Page 38 of Battle for the Shadow Prince (A Bargain with the Shadow Prince #2)

38

The Second Trial

ELOISE

I t’s louder in the silo the night the scribes escort me to the second challenge. Thanks to Everald, I’m more prepared than ever in the state-of-the-art tactical gear he brought me. I find him leaning against the wall and give him a nod of thanks. From his spot beside Lazarus, I see Damien roll his eyes.

As the moon climbs, I spot Olivia against the wall with a familiar vampire at her side. I can’t place where I’ve seen him before, but he’s wearing a palace uniform—not in the military still like Marcel’s but similar to the ones vampires in administrative roles wear. Vampires who work for the queen. Their hands are coupled. So this is her sire.

My eyes snap back to the podium and box as Lazarus starts to speak. “Challengers, step forward.” We do, and I can’t help but notice that Valeska looks smug. I narrow my eyes and study the bitch. She has something up her sleeve. I can feel it.

“Valeska, because Eloise rolled for the first challenge, you will roll today.”

Valeska tosses the dice. They bounce around the box until they land on three wavy lines and a blue circle. We both stare at the mirror in anticipation as it fills with white smoke. And then a set of eyes the color of melted chocolate come into view, fringed with thick lashes. The view pans back, and I see a gorgeous woman in a purple cloak with a silver crescent moon hanging around her neck. Her red lips move. A few seconds later, as if the sound isn’t synced, I hear, say my name as if it were whispered in my ear. Damien’s eyes meet mine. He can’t see what I see from his place next to Lazarus, but he gives me an encouraging nod.

I look again. Clearly I need to find this woman and ask her her name, then return to the silo to give it to the box. But who is she? She doesn’t resemble Damien at all. I don’t think she’s family.

Feathers and crystals adorn her hair, and when she twists her hand, magic erupts in her palm.

I chew my lip. She must be a witch. I shuffle through all the stories Damien shared with me. He only ever mentioned one witch and not by name. I’m guessing she’s the one who helped Damien get his father back. The one from Dimhollow, the wild lands perched between the sea and the volcanic mountains that border Willowgulch. I picture the place Damien described in my head, hoping it will help me.

“Valeska, choose an archway,” Lazarus commands.

I know which one I would pick. The moon archway shows a beach of red sand lapped by dark, rippling water. A boat waits ashore in the distance. The topography looks nothing like where the witch in the mirror is standing. In contrast, the star archway shows a dark forest, similar to the one in the mirror.

My heart beats harder as Valeska chooses the star archway and the forest within. I rush for the moon archway and leap across the threshold. Once my feet land on the red sand beach, I have to smile. Blood Beach is the seaport of Aendor, the coastal territory of Stygarde. If I row the boat around the stone wall sheltering the harbor, I can go ashore on the edge of Dimhollow on the other side. Valeska might be closer, depending on which part of the forest she was transported to. But with any luck, she ended up on the other side of the volcanic river. She’ll have to search for the witch. I know exactly where I’m going. I can win this.

“Don’t get cocky, Eloise,” Phantom says, jumping into the boat with me, their dainty paws landing cleanly on the wooden seat. “Remember, Valeska is faster than you. She may not have a map like you do, but she can cover ground ten times as fast. And if she gets lucky, she might be able to make it through the Dark Forest and over the river and mountain before we can get around the seawall buffering the harbor.”

I pull up anchor and man the oars. “It doesn’t look that far, but you’re right. Do you think I should use magic to help push the boat?”

Phantom seems to consider it. “No. It’s tempting, but we can’t risk overusing your magic. The last trial came terrifyingly close to killing you. Save your power in case the witch won’t give you what you want.”

I throw my back into it the old-fashioned way. Pretty soon it’s just me vs. an ocean that seems to go on forever. I hug the bank and fall into a rhythm. “Did you notice that smile Valeska gave me? Smug, right? What was that all about?”

“Don’t let her get in your head, darling,” Phantom says. “Who knows why someone like that does anything?”

I nod. “Only, she lost the first challenge. Why wouldn’t she be more nervous about this one? Her entire disposition just seemed odd. It’s like when Tony would try to gaslight me. Same expression.”

The fox stares off into the distance with its glowing green eyes. “What could it be though? It’s not as if she can cheat. You’re not even in the same world.”

“What do you mean?”

“During the first trial, based on the times you returned through the archway and the fact that both of you obtained the same earring, we know that there were two versions of the same test. Mirror worlds. Somehow the magic is plucking these scenarios out of Damien’s head and creating all this, balancing the odds with your abilities. This is ancient, deep magic, Eloise. We can feel it like a dull vibration in the air.”

I can’t feel anything, but I’ll take their word for it. I row steadily until we round the wall of the harbor. Instantly, waves barrel into me, rocking my little boat and making it harder to row. Phantom has to stand to keep their balance.

