Page 9 of Battle for the Shadow Prince (A Bargain with the Shadow Prince #2)

9

Dead Man Walking

DAMIEN

P ain is manageable. Eventually the mind blocks out the sensation, disassociates to a better place. The body grows numb. My better place is Eloise. I replay our dream encounter again and again. I fixate on the taste of her blood.

Night falls over the silo. I tip the bed on its side and lie in the pool of shade created by the frame. I still can’t go anywhere. I’m still surrounded by light on all sides. But for a blissful time, the pain stops. I rest under a canopy of light-fringed stars and just breathe.

Only then do I realize the damage my prison has caused. Even with the partial protection of the bed and mattress, even with the gift of Eloise’s blood, the light has burned a small hole through the webbing of my right wing. Now that I’m in the shade, it’s already healing.

I wince when the sound of two sets of perfectly synced footsteps fills the silo. There’s whispering and then Tae’s face appears over the canopy of the bed. A second later, power blows through me. The cuffs are back. The walls grow dim. It takes all my strength to stand from my fort of shadows and rise to my full height.

Valeska enters the silo and crosses to stand next to the two Kims. I meet the vampire queen’s deadly gaze.

“We will speak now,” Valeska commands. As always, she possesses a rare dark beauty. No one would deny it. Her brown skin is smooth as marble, flawless under the black silk dress she wears. Her ebony hair falls in waves around her shoulders, and she blinks golden-amber eyes at me that put off their own light. But Valeska is bright in the way of a poisonous spider—I know better than to be fooled by the colors she displays to draw prey into her web.

“Talk then,” I croak through my parched throat.

She laughs cruelly. “Oh, Damien, you’ve looked better.”

I say nothing. She wants a response. She wants lively banter. I am a toy whose buttons she’s pushed, and she expects a reaction. Negative or positive doesn’t matter. Whether I beg for mercy or fight for freedom or pretend to be interested in her, any response feeds her ego and makes me her entertainment.

I am no plaything.

Perfectly silent, I stare past her at the wall, willing my body to heal, thinking about the gift of Eloise’s blood in my veins.

Valeska digs her nails into my lower jaw and turns my face toward her. “Look at me when I’m talking to you.”

I do, but I keep all emotion from showing. The look I give her is flat, soulless. I might as well be dead. Tire of me. Set me free.

“Poor baby. Look at your wing.” She tsks, running her fingers over the webbing and probing the wound painfully. It is healing, but slowly, and her rough handling draws blood. She licks it from her fingertips before stepping in close to me. The front of her dress brushes my bare chest. “I bet you’re hungry now,” she whispers into my ear.

I am hungry, and the scent of her blood makes my throat burn with need. Instinctively, I bring my lips close to the vein in her neck, but I don’t strike. Indisputably, I need more blood than what I consumed from Eloise to fully heal. But I am far from hungry enough to even consider drinking Valeska’s.

“Go ahead,” she whispers. “Drink of me. I know you want to. You need to.”

Only my eyes move as I spot Tae and Lang an arm’s length behind her. They appear even more drained than before. Tae’s head is bobbing like he can hardly hold it up.

I brush my lips over Valeska’s vein.

“That’s right,” she coos. “You need blood. There’s no reason to fight it.”

“Blood,” I concede. And then I stab my talons into her gut as hard as my mortal arms are capable of. I toss her aside, her blood staining my hands. She cries out, but I’m already in motion. I kick Tae in the gut, knocking him down, while at the same time I loop my cuffed wrists around Lang’s neck and sink my teeth into his carotid. Blood sprays across my shoulder, and his screams turn into a gurgle as I drink as fast as my body will draw blood. He’s the stronger of the twins. If I can take him out first, Tae should be an easy second target. Lang’s heart slows. His eyes roll back in his head.

A groan comes from Valeska’s direction. I did a number on her, tearing open her abdominal cavity, but she won’t be down for long.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tae struggling to get his feet back under him. He finally succeeds and starts to circle his arms. Fuck. I stab Lang in the gut, wishing I was free of the cuffs and could simply tear his head off. With what little energy I have left, I toss Lang aside and barrel into his brother, disrupting the spell. I might not be strong enough to tear him in two, but I’m strong enough to drink.

My fangs sink in.

My cuffs sputter as Tae’s heartbeat slows. Just as I thought. Kill the Kims and I kill the magic. Almost there.

A curse comes from behind me, and before I can swallow my next gulp, I’m lifted above the vampire queen’s head and thrown. I hit the stone of the far wall. Bones crunch. My teeth clack together. I end up on my side on the ground, gasping for breath through fractured ribs. The fucking cuffs glow brighter. What energy I gained from the blood I guzzled drains away once more.

Valeska appears beside me in a blink, emanating pure rage. “You dare challenge me?” she shrieks down at my broken form. “You impudent shade!”

She kicks me in the side, and I grunt as my ribs crunch. She bares her teeth. Finally the reaction she was after, evidence of my suffering.

“You fucking imbecile,” she hisses, bringing her face close to my ear. Her fingers constrict around my throat. “It’s only a matter of time. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you will tell me her name. And then you will be mine.”

I turn my face away from her, refusing her another moment of my attention. I’m too weak to rise to my feet. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tae helping Lang to stand, their glowing hands touching each other’s wounds. Fuck me. They’re healing each other.

“You should know I’ve put a price on her head,” Valeska says through a wicked grin. “Ten million for anyone who can identify her. I’m willing to bet it won’t be long until a vampire comes forward. Why, I’ve even hung flyers at Bad Witches’ Club. Every supernatural on the Eastern Seaboard is searching for the truth.”

A growl tears through my throat, but I’m still too weak to do a thing about it. Valeska rolls me onto my back and rests her boot on my chest. Her dress is torn, but underneath, she’s already healed.

“She’s as good as dead anyway. Mating a human.” She shakes her head. “What does she have? Fifty years? Seventy? What’s the difference if I accelerate the process? You must know that becoming my mate and consort is inevitable. I have chosen you and I will make it happen. All that’s left for you to decide is how much pain you’ll suffer first.”

Now I meet her gaze and let my absolute certainty fill my unblinking stare. “I can think of no greater pain than becoming your consort.”

She seethes, then removes her boot from my chest only to kick me again. More bones crunch. She leaves me writhing. Just as she’s passing through the door to my cell, she orders, “Take the bed.”

No! But a team of guards rush in, and the bed, the mattress, any break from the endless sun, is gone. The Kims raise their hands and sluggishly perform the spell. The cuffs fade. The walls begin to glow. I cry out when pain consumes me as if she’s set me on fire. I crawl to the center of the silo, the pain in my back and ribs ratcheting up with my movement. I roll into a ball, covering myself with my wings.

And pray to all the gods in this world and my own for Eloise’s safety.