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  I couldn’t speak with the emotions tugging at me, pulling me in all directions.

  “I can’t come with you. You know that. We have to end it.”

  “Maybe,” he said, “but not today.”

  With a grin, I pulled my dress over my head and dove into the ocean.

  THE END

  Continue the adventure with Blue Water

  If you enjoyed Dark Water...

  Beauty Sleep

  “You drinking or am I gonna have to kick you out?”

  I looked up into the eyes of the sweaty bartender-cum-club owner and put on my sweetest smile.

  “Whiskey, straight up.”

  He leered slightly, showing yellowing teeth that looked like they’d never seen a toothbrush. His already narrow eyes, turned into slits as if deciding whether to throw me out was a good idea or not. Apparently not as he turned back to the bar to fetch me my drink.

  I’d not been in this particular cess pit of a bar before, but I’d been in plenty like it. Dark, filthy, the end of the line.

  To my right was an old man slumped over his table snoring, his latest pint of beer only half drunk. No doubt the bar tender would be moving onto him now that he was no longer a paying customer. It wasn’t him that held my interest though. It was the group of men seated around a table in front of me playing poker.

  Poker was the real reason I frequented dumps like this. Personally, I’d prefer to live it up in some of the nicer establishments in Eshen, but unfortunately for me, they either didn’t allow gambling or in the case of the ones that did, I was already well known. I needed to be in a place where no one knew me to make this work.

  And so I found myself having to travel further and further to find a good game. A game where I could win. Actually, I won most games. I needed a game where I could win and not get my face punched by some meathead sore loser which had happened enough for me to worry about it and usually happened at about the same time that I was recognised.

  You see, I was the best damn poker player in a hundred square miles, but to win, I needed people not to know that. I needed them to think I was a helpless little girl who didn’t know a flush from a straight.

  Being an actual little girl didn’t hurt my ruse. I am twenty two but so tiny I often passed over as younger. I had that sweet and innocent look about me thanks to my fae genes, which was the greatest irony. I smoked, I drank, I had sex with people I probably shouldn’t and worst of all, I cheated. I cheated big time. Not that you’d ever guess with my wide green eyes and dark curls. Yeah, I was just the picture of innocence, which is why I generally kicked ass in a place like this.

  And I really did kick ass. Sometimes literally. I might be tiny, but as a member of the fae race, I’ve got powers that most others don’t and it’s not only poker that these meatheads lose along with their money, they also lose any dignity they have when a girl half their size kicks the shit out of them.

  “Here!” The bartender slammed my drink down, sloshing half of it over the table. I knew better than to say anything. The game was hotting up and the last thing I wanted was to get thrown out before I even had chance to play.

  There were four of them playing and only four seats. Fine with me. Once one of them was out, I’d sidle up and take his spot...if, and only if I decided it was worth it.

  Sure, there was a great deal of money on the table. Always a good sign and three of the four looked like complete morons. Thickset with meaty biceps and even meatier brains. Ogres or at least part ogre. The fourth looked to be human although it was difficult to tell as he had his back to me.

  His pile of coins were diminishing fast much to the apparent joy of the others. I nursed my whisky – or what was left of it and watched it playing out. As soon as he was out, I’d drink it down and take his place.

  He held nothing of value in his hand so he’d either have to bluff real good or lose everything. As I suspected he lost the little bit of money he had. Knocking back the whiskey I stood up. If the three meatheads were used to that level of play, I’d wipe the floor with their asses.

  The human didn’t leave the table as I’d expected him to do. Instead he leaned forward and whispered something to the men. All three of the bigger ones grinned broadly and then began to deal again. I walked up to the bar and ordered another whiskey.

  Whatever the man had said, it had brought excitement to the table. The three ogres were practically salivating. This was getting interesting now.

  The kid was either incredibly stupid or he was playing my way. I grabbed the whisky and sat back down at my seat, watching them from the shadows, eager to see just how this was going to play out.

  It was to be a one round game. All three of the larger men went all in, so the centre of the small table was filled with gold. It was so heavy, I was surprise that the crappy wooden table could hold it. Whatever the young man had put into the pot, I couldn’t see.

  By the end of the game, I was on the edge of my seat, not even caring anymore if anyone saw me. If they were all in, I’d not be able to join. There’d be no point. I really should have left right there and then, but something stopped me. I genuinely wanted to know what was going to happen. The rest of the people in the bar watched along with me, as well as the bar tender who’d temporarily forgotten he was there to serve drinks.

