Page 3 of Battle for the Shadow Prince (A Bargain with the Shadow Prince #2)
3
Queen’s Gambit
DAMIEN
I f my hate for Valeska were a visible thing, the dimly lit passageway the guards lead me down would brim with tearing claws and snapping teeth. I burn with hatred for her and the Kims, whose magic burns against my wrists. Sunlight cuffs. I scoff. Even the dark elves of Willowgulch hadn’t developed such enchantments.
Valeska trails behind me, surrounded by her guards. I can’t see her back there, but I can hear her, those godsforsaken boots of hers clacking on the stone.
The guards steer me through a door, into a strange, circular room. At its center is a simple bed with a crude wooden canopy. The guards force my weakened mortal body to sit on the thin mattress, the sun-charged cuffs on my wrists draining every ounce of my energy. I’m still naked and in my battle form, what Eloise calls my monster form. I’m too big for this bed, but at least I have my horns, wings, talons, and fangs. With the right opening, I’ll turn these vampire scum into ground meat.
When the guards part, Valeska is there, standing just beyond my reach. Her gaze flicks over me, frowning at my taloned fingers.
“Normally this is an execution chamber,” she says, her gold eyes drifting upward. I raise my chin and find an unobstructed view of the stars. The chamber has no ceiling. Like any evil queen worth her crown, Valeska has banished me to her dungeon. And in Night Haven, a subterranean kingdom where sunlight is the deadliest consequence she can bestow, the tower is a stone silo open to the sky some two hundred feet up. “The walls cast shadows as the sun moves across the horizon, slowly executing any vampire I trap here when it reaches its apex.” Her pointed red nail arcs through the air until it points straight up. “They tell me most vampires throw themselves into the sun rather than wait for the inevitable. In any case, I’ve never bothered with a bed before. No other prisoner has survived here long enough to use one.”
“How kind of you.” I layer on the sarcasm, thick as poison-laced honey. She ignores me. “And the canopy? Isn’t the point for me to bake in the sun?” I hold up my wrists, still bound in the cuffs.
She tips a crooked smile. “You pose a problem for me, Damien. You are no vampire, and the sun won’t kill you. Then again, we both know your death has never been my goal. If you are to be useful to me, I need you alive and I need you strong.”
My wings twitch with annoyance. “Then why am I still wearing the cuffs?”
“You know why. Tell me her name, and I will spare you any further discomfort.”
“Not happening.”
“I thought that might be your answer. I’m not sure if I’m disappointed or impressed at the level of loyalty you have for the human. In any case, it’s only a matter of time until you break.”
For the first time, I meet her gaze directly. It almost kills me to speak to her with respect, but I try it. The simplest way to get out of this is if she lets me go. “You’re better than this, Valeska. A powerful queen such as yourself doesn’t need me. There are warriors in your guard who would kill to serve by your side. Fuck, there are other shades besides me, ones who aren’t mated.”
She snorts. “No vampire warrior can walk in the sun, Damien. They can’t sustain me with their blood. A vampire can’t fly. And as for the two other shades on this planet, you know that neither are within my reach. If I used the spell I used on you to call Cassius or Morpheus, I’d be declaring war against the covens who protect them. As much as I have enjoyed growing this hive, without you by my side, even my armies would struggle against such foes. You pose no such risk. You are mine.”
“I am not.”
“Are you so apt to forget that you are a citizen of Night Haven? You are sworn to serve your queen.”
“Serve you, not mate you.”
She lifts her chin an inch. “I think your stay here will give you plenty of time to reconsider.”
My mortal stomach chooses that moment to growl, a soft sound but impossible for a vampire to miss.
Valeska’s full red lips twitch and then widen into a wicked grin. “Hungry, Damien?”
In fact, I’m starving. I haven’t eaten since the small amount of Eloise’s blood I drank before my capture. I was too eager to get to her tonight and didn’t bother to hunt first. The light has drained my reserves. I glare at her. She knows I’m hungry. I won’t give her the satisfaction of admitting it.
She moves closer, stopping only when her knees touch mine. Close enough that if the sun-wielder magic did not weaken me, I’d punch through her rib cage and crush her heart with my bare fist. Unfortunately, in my current state, trying something like that would be suicide. As long as I’m wearing the cuffs, I’m mortal. As long as sunlight touches my skin, she’s stronger, faster, and way more durable.
All I can do is load my eyes with hatred, let her see just how much I want to kill her.
She bends forward, offering her neck. I think about thrusting my cuffs against her face, but the Kims have designed them to only shine where they touch my skin. The little damage I’d do from what escapes the edge would only serve to piss her off.
“Drink from me, Damien. I can smell your hunger like the stench of rotting leaves. The sun is rising. I promise you, it will be a hellishly long day to face on an empty stomach.”
Despite myself, my gaze drops to her throat. The scent of her blood, earthy and spiced, meets my nose. But unlike Eloise, unlike the animals on whom I feed or the humans at Marabella’s, Valeska has no pulse. No beating heart. I don’t know exactly what animates vampires, but they are constructed more of magic than living flesh.
Valeska has tasted my blood. It’s how she called me here. But I have never sampled hers. Blood exchange by supernatural creatures is dangerous. She can’t force me to mate her, but a blood bond is almost as bad. I could end up craving her blood. I could end up handing her some of my precious control. I have no interest in potentially blood-bonding to any magical being, especially not her.
I swallow, and my throat feels like sandpaper, hot and dry and far too tight. I peel my tongue from the roof of my mouth before rasping, “I wouldn’t drink your blood if it was the only thing standing between me and the afterlife.”
She lashes out and slaps me. Pain explodes through my cheek and jaw. I curse and lift my cuffed hands to my face. My fingers come away bloody. Bitch got me with her claws.
Behind her, the night gives way to silvery dawn. Thank the goddess.
The guards retreat toward the door, skin already steaming, but Valeska stays and bares her teeth. “What you fail to understand, Damien, is that my blood is the only thing between you and the afterlife.” She whirls and exits in a blur of silver, leaving me alone with the Kims.
The twin witches press their backs together and spread their hands, each one performing that strange conjuring motion, their long, lean bodies tangling like two battling cranes. A pulse of power travels through me and slams into the stone. The walls of the silo glow as bright as my former cage. Everything shines but the floor.
Oh fucking hell.
The Kim’s drop their hands, and with a flick of Lang’s wrist, my cuffs are gone. And then so are they.
I’m left sitting on the bed. The sky overhead brightens with streaks of color. Sunrise. The last time I saw one, I was watching Tony’s body burn and lost track of time. Now I enjoy it the best I can in my mortal state.
Weakness weighs me down, and I’m tempted to curl up on the too-small bed, but resting won’t bring me any closer to escaping. I must escape. Eloise is in danger. If Valeska pulls the right strings, talks to the right people, it’s possible she could discover her identity without my help. I picture her in her room, in her bed. Vulnerable.
Mine .
I will get back to her even if I have to kill Valeska with my bare hands to do it.
As I move to stand, the mattress lifts from the base of the bed. I lift it higher and slide underneath, creating a wedge of shade. It’s not big enough to entirely encompass me, but it’s enough to provide a refreshing break from the unyielding light. Enough to give me time to think. After three long breaths, I hoist it off the bed and use it to partially shelter myself as I walk the periphery of the silo, scanning the stone for vulnerabilities.
I make it three times around before my exposed skin blisters. I’m forced back to the bed and the sliver of useless shade it affords me. And then I can fight sleep no more.