Page 31 of Battle for the Shadow Prince (A Bargain with the Shadow Prince #2)
31
Contracts & Provisos
DAMIEN
I ’ve never even heard of Provocationem Ad Mortem . Shades have no such magic in Tenebris. “Explain, little bird.”
“Each participant completes three trials.” She looks over her shoulder as we wind our way through the halls toward the exit. She has her hood up, and she’s taking me through the scribes’ passages. Lazarus must have shown her this. “The trials will be chosen for us by rolling dice. There’s a box. Sabrina showed it to me, and I thought I understood, but Lazarus told me more.”
“Sabrina?”
“The master of the Lamia coven. I went to Chicago after you gave me Cassius’s address.”
“For you to see Cassius, not visit with a vampire master.” My protective instincts are working at a fever pitch, but the blood pounding in my ears is my mating instinct obsessing over the vampire stench on her.
“The full moon’s light shines on these octagonal silver disks that open the way for each trial. We’ll be in two different trials based on our abilities. We won’t fight each other. The winner is decided by magic and displayed in a mirror on the lid of the box. The winner of two out of three trials wins you as their mate.”
“What happens to the loser?”
“The loser is executed at the discretion and in the manner the victor sees fit.”
Rage and fear battle for dominance within me. “And you knew all this before you challenged her?” I grit out.
She looks my way, her face a bit paler than before. “I didn’t know the trials were once a month. I thought they were like three days in a row. And I didn’t know that if I lose, Valeska can choose to torture me or something. But I understood the rest of it.”
“Gods. How could you take such a risk?” I growl, dropping her hand. “A human with a few magical abilities is no match for a vampire queen. Do you even realize the mess you’ve gotten yourself into?”
She stops short. We’re just inside a stained-glass door that leads to the stacks and a rear exit close to the marketplace. The light from the next room paints her mouth in reds and purples and sends a dark shadow across her eyes.
“Do you even realize the mess I’ve gotten us out of?” she snaps, planting her hands on her hips. “The last time I saw you, she was torturing you. You were ready to die. I was not going to let that happen. The plan was to break her blood bond and sneak you out of there, but that option went up in smoke when the queen returned early. And well, we were not getting out of that room alive without me using this magic.”
The fire in her voice burns me. I am torn between blessed relief to see her again and horror that she must fight for us, fight to the death. It should be me fighting. It should be me, not her, in the trials.
Eloise releases a deeply held breath. “Until such time as a winner is declared, no harm can come to either challenger or the mate in question. We can be together for the length of the challenge, and she can’t do anything about it.”
She throws open the door, and we walk through the stacks. Once she’s checked we’re alone, she sheds the red robe, folds it, and leaves it behind a shelf of books.
“The full moon is in three days .” My stomach sinks.
“Yes. That’s the first trial. Lazarus says the challenge will take place in the silo where the moonlight can reach the disks. Until then, we’re both safe.”
“Safe?” Is she joking? Three days. Three fucking days.
We’re on the move again, and this time we don’t stop until we’re outside the palace grounds on the edge of the marketplace. She finds a sheltered corner behind two tents and draws me into it, away from the crowds. Bending over, she braces herself on her knees and draws in a deep, shaky breath, as if the events of the day are finally sinking in. All the rage swirling in me about Valeska, our situation, the risks she’s taken, the fucking scent of other vampires on her skin, it all dissolves at the sight of her mounting panic.
I force my voice softer but can’t completely strip the embers of anger from it. “My little bird.” I hook my knuckle under her chin, lift her face to look at me.
Her eyes are red and lined with silver. I draw her into my arms.. Gods, I never thought I’d feel her against me again, the weight of her in my arms, the soft touch of her skin, the scent of her hair. I capture her lips with mine, and we kiss as if the answer to everything lies within each other. Maybe it does. Maybe the entire universe revolves around this connection between us. It certainly feels that way.