  My knuckles were white, gripping the whiskey glass as the last of the three meatheads put down his cards. I couldn’t see what he’d played but judging by what the younger man had in his hand, the biggest meathead was going to win. Just as the younger man put his cards down, he reached up his sleeve and swapped his cards. It was so fast that I was sure I was the only one who noticed.

  The guy was a sneaky cheat!

  Ok, I had no room to talk, but he was so brazen. At least I used magic to cheat. His cheating seemed so much worse somehow.

  When the cards hit the table, the smirk on the big guy turned to a look of disbelief and then quickly on to anger. He picked the young guy up by the scruff of the neck and punched him, sending him skidding backwards across the floor and landing right at my feet.

  It was then I saw his face for the first time. A face that I recognised instantly.

  A face that anyone should recognise even covered in blood as it was. He was the Crown Prince of Eshen, his Royal Highness Prince Rory.

  I should have run, especially when the three ogres threw their chairs to one side and started lumbering over towards me.

  Whether they knew who he was or not was beside the point. I knew guys like these. I’d met plenty in my time. There was no way Prince Rory was going to get out of here alive if they got their hands on him.

  “Crap!” I cursed, under my breath. I’d hidden in the darkest corner of the room precisely because I didn’t want to be seen and I didn’t want any trouble. It was too late for that now. Trouble headed towards me in the form of three butt-ugly ogres. I downed my whiskey – there was no way I was going to leave it, and stood up to face the three men.

  When they saw me they laughed, all three of them gurning as their lips curled up at the edges twisting their features hideously.

  With my two arms in front of me, hands clenched into fists, I snarled at them. The noise sounded like a puppy mewling. I am the first to admit that I hardly cut an imposing figure. Still you have to work with what you have. “I don’t want to have to fight you guys, but if you touch him again, I’ll be forced to whip your butts.”

  They stopped in surprise. Not one of them was expecting someone of my size to stand up to them. Then they laughed again, this time, a little too hard. It really hurt my feelings. The first didn’t know what was coming as I landed a punch right on his jaw, sending him backwards into the poker table and scattering the gold coins onto the floor.

  Before meathead two had a chance to respond, I kicked him squarely between the legs, dropping him to the floor.

  The biggest of the lot charged towards me, sending me backwards into the wall with his bulky mass.

  He pulled bac
k his fist. Most men wouldn’t hit a woman, especially a woman so small, but he had no such qualms. I ducked to the right just in time to feel his fist go right through the plaster on the wall sending dust and rubble all over my jacket.

  “I just bought this!” I hissed, dusting the shoulder where bits of gray wall now decorated it.

  Being held up as I was, jammed between him and the wall, I didn’t have a lot of options for fighting back. I pulled back my elbow right to the wall and with as much force as I could muster, punched him in the face. He didn’t even blink.

  Dribble escaped the corner of his mouth as his fetid breath hit my nose. We were eye to eye now although my feet were a good two feet from the ground, and judging by the leer he was giving me, punching me was getting further and further from his mind as he worked out what else he could do to me.

  “Over my dead body!” I screamed, trying to push the brute away, but it was no use. He was so much stronger than I, even with fae blood running through my veins.

  Being this close to him, I could see that my first impression was true. He was definitely part ogre which meant he had no empathy or guilt at all. He’d crush me without shedding a tear.

  There was only one course of action left to me and it was the one thing I’d hoped to avoid. Still, it was better than being killed by this thug or worse.

  My wings were safely hidden, curled up in the back of my jacket and currently crushed against the wall, but I didn’t need them to use magic. Instead, I closed my eyes and concentrated. Five seconds later, I’d built up the energy I needed to blast him. With a flash of light, the meathead flew through the air, leaving an ogre sized hole in the plaster at the other side of the bar.

  I picked up my handbag and looked on the floor for the prince. He’d disappeared. When I looked up I saw that the giant pile of gold had also gone.

  Unfortunately the three ogres were still there and judging by the looks of them, they were really pissed off. They picked themselves up and headed towards me. My magic was depleted and there was no way I’d be able to fight them off a second time. Pulling my jacket off, I spread my wings and flew as quickly as I could out of the bar and escaped into the night.

