Page 39 of Battle for the Shadow Prince (A Bargain with the Shadow Prince #2)

39

Ricochet

DAMIEN

“ B ack so soon?” Dr. Everline asks as I sit Eloise on the examination table. I haven’t inspected her wounds, but her clothes are soaked in blood… again. I’d do anything to save her from this, anything to protect her from the next challenge. Truly, I must have offended the gods. This helplessness is my worst nightmare. It’s like having a slowly tightening noose around my mortal neck.

“Believe me, if I had a choice, I wouldn’t be bothering you again,” Eloise says with her usual cheerfulness. Even covered in blood, she’s concerned with putting the people around her at ease.

But there is no comfort for the two of us. She’s right that she doesn’t have a choice. I’ve tried everything. I’ve had Lazarus scour every manuscript in the stacks and turn over every magical stone. We’re not getting out of this until she faces that last trial. The trial that will either free me or doom us both.

“Hmm,” Everline says from behind her. She’s spread the pieces of her bloody shirt. “Can you explain how your clothes are bloody and shredded but your back is completely healed?”

My mate looks over her shoulder at the doctor. “Aurora—the witch we had to find—healed me with some salve while I was inside the challenge.”

One of Everline’s eyebrows lifts into her hairline. “Magical salve inside the challenge? Stars above, that’s some damn powerful magic.” She does a quick assessment. “You’ve lost a lot of blood. We’ll give you an infusion along with a potion to speed healing and watch you overnight. You should be good as new by morning.”

The good doctor vacates the room, leaving me alone with Eloise.

“Are you well, truly?”

She takes my face in her hands. “Truly.”

“By the gods, I’m not sure I can endure seeing you walk out of that archway bloody again.”

She sighs and touches her forehead to mine. “Sad. I’m really enjoying myself.”

I give a low chuckle. “Little bird, if you weren’t in need of medical care, I’d show you what to do with that smart mouth.”

She puts her hands on my shoulders and pushes gently. I give her some space. “Damien, there’s something I have to tell you. Something happened during my challenge. Something I think you should know.”

“Tell me.”

“Aurora asked me to promise I’d bring you back to Tenebris if I won the challenge. She said bad things have happened since you’ve been gone and that Stygarde needs you.”

My inner shadows churn, going cold within my torso. “Did she give you any specifics?”

She shakes her head.

Eloise would never lie to me, but the Aurora she met in the challenge wasn’t the actual Aurora. These challenges are simulations, mirror realities. They might be an accurate portrayal of what my world is like today or they might be a simulation based on my memories.

“When you win,” I say carefully, “we will decide together what we’ll do next. But nothing has changed for me. I will stay here as long as you wish to stay.”

She leans into me, and I pull her into a tight embrace. “As long as I’m with you, the geography doesn’t feel quite as important as it once did.”

“Rest now. All you should be worrying about now is winning the next challenge. Did the map I drew for you help?”

“Yes. My archway led to the Blood Beach in Aendor. I found Aurora’s house quickly enough. I thought I had it. Valeska must have gotten really lucky.”

My eyes narrow. The place where Valeska entered the forest was near the castle. Even with her advanced speed, it should have taken her longer to find the witch village. She would have had to search an entire forest and cross a mountain. Unless she somehow guessed correctly and went straight there.

The door opens and a nurse enters with a bag and IV supplies. “Hi, Eloise. Oh hi, Damien.” She looks between the two of us and smiles warmly. “I’m here to start your IV. Don’t worry, I’m new but I’ve been practicing. You’re my third one today.”

“I believe in you, Ren,” Eloise says kindly. “I didn’t know you were working down here though. Is this new?”

“I took over for Olivia.” She swabs a vein and prepares to insert the needle.

“I didn’t know Olivia was working as a nurse for Dr. Everline.”

Ren’s eyes flick up to Eloise’s and she frowns. “You don’t remember? I think she was your nurse the last time you were injured. I saw her standing outside your room for what seemed like an hour. I thought she was waiting for you to finish with Damien before bringing you your meds or something.”

Dark suspicion flits across Eloise’s features as she meets my eyes again and holds an intense stare. Ren finishes hanging the bag, hugs Eloise, and leaves. Once we’re alone, Eloise grabs my arm. “Olivia stopped by my room yesterday. Marabella told me she only returned to Night Haven to be a donor again because she wanted to find someone to turn her into a vampire. She came by to show me her fangs.”

“A recent development, I assume?”