She breaks into frantic sobs, her fingers exploring my hair, my face, my chest, as if she can’t quite believe she’s actually touching me. When we finally break apart, she can’t speak fast enough.
“Oh my God. Oh my God, Damien. I… I hoped. I prayed. But I wasn’t sure?—”
I smooth back her hair. “How did you even get down here?
“I… I…” Her eyes dart over my shoulder, and she frowns.
I’m suddenly aware of onlookers. Of course our voices would carry to vampire ears. I grab her hand and lead her through the crowd that’s form at the entrance to our hiding place and through the sea of gossipy whispers. Word has come down from the palace. The words challenged the queen and old law lift above the unintelligible din.
“We’ll go back to my place. It’s not far. It’s not as grand as Harcourt, but I’ll be able to keep you comfortable during the trial.”
But she’s shaking her head, staring at something in the crowd now, and her face is not just pale but ghostly. I follow her line of sight to find Marabella walking toward us through the throng with a wicked smile on her face. I look between Eloise and Marabella, a deep dread balling in the pit of my stomach.
“How did you find safe passage into Night Haven, Eloise?” I demand, fury rising in my veins again.
Marabella appears beside us and takes Eloise’s hand. “Damien, it is a pleasure to see you again. And this, I hear, is a happy, if not a bit scandalous, reunion.” She smiles wider. “I’m afraid, though, we must be going. Eloise is contracted to house Marabella for another three months, and as she’ll be taking the full moon off for each of them, we need to rework her schedule.”
“No.” I stare down at Eloise, thinking it can’t be true, but the steady flow of tears drenching her shoulders tells me I’m wrong. The stench of other vampires on her skin punches me in the chest.
Her voice is small and broken as she admits it. “This is how I got into Night Haven. I traded three months for safe passage into the palace to find you. Marabella fulfilled her end of the deal. I owe her.”
I am a man made of shadows but the darkness that coalesces in me is on a whole other level. I am barely contained violence. I am death with a heartbeat. I turn to Marabella. “I will pay you twice her debt. Release her now.”
She scoffs. “That’s not how this works, Damien. Her contract is for time served, not dollars. And now I think many vampires would pay all they had for a taste of the challenger’s blood.”
Beside her, Eloise’s eyes are trained on the street, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and dread.
“Marabella,” I say through my teeth, “I will book every slot with her for the next three months.”
The madam raises an eyebrow. “Come to the manor and I’ll see what I can do. But you do understand that a donor with blood like Eloise’s already has a full stable of regulars. Still, I’m sure we can fit you in,” she says, wrinkling her nose.
She tugs on Eloise’s hand, and they move away from me toward Marabella’s, Eloise shuffling behind the madam like a child reluctant to go home. My teeth grind. Is the contract still binding if Marabella is dead?
“Don’t do it, my friend,” Lazarus whispers from beside me. Where did he come from? “Eloise needs all the support she can get right now, and if you kill Marabella, the backlash will be as much risk to her as the trials.”
“You helped her do this?” I turn on the scribe, my growl drawing unwanted attention.
With a knowing tilt of his head, he says in a voice loud enough for anyone to hear, “Oh, Damien, you know as well as any that I never leave the stacks. Your mate stole those robes from the laundry. I had nothing to do with it. Why, there are six scribes who will confirm I was working in the library at the time she entered Valeska’s room.”
I grab his wrist and pull him close. “Tell me one thing, old man. Did you taste her blood?”
He snorts. “She offered. I could have, you understand. But I didn’t. Chalk it up to knowing the consequences I would face if her plan worked out. You’d do well to remember, old friend, that Valeska had her name. If she hadn’t done what she did, she might be roasting over a spit right now.”
I close my eyes and release a breath, hearing the truth in his words. He knows better than anyone. I release him. “I’m sorry. Thank you, Lazarus, for everything.”
He gives me a firm nod. “If you need me, I’ll be in the chapel, praying she can win.”
I watch him stride toward the palace, and then I break into shadow and race toward Marabella’s.