Page 48 of Battle for the Shadow Prince (A Bargain with the Shadow Prince #2)

ELOISE

I turn to the sigil on the floor of my parents’ ritual room, the one I drew months ago to send Damien back to his world, and know I’m doing the right thing. Since the moment I woke up in Damien’s room and realized what I was, what I had become, I knew this world would never feel like home to me again. It just took some time to admit it to myself.

But as I reach out to Phantom and the fox forms in the corner of the attic, I doubt my abilities. I no longer feel the familiar buzz of our connection. I still see the fox. When I call, my ancestors answer. But it’s like trying to read the lips of an actor through bad television reception. Our connection is staticky, distant.

Will my magic alone be enough to carry Damien and me home to his world? Just in case, I grab my parents’ grimoire and hold the giant tome close to my chest. If something goes wrong, at least I’ll have their spells to guide me.

“It will have to be your blood,” I say to him, stepping inside the symbol. “You are the only one who has actually been there. In theory, I am the key. I can open the portal. But only you can direct us where we need to go.”

He steps in behind me, his front pressing into my back, and extends one hand over the edge of the sigil. Using a talon from his partially shifted opposite hand, he moves to slice his palm.

“Wait!” I pat my thighs. “Phantom, come!”

The fox runs and jumps into my arms. I rub my cheek against their soft head. I’m not sure yet how to fully open the channel between us again, but I need my ancestors with me, wherever we’re going.

“Ready?” Damien asks.

“Ready,” I say, smiling over my shoulder at him.

He makes the cut, and it’s almost exactly the same way I opened mine over the candle to summon him to me. It’s a cut just deep enough for blood to pool in the cup of his palm. He wraps his other arm around Phantom and me, holding us close as if he’s afraid we might get separated during the journey. Slowly he extends his hand out toward the edge.

“Think of the garden, Eloise,” he says softly, in that voice of his that reminds me of the sound of warm skin against velvet.

I close my eyes and picture the moon, the purple roses, the castle, the stone benches. It’s so clear in my mind, not just from his dream but from my time there in the mirror world during the first challenge. I nod my head, open my eyes, and he tips his palm.

Blood drips onto the symbol. Nothing happens. It’s just blood hitting chalk. My heart sinks.

Then my vision changes. The chalk lifts off the floor, becoming like a billion twinkling stars around our feet. The floor opens and we drop.

I’m more than thankful for Damien’s arm around me as we hurtle through absolute darkness before landing in the red, ashy fields of the underworld. Harcourt Manor rises in the distance, beyond a field of narcissus. The river of lava surges behind our backs.

Unlike my visit before though, none of my ancestors are here. Phantom licks my face, and I realize why. They’re all here. All with me now.

In the next breath, we shoot up a straw, straight into the sky, into the darkness. I lose all sense of what is up or down, right or left. My entire body tenses. I forget to breathe. I squeeze my eyes shut and think of the purple roses, the moon, the garden. I anchor myself to Damien’s arm around me.

My feet collide with stone hard enough that my knees give out and I’m thrown from Damien’s grasp. Head spinning, I find myself on all fours, cool stone beneath my hands and knees. Eventually I open my eyes, and the first thing I see is the fist-sized bloom of a purple rose.

Slowly, carefully, I stand on shaky legs, the grimoire still clutched to my chest, and turn to find Damien watching me with a weightless smile I’ve never seen on his face before. It’s the smile of a child at Christmas. It’s the smile of someone who has never known pain. I follow his line of sight to the castle behind me. It’s still there, and by the well-maintained grounds around us, it appears his kingdom is still standing as well.

“Welcome to Stygarde, Princess Eloise.” He holds out his hand to me.

I reach for him with an empty hand.

“Phantom?” I look around the garden. I reach for the bond between us… and can’t find it. “Phantom!” I call again.

But Phantom and my connection to my ancestors are gone. I close my eyes and search for the staticky connection I felt when we left the attic. It’s there, I think, but faint, and when I attempt to tug on it, I feel only exhaustion. I hug the book to my chest. Learning my magic took time when I was human, and will take more time in this body. But if my magic brought us here, it still exists, which means Phantom isn’t really missing. My connection to him is probably just… recovering. I take a deep breath. It’s going to be okay.

I slip my fingers into Damien’s.

“Should we keep looking, little bird?” he asks.

“No,” I say quickly, not wanting to worry him. “Phantom is never lost. I think I’m just tired. I’m sure once I’ve recovered, the bond will return and so will the fox.”

“Then come,” he says, gesturing toward the castle. “I can’t wait to introduce you to my family.”

The End—for now.

Thank you for reading Battle for the Shadow Prince. Damian is relieved to find the kingdom of Stygarde at peace, even if he’s surprised by who is sitting on the throne. He vows to make the best of it. After all, he owes Eloise a proper courtship. Hell, he owes her everything and hopes he can be the mate she deserves after the sacrifice she’s made for him.

Eloise wants to enjoy her time with Damien but she struggles to reconnect with her spirit magic. The grief and loss she’s feeling over losing her family all over again make it hard to enjoy anything at all.

Until Eloise disappears and Damien learns the one thing that changes everything.