Page 55 of Bartered by the Shadow Prince (Bargain with the Shadow Prince #3)

Mount Damocles

DAMIEN

A warm, wet lick up the side of my face wakes me.

Borus blinks, his snout nuzzling my nose.

Beside him, Romulus finishes off a meal of something rodent-like but too masticated for me to identify.

The beast looks stronger, but that wound shouldn’t bear weight.

I reach up and pat the side of Borus’s neck. We’ll both ride him today.

The moon is already at its apex. Half the day is gone.

I find Eloise asleep. Not surprising, really. Most shades are drained the day after they learn to shadoweave, and no one performs the kind of maneuvers she did on their first day. She needs rest, and when she wakes, she’ll need blood. Which means I must get stronger, fast.

Silently, I sift through the grass, catching a vesper by the tail and draining it dry. They are the Tenebris version of rats and taste just as bad, but for me, they will have to do. We can’t linger here, out in the open.

A few more and I’m able to pack up our things, then draw her into my arms and mount Borus.

We set off toward the mountain again with Romulus trailing behind us, me holding Eloise like a baby.

I don’t stop again until Borus shows signs of strain.

We’re close now. The heat from the river of fire warms the air, and the smell of sulfur mingles with the flowers that thrive in the volcanic soil. I find a cave and make camp.

But as the moon sets, I’m concerned that Eloise is still unconscious. Her complexion is too pale, and her flesh feels hot to the touch. She needs blood.

I trap a small stag and bring it to her, and then I shake her by the shoulder. “Little bird, you must wake and eat.”

She groans and rolls her head away. I score the stag for her and dribble some of the blood into her mouth. A few swallows and she strikes. Her arms lock around the stag’s neck and hold it to her as she drinks and drinks and drinks. Only when the animal is drained does she open her eyes again.

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.” She places a hand on her head.

“You dislocated every cell in your body and merged with the shadows, all while slaying thirteen elves.”

“I thought there were fifteen,” she says smugly.

I snort. “I helped kill two. In my defense, I had sunlight arrows sticking out of my back at the time.”

“How are you feeling?”

I smile. “Better than you. My wounds healed overnight, and I recovered once I had blood. You will too.”

She licks a drop from her bottom lip and rubs her temples. “Thanesia made me a shade?”

Pure joy rises in me, warming my face, and she reflects a smile back at me.

“She gave us everything we asked for, Eloise, and then some. She allowed your ancestors through the door so that you could control your magic. She returned your heartbeat. What is a vampire with a heartbeat but a shade? She made it so that we are compatible in all ways.”

The corner of her mouth twitches. “We can have children together.”

He nods. “I assume so. To be sure, it would be prudent to wait until the elves aren’t actively trying to kill us and we have a place to live?—”

She’s in my arms, cutting off my words. The taste of stag’s blood tinges her kiss, and I moan at the feel of her heart against mine.

The stone behind my back may be hard and cold, but when she straddles me and nestles her fingers in my hair, all I feel is her soft warmth.

She grinds against me and I’m tempted to indulge myself with her, but it’s too dangerous.

“Little bird. We should rest. We have miles to go before we reach the entrance to the mountain.”

“I don’t want to rest. I want to try out all my new shade abilities.” Cool shadows slither up my spine before disappearing around the region of my neck. “Damn, the shadows are hard to hold.”

“We have a lifetime together to practice.”

Her kiss is deep, passionate. I want to show her how easy it is to shift out of our clothing. How we can make ourselves look different ways using illusion. I want to test her to see what her battle form looks like. But I find myself lost in her again, swept away by the passion of the moment.

A throat clears, and Eloise is off me in a flash, both daggers in her hands. I react similarly until I see who it is.

“Seamus?” The burly man at the mouth of the cave has the short stature, ruddy skin, and long beard of a mountain dweller, the clan that calls Mount Damocles home.

He spreads his arms wide. “Moon watch over me, I didn’t believe it was true until I saw you with my own eyes. Damien Hymir, you’re alive!”

“I am.” I bend down to accept my friend’s embrace. “And still in possession of your gift.” I snatch Dawnbreaker from the place where I left her leaning against the wall and show the expert craftsman the results of his handiwork.

He takes the blade lovingly in his hands. “Ahhh, she’s tasted elf’s blood, I see by the wear. I’ll sharpen her edge for you as soon as we’re back in the mountain.”

I gesture toward Eloise, who is standing straighter but still holding her daggers. “Seamus, this is my mate, Eloise.”

“Mate?” He bows low. “Pleasure to meet you, miss. But I see you are in possession of Cassius’s daggers. Has he returned as well?”

Eloise offers the knives when Seamus holds out his hands for them. “They were a gift,” she says. “Cassius taught me how to fight. He chose to remain in the world where Damian was being held.”

Seamus looks between us both. “It sounds like you have quite a story to tell. Come back to the Great Hall with me, and we will catch up properly over meat and ale and find you a place to stay.”

I begin to gather our things. “How did you know where to find us?”

“The witches sent a raven. Catarina’s message said you might be in dire straits after what her bird observed last night. I thought you might try to use this cave, Just like old times, eh, Damien? I’m relieved to find you in one piece.”

“Believe me, if it were up to the elves, we would have never survived.” I strap the saddlebags onto Borus, who groans and stomps his feet. “Just a little farther, friend. I promise.”

Eloise hands me her bag to add to Borus’s pack and gathers Romulus to her side. “We’ll have to walk them. We’ve driven them too far, too fast.”

“Ah, he’ll make it to the carriage,” Seamus promises.

“The carriage?” Eloise asks.

I’m just as confused. “Did you bring transport?”

He thumps my shoulder. “You don’t think I’d allow you to trek miles up Mount Damocles to the main entrance to the Hall, do you? Not after what you’ve been through. No, we’ll take you the mountain dweller way.”

“We?”

“I brought Amala, in case you were injured. She’s an excellent healer,” he tells Eloise, “and also my wife. She’s waiting outside.”

I follow after my friend, greeting and hugging his wife and introducing her to Eloise.

The woman produces a salve for Romulus’s injuries and has the beast bandaged and chuffing contentedly in minutes.

When she’s done, we follow the couple down a hill to a wide, spiraling staircase at the base of the mountain, concealed beneath a masterfully engineered gate of stone.

Although the rabble beasts balk at the descent, once we reach the bottom, a wooden train car awaits us.

“Seamus, you’ve been holding out on me,” I say as I board the car with the rabble beasts and Eloise. The two mountain dwellers climb in after us and close the side door.

“And if you weren’t recovering, I still would be. As it is, I’d prefer you forget this place exists.” He moves to the front of the carriage and drops an enormous switch. We shoot forward, a chain at the front of the car dragging us along a track.

“Marvelous bit of mountain dweller engineering, eh? We’ll arrive at the palace in a matter of minutes.”

“Thank you, Seamus,” I say, loading my words with my heartfelt sentiment.

The man runs a hand over his bald head. “You can thank us by doing what Catarina says you came to do, removing that brother of yours and that braying ass he calls queen from your rightful throne.”

Serious now, I nod. “That is exactly what I came to do.”