“How far?” I ask the fox.

“About a thousand yards I’d say.”

“Fuck.” My hands have started to blister, and as I look over my shoulder, the tip of the forest we’re aiming for feels like it’s getting farther away.

Phantom does a little dance when another wave plows into us and says, “Perhaps a little magic?”

The bond between us rises like a slack rope going taut, and I reach again for the magic my mother showed me how to call. Racking the oars, I feel the boat take off toward our destination, the water itself pushing us along. It’s easier this time. All the practice I put in during my recovery has paid off. I’m not even winded as we slide into shore. The beach here is rocky, and I hug myself against a sudden chill.

“Does it seem colder here to you than on the boat?” I whisper.

“At least ten degrees. More, we think.”

“Weird.” I know better than to let it slow me down. All I need to do is get the witch’s name and I’ll be snuggled up to Damien in no time. Thankfully, the tactical jacket from Everald is appropriate for this weather. I pull on a skull cap and dark gloves from the pockets, then stride quickly toward the dense woods bordering the beach. If I understand correctly, this is Dimhollow. I just need to find the witches and then the witch in question.

As I enter the forest, I almost hit my head on a bundle of sticks and bones hanging from a tree branch. I step around it. We continue along a winding path, walking faster until I break into a jog.

“We have a… feeling,” Phantom whispers. “Careful.”

I check that both my daggers are sheathed at my thighs where I left them. “What’s going to happen to me that hasn’t already?” I say softly. “Giant spider? Bear? Can’t be worse than the salamander.” Up ahead, a pile of pine needles swirls like it’s caught in its own mini tornado. Above it, another bundle hangs from a tree branch—this one cloth and fur and leaves. Past that, I see a pile of stones under another one: bones and hair and something smeared black. As I pass it, the stones topple.

Phantom stops, the hair along their back standing on end. “We don’t like this, Eloise.”

“What is it?”

As if in answer, a hand pops out of the ground beside the rocks and slaps the soil, palm flat on the forest floor. Behind it, a head and then a dirt-covered body rise from the earth in a way that reminds me of a swimmer exiting the side of a pool.

“Shiiiiit,” I hiss, and then we run. We don’t get far. Another hand breaks through the dirt in front of us, the body of a man rising up from below. This one is dressed in animal skins, wearing a headdress that appears like a wolf’s skull with horns.

I stumble back and spin around to return the way we came, only to find three women waiting behind me, brushing dirt from their shoulders. I’m surrounded.

I touch the hilt of one of my daggers.

One of the women bares her teeth.

I leave it where it is.

They’re not attacking me, but they’re closing in. Studying me.

I clear my throat. “Can you take me to the leader of your coven?” I ask. “I need help.”

They circle me, studying me, their paths growing tighter and tighter, closing in. I try not to panic. “Phantom, do you know what these things are?”

“Wraiths, darling. Like us.”

“Like you?” My voice rises in disbelief.

“They are dead witches possessed by witch spirits.”

“Zombies.

“No. Zombies are animated corpses. These are spirits. Thinking, intelligent spirits that have manifested using the dead. Just like us.”

“Please,” I say to the wraiths. “If I could just talk to the witch who helped Damien… It will only take a moment.”

They act like they can’t hear me. They close in.

“These are spirits, Eloise,” Phantom says again. “You can command them. You have spirit magic.”

“How?”

“Believe you can and you will.” The fox steps into me until their side is brushing my leg.

I stand taller, lift my chin, and search deep inside myself for any magic that might connect me to these wraiths. I feel something, but I’m not sure exactly what it is. I’ve never used this part of myself.

“Stop!” I command, leaning my energy into a tingle I feel between my eyes.

The wraiths stumble to a halt. I want to ask where to find the witch in question, but without her name, I have no idea what to ask for. In the end, I simply say, “Show me to the witches of Dimhollow.”

All four of them step around me and start walking deeper into the woods. I turn on my heel and follow.

“Good work,” Phantom says.

“Let’s not count our witches before they’re hatched,” I mumble. “This is heavy magic.”

“Hang in there, darling. All you need is a name.”

I get the very real perception that we are navigating a labyrinth of trees. The way the path winds and folds in on itself disorients me, and I know without a doubt that I’d be lost if not for our ghostly guides. But every step comes at a cost. By the time we step into a large clearing between a neighborhood of quaint cottages made of stone and thatched roofs, I’m seeing spots and sniffing back the threat of a bloody nose. I’m also so cold I can’t feel my fingers.

Desperate for relief, I drop my hold on the dead. The relief is instant, like I’ve been carrying a five-hundred-pound weight on my shoulders and just dropped it into the dirt. But the moment I release my hold, they turn on me, screeching.

