Page 50 of Bartered by the Shadow Prince (Bargain with the Shadow Prince #3)

Tea for Two

ELOISE

T he parlor is just how I remember it. The grandfather clock ticks in the corner of the room, the gallery of family pictures lines the far wall, a cozy fire blazes in the fireplace, and on the coffee table is Maeve’s grandmother’s tea set.

“Eloise?”

I turn my head to see my best friend sitting beside me on the green velvet sofa in her pajamas.

Through a pair of square glasses with thick black frames, her eyes look unnaturally large.

Her full set of bangs and shoulder-length black hair hang in the typically straight fashion I remember.

She releases a breath that relaxes all the features in her face.

“Maeve?” I respond excitedly. I haven’t seen her since I left Earth!

“Yes. It’s me. The real me. I’ve been trying the Hitch and Cast spell for weeks. This is the first time it’s worked!”

Finally, it sinks in that Maeve is really here, in my dream. I throw myself across the sofa toward her, and we hug each other until we’re both fighting back tears. “Then it really did work,” I say.

“What worked?”

I tell her about Thanesia’s door and having to walk the road to gain access to the Darklands.

“Before, when I was just a vampire, I didn’t dream.

You couldn’t have entered my dreams because I didn’t have any.

Thanesia gave me a heartbeat, but she also gave me my dreams again.

And I bet when I wake up, I’ll be able to call Phantom and have access to my power too. ”

We both squee with excitement. She takes my hands.

“I’m so happy that I was finally able to reach you.

I started to think you might have died along the way.

But considering you have a heartbeat again, I guess it was the opposite.

You were coming alive again.” She brushes her dark bangs off the rim of her glasses.

“But what does this mean? Are you human again?”

“Definitely not. My fangs and my senses are still very much vampiric.”

“So, you’re a vampire with a heartbeat?”

I shrug. “I’m not sure, honestly. I’m still recovering from the ordeal.”

Maeve’s eyebrows lift. “Well, you look good!”

“You look good too,” I say. “Like you’re eating better.” I don’t want to say it looks like she’s gained weight. That could be taken as a negative. She looks healthier.

She snorts. “Well, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“What’s that?” I brace myself for bad news. I left Harcourt Manor to Maeve, knowing she’d likely have to sell it eventually. I wonder if that’s what this is about.

“I ended up selling my condominium and moving in to Harcourt.”

A sun has risen where my heart once was, and I smile to let the light out. “You did? Maeve, that’s great news.” Happy tears fall at the idea that the house is alive again, being used and maintained. My family cemetery is in good hands.

“Also, I have a roommate and you know her.”

“Oh? Who?”

“Ren. You met her in Night Haven.”

“She left Maribella’s?” I can’t believe it. I thought the frightened woman whom I left in the vampire kingdom would remain a blood donor forever. She was so afraid to venture out on her own.

“She credits you with getting her out of there, El. That’s how I met her.

After she was topside, she looked you up.

She didn’t know anyone else and didn’t have anywhere else to go.

She showed up on the doorstep of Harcourt and told me how she knew you.

We hit it off immediately, and I invited her to be my roommate.

She’s a great cook.” A blush stains her cheek.

“Oh—Maeve, when you say you hit it off…?”

Her face positively glows. “We’re together. It’s only been a few weeks, but I’ve honestly never been happier.”

I hug her again. “I’m so happy for you. Ren is good people. She got me through some incredibly hard times in Night Haven.”

“I agree.” She laughs. I glance down and see the tea in my cup is halfway gone. The tea set is Maeve’s anchor. Once the tea is gone, we’ll be thrown out of this dream and both return to our own worlds.

“Maeve, I wasn’t expecting to see you, but now that you’re here, I need your help.”

She frowns. “What’s going on?”

I give her a short rundown of what’s happening in Stygarde, with as much detail as I can fit into a few minutes.

I tell her about the blood tax and the young shades who work the fields drugged out of their minds.

I tell her about how a dark elf sits on the throne and how I was tortured by her father, the elf king, in Blackspire.

I speak so fast I wonder if she’s even following.

But when I’m done, she looks adequately horrified.

“Eloise, by the goddess, it’s amazing you’re still alive. You are an evil queen magnet. Goddess, two planets, two evil queens. You are two for two.”

I laugh at the truth of it. “Two evil queens and one benevolent but terrifyingly crabby goddess,” I remind her.

She chuckles. “How can I help?

“I need you to give Morpheus a message. Tell him that his mother, Tempest, is okay, but that war in Stygarde is inevitable. Tell him that he was the first thing she asked about when we arrived here and that Aendor is helping organize the resistance. Tell him she loves him.”

Maeve snorts. “Another visit to Morpheus… Yay…” She unenthusiastically shakes her fists in the air. The two aren’t exactly chummy, but I know she’ll follow through.

“Anything else?”

“Cassius. Let him know what’s going on. Damien and I miss him. And thank him for helping me.”

She squeezes my hand. “You have my word. I’ll tell them everything you’ve told me.”

I glance down at the tea again. It’s almost empty. Just a few drops left.

“I miss you, Maeve,” I say, tears flowing freely now.

“I miss you too.”

“Say hi to Ren.”

“I will.”

“I’ll try to Hitch and Cast once my powers are working ag?—”