Page 27 of Battle for the Shadow Prince (A Bargain with the Shadow Prince #2)

27

Old Friend

DAMIEN

I pace the confines of Valeska’s room, breaking into shadow and testing every corner. There is no escape. I’m a prisoner here, as certainly as when I was surrounded by sunlight. Only a few days ago, I was ready to die, secure in the promise of one day being reunited with Eloise in the Darklands. Now my fate is far worse. Only with careful and clever distraction have I been able to evade Valeska’s questions about Eloise. I suspect the only reason she hasn’t forced the name out of me is that she wants me to give it to her freely, wants me to accept culpability in my mate’s death so that I’ll be more pliable once I’m hers.

That will never happen. I will never give it willingly. But how long can I deny her? With her poisonous blood in my veins, she will compel it from me eventually.

Unless I can find a way to dilute her influence.

A knock comes on the door and I break into shadow, hiding in the darkness behind the bureau. A human meal is delivered to me once per day, a necessity for a shade. Only now am I strong enough to consider how to use the regularity of its delivery to my advantage. If I can find an alternate source of nourishment, I can purge Valeska’s blood from my system. I might even be able to hasten the process by bleeding myself just short of death and then replacing what I’ve lost with a clean donor, preferably human.

Yes. The plan forms in my head. I will pounce upon the deliverer of my food, knock them unconscious, then drain my own blood before replenishing it. If all goes well, I’ll be free of this room before Valeska returns.

I hear the door open. The wheels of the cart squeak into the room. The door closes again. The serving cart rolls across the wood floors into view. I hover like a storm cloud over the dark-hooded servant’s robe, ready to descend with a violent blow. But pale, knotted fingers pull back the hood, and my plan is shot to hell.

I coalesce in front of the ancient scribe in my corse form. “Lazarus.”

“Oh, Damien, gods it is good to see you alive.” The scribe spreads his arms, and despite my disappointment at not being able to enact my plan, I embrace him. He is a true friend. I know that now more than ever.

“You’ve put yourself at risk coming here, old friend,” I whisper, glancing toward the door.

He sighs. “It was necessary. I mean to warn you—you must not drink her blood. She’s spelled it using a potion to bind you.”

My shoulder’s sink. “It’s too late, I’m afraid. I don’t suppose you have the antidote.”

He frowns. “There is none. You must wait until the blood leaves your system.”

It’s a disappointing realization, but I’m suddenly distracted by the scent of the food. Hunger pangs cut through me, and I pull the dome off the tray. Chicken. Roast vegetables. After tearing the leg off the bird, I swallow it whole, bones and all.

“Oh dear. She’s been starving you then?”

“Until recently,” I admit. “I am only allowed to drink from her and supplement with these human meals, so of course I’ve taken as little blood as possible. The lack of nourishment has slowed my recovery.”

He groans. “Then her blood concentrated inside you. I fear it will be some time until we can break her hold. But this should help.” He uncovers a goblet and hands it to me. It’s full of blood.

“Lazarus, you brilliant male.” I drain the cup dry, then tear into the chicken again.

“Had to compel the human servant to donate and allow me to serve you. I’m not sure I can do it again. It cost me. I’ll need to visit Marabella’s soon.”

“I thank you, my friend. I will not forget this.”

He studies me for a moment. “You truly will not give up her name?”

“I love her, Lazarus. She is more than my mate. She is the other half of my soul. I will not give her up. I would rather cut out my own tongue.”

Lazarus nods. “I can smell it on you. Your mating scent even overpowers the scent of the queen’s blood in your veins.”

I finish the last of the chicken and start in on the vegetables. “You’ve already done so much for me, but I must ask one more favor.”

“Anything, Damien.” The scribe’s bulbous eyes shift.

“Find Cassius. Ask him to get a message to my mate that she’s in danger. He’ll know how to find her.”

Lazarus frowns. “Cassius knows who she is then.”

I nod once. “He does. He’ll hide her. He’ll protect her.” I swallow hard. “I’m unsure if I can anymore. If Valeska commands me…”

“Say no more. I will do it at my earliest opportunity to leave Night Haven undetected.”

“Thank you, my friend. I will not forget this.”

The scribe bows his head, contemplative. “I never thought I’d see the day when I’d actively work against the wishes of the queen, but what she’s done to you is wrong. The old laws are very clear that mating bonds are to be respected. Few in this coven are old enough to remember the old laws, but they still stand, enforced by our forebears. What Valeska is doing goes against everything our kind was founded on.”

“I doubt Valeska understands the old laws or the consequences of breaking them. And I doubt even less that she cares. No one here has seen the forebears in decades. And I wager if they did come to enforce their laws, Valeska’s power would render them impotent.”

