Page 42 of The Princesses of Ruin (The Princesses of Ruin #5)

Chapter thirty-eight

Zane

“ B e careful,” Scarlett says.

“I am being careful,” I grumble, aligning the dropper with the beaker secured between two spindles.

I adapted Adrik’s method for isolating magical signatures from blood—used for crafting Scarlett’s potions—and applied the same process to the spider venom.

By separating the arcane essence from the biological base, I was able to extract the active proteins responsible for pre-digesting their food.

In the raw form, the venom is too volatile, but with the right binding agents…

The amber drop of Sheesahng’s venom hovers over the beaker. This is it. I know I can make it safe for male consumption, and females who haven’t yet developed their own venom sacs.

We don’t know what’s inside the egg yet—or if it’s alive—just that it’s slung tight to Scarlett’s chest, resting against the warmth of her bare stomach. All we know is that it’s going to need this venom for many years as it develops.

If it develops.

It may have been too cold for too long .

My right arm is bound in a tight sling against my chest like the egg is against Scarlett’s.

We’re not sure if I’ll ever regain full use of it, but I have six spindles to make up for it.

One arm is an easy sacrifice to make to protect Scarlett and, despite my reluctance to admit it, for a creature like Iksah, too.

He’s curled in the corner under the dome of stasis runes.

His emaciated body is a constant reminder that if I fail, it will be his end. And the baby’s, too.

The dropper releases the single ochre drop into the beaker, and a cascade of golden webs shoots through the white base solution.

The lines of light spread like fire, eating up the replicator potion and transforming it.

The possibilities for the replicator potion are endless, but for now, they’re critical in saving Iksah’s and the baby’s lives.

I swirl the beaker, allowing the last bits of the replication potion to be subsumed by venom. The liquid turns a clear amber all the way through and settles.

We’ve done it.

“This is it,” I say. “Rouse him.”

Scarlett runs to the corner and deactivates the runes keeping Iksah in a deep slumber. She opens the cooling chamber and removes the deer leg we’d stuffed there in the hopes that I could work this venom out. I spear the hunk of meat with a spindle and bring it to the desiccated spider.

Iksah clicks his chelicerae at the sight of the meat.

“This is going to work,” I tell him with conviction.

I pour a few drops of the replicated venom over the animal leg and hold my breath. The golden liquid drizzles over the hide and slides down to the ground with no effect.

That can’t be. No, it just needs more.

I pour another splash over a spot where the meat isn’t as thick .

Nothing.

Another healthy pour over the leg, dousing it with most of the beaker’s contents.

“Zane.” Scarlett grabs my shoulder.

“No,” I murmur. “No, it’s just the hide. Or it’s too cold. We need to—”

A sizzle crackles where the first drops touched. It spreads, bubbling. The second spot begins to hiss.

“Yes!” Scarlett exclaims. “You did it!”

Iksah drags himself forward and puts his entire mouth over the acrid-smelling deer leg. His fangs fumble the meat, and he can’t seem to summon the strength to push the leg into his mouth. I use my spindles to pick it up and help bear the weight as Iksah swallows it whole.

“He says he needs to rest for a few hours, but he’ll want to eat again,” Scarlett says. “We have another deer leg, but…”

“We need to hunt for him,” I say as I stand back and give Iksah some room to rest.

Scarlett shakes her head. “I will. You can’t be galivanting about hunting beasts. Your arm needs time to heal.”

I look at the straps holding the egg to her stomach with a wash of fondness. She’s an image of maternal strength. My body lights up with joy, and protective fury.

My spindles take the beaker from my hand. I touch her on the baby bundle. “You shouldn’t be galivanting about, either. The child needs you.”

She nods toward the beaker. “Less so now. He just needs a bit of my blood.”

“He?” I ask .

She smiles softly and nods. “I can hear him. Alyse’s power is so strong.”

I cradle her cheek and kiss her with fierce gentleness.

