Page 46 of Battle for the Shadow Prince (A Bargain with the Shadow Prince #2)

46

Night Bird

DAMIEN

S he has no idea how beautiful she is. Eloise strides toward me, the deep red curls of her hair a stark contrast against the bright blue trench. Her skin is flawlessly pale. Her lips full and red from my blood. And those eyes… her green eyes cast their own light now, just like mine.

But I lament the grief I see flash in them. The mourning for her old self.

Part of being a warrior is learning how to live with the consequences of your actions. I remember my first kill, a dark elf who’d entered our territory with murderous intent, armed to the teeth. Killing Tony and Valeska has changed her, made her harder in ways she likely didn’t see coming.

She broke the bones of the man in the driveway and left him there to die. He was sent to kill her, and she is justified in taking his life. But I still see a glimmer of the girl I met almost six months ago as she walks toward me, a woman who is second-guessing herself. A woman who senses she should be compassionate, even now, even after these men have wronged her over and over.

Her body is stronger.

She’s harder to kill.

But she’s still vulnerable. A warrior who gave all of herself to protect the people she loved most. A warrior who saved me. A woman who now must make sense of it all.

It pains me to see her like this, still fighting for the scraps of her humanity that remain. She deserves so much more.

I would kill a legion of men if I thought it would make a difference for her.

And our trouble is just beginning. My little bird is now a night bird. The human authorities will come, and she will not be able to answer the door. She will not be able to discuss the case over tea. My night bird cannot return to her human life no matter how much she wishes to go home. Her old nest was built out in the open, in the sunlight, designed for fair weather. The storm is upon us now.

“I need to go tell Maeve it’s safe. She must be so frightened.” She sounds tired. Exhausted. Her eyes sweep over the dead, her bloodied lawn.

I take her face in my hands and kiss her until the tension bleeds from her shoulders. “Go. Be with Maeve. I will take care of this and join you in a moment.”

She nods, looking relieved. I watch her go inside, and then I get to work.

It doesn’t take me long to collect the bodies and feed them to the river. I finish off the man in the drive before I throw him over to join his brethren. At this point, the fish of the Rappahannock must have a taste for Denardi flesh. I clean the blood from the lawn with a hose from the side of the house. There’s no car in the drive. Where did they come from?

A mile or so up the road, I find a van. No plates. I leave it there.

When I’m finished, I stand in the yard, staring up at the light in the attic. Everything in me longs to take Eloise back to Stygarde. After what she told me following the second trial, I’m more curious than ever about what has become of my kingdom. Even though the trials took place in a mirror world, Aurora’s magic is unparalleled, and I wonder if there is any truth to her warning. Besides, I want to see that crown Eloise won on her head. But I can’t ask her to leave a life she’s not ready to leave. I can’t ask her to leave Maeve, who is as close to family as she has left, or this house and property that contains her ancestors’ bones.

I promised her I’d wait until she is ready, and I will never go against that promise. My home, my kingdom, will always—first and foremost—be with her.

But I see what’s ahead for her here. Neither of us has a coven. Night Haven holds too much trauma for either of us to return to. We might find refuge with Cassius. The Lamia coven would take us in. Yes, that is surely the answer.

Only, what will become of Harcourt Manor? Her heart has always been here. After all, she summoned me, willing to risk everything, to save it from Tony’s clutches.

And will I ever be able to convince her to leave it behind?