I bend myself protectively over Phantom as their icy claws scrape my back. The cuts are cold, then turn hot once they’re open. I howl in pain. Tears form unbidden in the corners of my eyes. It hurts so bad I shake.

“Please!” I scream, curled into a ball around Phantom. “Does anyone here know Damien?”

“Let her go,” a woman’s voice says.

The clawing stops. Although my entire back feels stripped of skin and I cry out as a straighten, I turn toward the voice. It’s her, just as the mirror pictured her. Thank God it’s her.

“I need to know your name,” I force out.

She scoffs through perfectly full lips. “I’m not telling a fellow witch my name without knowing hers first.”

“I’m Eloise, and I’m not…” Humans don’t exist on this world, and I’m not going to win her trust by claiming not to be a witch.

“You’re not what?”

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Come inside. I’ll treat those wounds before the death sinks in.”

I don’t like the sound of that. Pain steals my breath as I drag myself after her, Phantom hugging closely to my side. The witch pulls out a chair and guides me into it, then tears open the back of my shirt. I cry out as pain shoots along my spine and ribs like someone is electrocuting my bones.

“Ooh, ooh, ooh, they got you good. You protected your anchor though. Smart witch.” She points her chin at Phantom, who is sitting near the door, foxy features striking a cunning profile as they watch the witch.

She grabs a clay pot from her rustic kitchen counter and starts smoothing a salve over my wounds. The pain abates immediately.

“That feels incredible.”

“Start talking. Don’t make me regret saving you.”

“I’m sorry to barge into your coven like this, but I need your help. Damien is in trouble, and I need your name to free him.”

Her eyes narrow. “Damien knows my name, girl, and I doubt he’d send an inexperienced witch like you here to obtain it for him if he didn’t. Names hold power. But then you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t know that. Sorry, but I don’t give mine out freely to anyone who asks.”

“Just tell her the truth,” Phantom says.

The witch drums her natural, unpolished nails on the table. “Listen to your familiar, Eloise. Tell me the truth.”

“You can understand them?” I say, surprised.

“I speak many languages, girl. The one of the dead is a bit of a specialty.”

My stomach drops as I think about the clock ticking down. I need her name, and I need it five minutes ago. I give her a very quick recap of what I’m doing here, ending with, “I challenged the vampire queen for Damien. If I don’t return with your name, I’ll lose the second trial and risk losing him as my mate. I can’t let that happen. Please, please help me.”

She studies me for a few long heartbeats and then grabs my wrist and pulls my palm to her, inspecting the lines there. “You are Damien’s mate.”

“For now, but if I don’t return with your name?—”

“I never thought I’d see the day?—”

“Please, if I could just?—”

“Where is he? He disappeared centuries ago.”

“He was pulled through a rift to my planet, Earth.”

“Earth.” She frowns. “But you can bring him back here. I sense the power in you.”

“I can eventually, but?—”

“You must.” She grows agitated, squeezing my hand harder. “You have no idea the evil things that have transpired in Stygarde since he was lost. The kingdom needs him now more than ever.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. Any other time, I’d love to hear everything, but the clock is ticking and Valeska is so fast. “Please. Without your name, Damien will remain a prisoner of the vampire queen on my planet forever, and I will be dead.”

My hand is still resting in hers when I see an idea flash in her dark eyes. She moves to a cabinet pushed against the far wall and returns with a set of tarot cards. She starts flipping them on the table in front of me. I don’t know anything about tarot, but I recoil when the death card is the last to flop.

Her dark eyes meet mine, and her lips draw into a wide grin. “You hold a secret in your blood.”

My dragon blood. “Yes.”

She lifts her chin and places her hands on her hips. “I will tell you my name if you swear to bring Damien back here after you’ve freed him. This world needs him as much as you do.”

I stand from the chair. “I swear it.” I’ve always planned to eventually return here with Damien anyway, when we’re both ready.

She leans forward and whispers the name in my ear.

I bolt for the door and see the arch rise in the central space. I race for it, my back throbbing with the movement, and leap across the threshold. I have a second to register that Valeska is already there. Her mouth forms the word before I can part my lips.

“Aurora,” she says, so fast I can hardly understand it. But the vampires can. I’m too late. I’ve missed winning by a fraction of a second. I grab my pounding head as Valeska’s name flashes across the mirror. The crowd goes wild, exchanging money among the sound of curses and howls of excitement. I catch Marabella’s eye, and she turns away with a shake of her head like she can’t even look at me. George is at her side. He doesn’t look at me either.

Someone touches my shoulder, and I jump back.

“Little bird?” Damien’s voice sounds like it was conjured from cinders. I throw myself into his arms and weep. He picks me up and carries me back to Marabella’s through a crowd of hissing vampires.