His breath is hot on her neck, the cloying, musky smell of his incense overpowering. ‘I know you feel the same way. You just have to open your heart to me, give yourself to me.’

Her gaze darts around the room. She wishes she could call for her sisters, but no one knows she’s here and her mouth is sealed up.

‘I can help you. You want that, don’t you?’ he murmurs.

She nods, desperate to be free from his control, and he releases his hold on her. Gasping for breath, she raises her arm and utters the first spell that enters her mind, casting a net of protection before her. The silver cage glitters in the air for a moment, and then Merlin raises his sceptre and it falls to the ground.

He surveys her childish work with a scowl. ‘I didn’t want to do this, but you leave me no choice.’ He utters something in a language she doesn’t recognise, the words full of harsh consonants. ‘Kallo vaer ditazh, zelab katch nichtum.’ His face turns pale and his eyes roll back in his head as he repeats the spell. She’s never seen him like this. It’s as if the chant is using him and not the other way around.

The girl watches in horror as a swirl of black energy appears at her feet. It buzzes like a swarm of flies, filling the room with the stench of decay, then circles around her in a whirlwind, rising up her body. This is nothing like the magic he’s taught her before. Nothing like the magic she or her sisters have ever done. This feels dangerous, depraved.

The shadow swarms into her mouth and she pleads at him with her eyes. Please stop this. But he doesn’t. She can feel his magic swirling in her gut, turning her body to ice. She gasps and splutters for breath. Is this how it feels to drown? Icy hooks pierce the soft flesh of her insides, tug at her heart. They pull at her emotions, trying to make her feel things she doesn’t want to feel. Love, warmth, longing. No. This isn’t right. She doesn’t feel that way for Merlin; he can’t make her feel things for him that she doesn’t.

The girl calls upon every ounce of magic in her, all the protection spells her sisters have taught her over the years. But Merlin is too strong. ‘One way or another, I will have you,’ he whispers.