“Yep. I saw her at the trial tonight with her sire.”

“What did he look like?”

“Palace uniform. Not a soldier. Short, slight frame.”

“Fuck. That’s Galloway, Valeska’s personal assistant.”

Eloise gapes, her eyes narrowing in disgust as she draws the connection I’ve already worked out. “Do you think Olivia spied on us and exchanged the map of Tenebris for becoming a vampire?”

I growl. “I think it explains how Valeska performed that trial like she had directions.”

She squeezes her eyes shut and fists her hands. “That fucking bitch. And now I have no advantage going into the last challenge.”

Rage burns in my blood, but I try to remain calm for her. “I must go. The night grows late and I have not fed.”

Her brows dip in disappointment, but she nods, clearly more concerned with my welfare than her comfort. Typical Eloise. “All right. Will you spend the day with me after?”

“Eloise…” I cup her chin, using my thumbs under her jaw to tip her head and kiss her in a way that will last until I return. She wants me to stay, but there’s something I need to do for her. Something that can’t wait. “I wouldn’t miss it, little bird.”

I stride from the infirmary and break into shadow.

Outside Galloway’s home, I lurk in the shadows, waiting for dawn. By Night Haven standards, it’s a mansion. The place has to have fifteen rooms, and the front yard’s landscaped stone and statuary are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The massive fountain out front features the three graces, the figures circling a central pedestal, hands linked and backs to the column. The water that arcs over their heads is dyed red to resemble blood.

So fucking pretentious.

Why didn’t Valeska choose Galloway as her mate? The little pissant would have happily licked her boots. As it is, his nose is permanently brown from kissing her ass. Obsequious little shit.

The streets have grown quiet by the time he arrives with a blond vampire on his arm. Something about her reminds me of Valeska—the type of woman who wears her beauty like armor and whose eyes betray no compassion or empathy. Shark eyes. This woman was a monster before she ever became a vampire.

I step out onto the walkway, blocking their path. “Olivia?”

“What do you want?” she asks, folding her arms. She’s not afraid of me. She should be.

Such a new vampire.

Galloway’s eyes shift from me to her, and he steps away from Olivia. Does she even realize that her sire has no interest in protecting her? They aren’t mates. She’s a plaything to him, nothing more.

He holds up his hands. “Damien, you know I only do what she tells me to do.”

Olivia scowls. “You don’t owe him an explanation, Galloway. He’ll be Valeska’s dog soon enough.”

I chuckle to myself as Galloway takes another step away from her.

“Can we talk about this?” he asks, but the question is half-hearted. He knows what’s about to go down, and he’s not going to do a thing about it.

“Hmmm. No.” I move closer to Olivia, staring her deep in the eyes. Compelling a vampire is harder than compelling a human but not impossible. “Did Valeska ask you to spy on Eloise or did you do it on your own?”

Her eyes go dull, and the corner of her mouth curls. I’m inside her mind but not in control. Still, I feel her desire to confess. Her mind is begging for her to spill what she believes is a cunning act of ingenuity. She’s proud of what she’s done.

“It was my idea. I heard everything you told Eloise and relayed it to Valeska once she agreed to have me turned.” She lifts her chin defiantly. “And now I have immortality.”

My lips curl, but it is no smile. “Is that what you think?” I strike before Olivia knows what’s coming. She struggles. I taste the fear in her blood when she realizes vampire strength is nothing compared to the strength of a shade.

Galloway slides his hands into his pockets as I drain her dry, feeding my hunger and my need for revenge. “Try not to get blood on the stone, Damien. It’s imported.”

I retract my fangs. She’s desiccated but not dead yet. I dig my fingers beneath her jaw and tear her head from her body. Both head and body burst into flames and settle to the stone, nothing but a pile of ash. I reach down and grab a fistful, my narrowed eyes trained on Galloway.

“Don’t look at me like that, Damien. You know Valeska ordered me to turn her. I had no idea what agreement she struck with the queen.”

“Right. It’s never your fault, is it Galloway?”

He snorts, shakes his head. “She’ll never win anyway. You know that, right?”

A growl rumbles through me. I’m too full to drain him… tonight. “My mate was strong enough to win the first challenge and threatening enough for Valeska to resort to cheating on the second. Eloise will win the third trial, and when the queen falls, you’ll be lucky to survive the transition in leadership.”

For a full breath, I enjoy the flash of fear that colors his features. Then I break apart and return to Eloise.