With a shake of his head, Lazarus disagrees. “The old law isn’t words on paper, Damien. It’s binding magic woven from the same stuff that animates us as vampires. She can never overrule it. That magic is why she can’t take you as her mate while your true mate lives! She’s a fool to ignore the law as she has.”

I glance down at the empty tray. “You should go before she returns. I don’t want you to garner her attention.”

Lazarus gives a shallow bow and then grabs the handle of the cart. “I will seek out Cassius. Good luck, my friend. Remember what I said. The bond you share with your mate is blessed. Valeska has no idea the forces she is tampering with. The gods will not be pleased with her behavior.”

I don’t know what to say to that. Vampire gods are not shade gods, and I’ve never been an overly religious sort. As the scribe maneuvers the cart out the door, his age shows in his struggle. He’s sacrificed too much to help me. “Feed, Lazarus. Before you go to Cassius. You look pale.”

He gives me a nod of agreement, and then he’s gone.

It isn’t long before Valeska returns, followed into the room by a troop of servants and blood donors. The sun is rising. I can feel the fatigue in my bones.

“You look well, Damien. Stronger. That’s good.” She eyes me like one might a prized steer.

I say nothing. She begins to undress, her lady’s maids removing her corset and the silver gown underneath. I avert my eyes.

“Damien, look at me,” she says through her teeth.

I keep my eyes focused on the wall until my head starts to throb, tremors shake my limbs, and my blood burns in my veins. Slowly I turn my head and the pain abates. She’s naked, making no moves to cover herself. I stare at her, completely uninterested.

Her gaze travels the length of my body, searching for some evidence of a physical response, but there is none. There will never be one. All I feel for Valeska is loathing.

When she realizes the truth, she snaps her fingers and one of her attendants brings her a red silk nightgown. The two humans help her into it. With a bend of her fingers, she summons one, tips the woman’s head to the side, and sinks her fangs into her. Valeska never takes her eyes off mine as she drinks and drinks and drinks. I’m relieved when her command wears off and I’m able to look away.

“Soon your blood will be strong enough for me to feed from you,” she says. “Once we’ve regularly taken each other’s blood, our bond will be unparalleled.”

I say nothing.

“You will be mine, Damien. You’re only prolonging the inevitable by fighting it.”

I don’t hear her move, but suddenly her hand is on my chest and her lips are dangerously close to mine. I cringe away from her touch, breaking into shadow and moving to the other side of the bed. It’s the wrong thing to do.

Her lips draw back from her teeth. “You dare reject my touch?”

“My biology precludes me from mating another,” I say for the umpteenth time. “Enough of this. Release me, Valeska. Every day you spend with me is a day you could spend finding a true mate. Perhaps one of the coven masters or a captain of one of the guards. I am useless to you.”

She growls, the feral growl of an enraged vampire. The two human servants take a step toward the door. She can no longer hurt me as she once could when I was mortal in the silo, but I can’t hurt her either. She’s commanded me not to.

“Enough games,” she says through her teeth. She’s around the bed and in front of me in the blink of an eye. “Don’t. Move.”

My stomach fills with dread as her hand shoots out and grips me by the jaw, her claws digging into my cheeks. My growl matches her own.

“Tell me her name.”

“Angelica.” It’s the name of her lady’s maid. She didn’t specify which her .

“Tell me the name of your mate.”

“Little Dragon.”

She squeezes harder, and I see drops of my blood fall to the floor from the place her nails dig in.

“Fucking bastard.” Her eyes lift to the ceiling. “Tell me the legal human name of the woman you are mated to.”

Fuck. No, no, no, no no! I try to fight it. I close my eyes and grit my teeth, then go for my own throat, meaning to rip out my voice box.

“You will not hurt yourself. You will tell me the answer now.”

The words come up my throat like cut glass. “Eloise Harcourt.”

Her eyes brighten and she releases me. I explode from her grip, breaking into shadow with a howl and tearing through the room. Blood sprays as I slice open her two humans. I paint the walls with blood. The bed. Her. I slice open the mattress. Wreck the lamp, the chair.

Only when I go for her closet does she say, “Enough! You will damage no more of my things! Form again now.”

Reluctantly I do, but my rage and hatred for her cause my entire body to shake.

She picks up her phone and dials a number. “Yes. I need a crew in here to clean my chambers immediately.”

Once she hangs up, she steps over the remains of her humans and heads for the door.

“Where are you going?” I ask through my teeth.

She laughs. “To talk to the commander of the guard, of course. He needs to find Eloise Harcourt.”

I swallow, desperation burning like acid through me. “Don’t kill her, Valeska. I’ll do anything you ask. Anything you want if you leave her alone.”

Her answering laugh is darkly wicked. “Oh, I’m not going to kill her, Damien. I’m going to have her brought here. And then I’m going to command you to do it.”

She turns on her heel and leaves as I break apart on an endless scream.