Because I trust you.”
“You shouldn’t.”
I let out a loud sigh. “Because you’re a pain in the ass.”
“Your ass is a good place to be,” he deadpanned. A rare genuine smile lit his face. He yanked me to him and lowered his mouth to mine. He kissed harshly, as if he couldn’t believe I was letting him do it. His hand fingered the edge of the short skirt of the suit. I shivered despite the fact that I wore thick black tights. The kiss gentled as I continued to respond.
Finally, he broke away. “I shouldn’t let you do this.”
I opened my mouth to protest. He put a finger to my lips.
“But unlike my brother I’m not that unselfish.” His fingers untangled some of my upswept hair. “You’re making a mistake encouraging me. I won’t let you go now.”
I smiled. “The Queen’s hairdresser is going to be pissed you messed up her ‘do.”
Vane brushed a thumb across my lips. Stormy eyes locked on me. “You have my brother fooled, but do you really know what you’re doing?”
I moved away from Vane and took a step towards the other set of closed doors in the room. I could hear the shuffling of people from behind the painted wood. My heart jangled inside my chest. “I’m afraid.”
“You should be.” Vane came up from behind and wrapped his arms around me.
I inhaled his dark scent. “Shut up and just tell me it will be all right.”
“As you wish.” He nuzzled my neck.
The doors I’d come in through opened again. Matt strode in with the Queen. They stopped short at the sight of Vane and I together.
Vane released me slowly.
The Queen marched up to me. “Give me one reason why I should let you do this. Why I should let you risk exposure?”
I walked back to the window behind her and pulled the drapes aside. The protesters sang Silent Night. I said simply, “They don't need to know about wizards. They need to know about the Sword. They're afraid. I can give them hope.”
A smile broke across her face. The heat of it made the sun appear pale by comparison. She straightened and the smile dimmed. “Well, then, do make sure you keep it to that. I refuse to have a thousand year secret leaked on my watch.”
The Queen held out her hand to Vane. “I will go first. You may lead me.”
Vane walked with her to the closed doors. Noise in the other room hushed when he opened the door. They went through. The doors closed behind them.
Matt held out his arm. I crossed to him.
I blurted out, “Vane and I—”
“I know. I have eyes, Ryan.” He glanced at my amulet. “And ears.”
I flushed and glared at him. “This mind-reading is getting irritating.”
“You’ll get used to it.” Matt’s hand tightened on my arm. “He’s not the right one for you.”
“At least I know who he is,” I replied softly.
A knock sounded from the other side of the door. It was time.
I took a breath. Matt pulled open the door and pushed me through to the other room. On shaky heels, I crossed a small stage to the podium. Vane and the Queen sat at a nearby antique desk.
Matt came to stand behind me. I laid my palms down on the wood podium and faced the crowd. Rows and rows of reporters filled the Queen’s pressroom. Flashes exploded from what seemed like a thousand bulbs. A row of television cameras took up the back of the packed room.
“Hello.” Silence fell across the room.
The enormity of what I was about to do hit me. My life would never be the same again. Anxiety tightened around my throat. A warm hand settled to support my back. Matt. He moved to stand at my right.
I leaned into the mike. “My name is Arriane DuLac and I am here to settle a question about who owns King Arthur's Sword.”
Matt handed me the sword. I held it up, blade aimed down. The cold metal winked in silver beauty for everyone to see. I twisted the sword and lifted it straight up.
Gasps and the snap-click of shutters reverberated around the room.
Several of the reporters jumped up. One said, “How does she have it?”
“Why is it in the palace?”
“I want to see for myself,” someone else yelled.
They scrambled out of the rows of chairs and headed straight for me. I had a sense of deja-vu from a bad movie as the reporters stormed the podium with their microphones like villagers coming at me with pitchforks.
Unconsciously, I took a step back.
Matt grabbed the sword from me. He put himself in between the reporters and me.
“Matt, what are you doing?” I hissed at him.
“Saving you,” he said to me.
He looked at the reporters and declared, “The sword is real.”
“Matt!” I said.
Matt held the sword up high. It glowed bright blue.
“The Sword is real,” a reporter whispered.
“Is it magic?” another said.
The Queen stood up in alarm.
Matt continued, “The sword is called Excalibur. It belongs to me.”
I touched my amulet. “Matt, why?”
“Because I love you.” His reply reverberated in my head.
Matt stared straight into the cameras. “My name is Merlin.”
MY MERLIN AWAKENING
Book 2, My Merlin
If you haven’t broken the rules, have you really lived?
Excalibur has been pulled from the stone, but what does it mean? Arriane (aka Ryan) DuLac doesn’t really care. She's got bigger problems—as student president, she's got to put on the Prom. While the Wizard Council debates their next move, she leaves the craziness behind and heads home.
But she can’t hide forever. Sooner than she’d like Merlin (aka Matt) has her chasing mermaids on the trail of the Fisher King. The wounded King, defeated by Merlin’s brother, Vane, in the past holds the key to save the future.
On the journey, Ryan begins to realize the friends she thought she knew, she may not know at all. At a time of shifting alliances, she must decide whose side she’s on—the brother who struggles to do right or the brother who dares to break the rules? And Ryan must decide who she is—a regular or a champion?
One wrong decision and her family falls apart. One wrong decision and the world falls apart. No pressure.
Get more Ryan, Vane, and Matt in the second installment of the My Merlin series!
About the Author
Priya Ardis loves stories of all kinds—but especially the gooey ones that make your nose leak and let your latte go cold. Her young adult novels came from a childhood of playing too much She-Ra and watching too much Spock. She started her first book at sixteen, writing in notebooks on long train rides in India. While reading, she recommends pajamas first and a pumpkin spice anything for taste. Her favorite Arthurian piece is the poem The Lady of Shalott by Lord Alfred Tennyson.
A hopeless romantic, she's a longtime member of the Romance Writer's of America and various other writing organizations.
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Author’s website: http://www.priyaardis.com
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Visit www.InkLionBooks.com for updates on Priya’s next book and discover other authors at Ink Lion Books.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading My Boyfriend Merlin! My Merlin Awakening, Book Two of the My Merlin Series, will be available Summer 2012.
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