  When I felt I’d put enough distance between me and the bar, I floated back down to the ground in a dark street.

  The dead end street was deserted with only a lone flickering streetlamp lighting it. Wildfell was one of Eshen’s seedier cities and I was in a particular rough part. Very few people ventured out at this time of night which is why I was surprised to see someone hiding in the shadows not ten feet away from me. He was nothing more than a shadow. Most people would have walked right past him and not even noticed he was there, but my fae senses noticed him immediately. He was a man, a tall man and from the way he was hunched over, I could see he was injured.

  Not my problem

  I watched as he sorted through the money he’d stolen from the guys at the bar.

  “You’re a brave man to steal money from ogres,” I commented, bringing a cigarette from a crumpled box in my pocket and lighting it.

  The prince quickly glanced my way and took off again, spilling gold coins as he ran.

  Good. I figured the guy owed me anyway. If I’d not have been in the bar, he’d have probably not have made it out alive.

  I followed his trail of coins, stopping to pick up each one in the dim light until I got to the end of the street.

  The prince had run himself into a dead end and was now crouching in a corner trying not to be seen.

  “So much for being brave huh?” I shouted out to him. “Just stupid maybe.”

  Ok, it was practically treason calling a member of royalty stupid, but I figured he deserved it. Besides, what exactly could he do? If he had me arrested, he’s have to explain where he was and I figured he wouldn’t want to do that.

  “I’ll give you half my money if you let me past,” he shouted out.

  Interesting! He’d won a fair wad of cash, more than I had expected to win when I first walked into the bar. I suspected his offer was less to do with the fact he had seen me neat up the ogres and more to do with me keeping my mouth shut. I took a drag on my cigarette and inhaled deeply.

  “You’ve got a deal, your highness.”

  I emphasised the your highness bit. If I could get even more money out of him, it was worth a try.

  He slowly ambled over to me, a look of wariness in his eyes.

  “Thanks for helping me out back there,” he said, handing me a small bag he’d filled with coins. I could tell by the weight it wasn’t half of his winnings.

  “No problem,” I replied, dropping the cigarette to the floor and stamping it out with my booted toe.

  Up close he was actually good looking. I’d only ever seen him smartly dressed with perfect hair on the TV, but now he was in front of me and covered in blood, he’d taken on a dangerous quality. It suited him – made him more real somehow. His usual clean shaven face had a layer of stubble covering his chiselled chin and his light blue eyes cut through the gloom.

  I was just about to ask him for more money...ok extort more money from him, when I heard voices behind me. I turned to find the three ogres heading quickly towards us. A ping sound followed closely by a bang told me they’d brought guns with them.

  Without thinking, I put my arms around the prince and took off into the sky.

  It was only when I landed three miles away by my home that I realised I’d been shot.

  Read Carrabosse’s adventure in Beauty Sleep (exclusive to the Shades of Fae boxset)

  Thank you so much for reading Charm. If you enjoyed it, please take a moment to leave a review at Amazon

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  All books by J.A.Armitage

  REVERSE FAIRYTALES

  Charm

  Lucky Charm

  Charmed

  Dark Water (Little Mermaid 1)

  Blue Water (Little Mermaid 2)

  Beauty Sleep (Sleeping Beauty 1)

  WAR AND SUITS

  Two of Clubs

  GUARDIANS OF THE LIGHT

  Endless Winter

  Infinite Spring

  Eternal Summer

  Autumn Ever After

  Guardians of The Light Boxset

  LABYRINTHIANS

  Labyrinthans

  Labyrinthian Diamond

  Labyrinthian Escape

  MURDER AT THE BITE CAFE

  Bloody Mary Murders

  Acknowledgements

  There are many people I’d like to thank for help in the making of Dark Water. The biggest thank you goes to my Reading Army. So many of you helped to make this fairytale a reality. From the very beginning of my Reverse Fairytales, you have been with me along the way. There are so many of you I’d like to thank and I know I’ve not listed everyone, but special thanks to Astrid Rudloff, Andrea Carpenter, Cheyenne Yakubik, Kalli Bunch, Lenka Trnkova, Claire G, Glenda Jaquez Dykstra and so many others in my Reading Army. I really couldn’t have written this book without you.

  Thanks also to my two favourite authors. You get me through each and every day. I love you both. AW and NH

  And as always to RP, my biggest supporter and bacon sandwich maker.

 

 

 
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