“ You’re strong. The strongest.”

She kisses me back, then presses her forehead to mine. We breathe each other’s air, and I disappear in the joy of the moment. Just the baby spider boy between us and his biological father gaining strength every second behind us.

When I roused tied to his back, tromping through the snow with my head cradled in Scarlett’s lap, I knew I’d be forever in his debt. I’d not intended to save him when I threw myself at his attacker. My thoughts were for Scarlett alone, and the venom we needed.

We’re bound by mutual need, for love of our family, but Iksah got me home. He sacrificed his magic and his strength to hurry us here. He desecrated his mate for us to save our people. He made it possible for me to hold Scarlett again, even if it’s just with one arm.

And I’m never going to let this go.

“He’s going to need more venom,” she says, drawing me from thought. “And the only one who can make it is you.”

“Don’t go into the forest alone.”

“So bossy,” she says with salacious affection.

She cups my cheek, running her thumbnail across my stubble. The prickling drag makes me groan.

“Just know this is restraint,” I say. “I’d tie you up in our bedroom if I could.”

“Ooh, I hope that’s a promise.”

She kisses me one last time and pulls back. She dons the coat sitting over one of the stools and buttons it over the egg.

“I’ll be back before you can finish making more,” she says in a challenge .

I smirk. “We’ll see.”

“Be good,” Scarlett says.

Iksah retreats a measure and settles on the pile of blankets.

She looks at me with a fond smile that emanates loneliness and yearning. “I love you.”

Don’t you dare say goodbye.

“I love you, my monster,” I say.

She slips through the lab door and disappears. I look at Iksah. I’m not sure he could even understand me if I spoke to him, so I don’t. I let the work consume my thoughts until I’m lost to the rhythm of stirring beakers and bubbling cauldrons.

Some time later, I’m drawn from my work by a commotion upstairs. Iksah lurches forward, but I hold out my hand, ordering him to stay. I run out the door and take the stairs two at a time up to the foyer.

A black shadow creature twelve feet tall, with sharp antlers and sharper claws, stands in the center of the room amid screaming, scrambling Spiders.

My spindles itch at the sight and my hair stands on end.

Liliana is shouting commands at my soldiers.

They rush to the front door, taking the hulking creature with them.

“Zane!” Adrik calls between the commotion and my eyes lock on the man. He has a…dog? A puppy cradled in his arms, a frosty-blue arcane shield shimmering around it. He rushes to me with Emillia on his heels.

“What’s happened?” I ask.

“Alastair is injured,” he says.

“What is that thing ?” I snarl, pointing toward the retreating monster.

“The duskwalker. Liliana made a deal with him…” Emillia says. “She wouldn’t speak of it. ”

“It’s brought us home. She crafted a sled and he ran day and night with flapping wings. It never stopped,” Adrik says, his wind-chapped cheeks evidence of this.

“The antler?” I ask.

Emillia pulls the six-inch chunk of off-white bone from a pouch on her thigh, and I notice that she, too, has a puppy cradled against her other hip.

I eye the dogs. “And the fur?”

Adrik holds out a glass vial with a stopper in it. The hair inside is much more mature than anything the pups could’ve produced.

“I’ve been developing the base ingredients per Zephrom’s instructions,” Adrik says as he fumbles with his bag.

I take it from him. “Let’s get to the lab.”

He starts to follow, his dog still boneless in his grasp.

“You should leave that.”

Adrik scowls. “Why?”

I dip my head, indicating my wrapped arm with a sigh. “We’ve been making deals of our own, too.”

Emillia reaches out for his pup. “I’ll see if I can help Lily.”

“ Thank you, my love ,” he says in Seterian as he passes her the dog.

This isn’t just some cultural statement of fondness. He used the word for a wife, someone he wants to spend his life with. It seems he may have found real happiness in the wilderness.

I’m glad for him.

“What happened to you?” he asks as he takes his bag from me.

“I was attacked by a giant demon bird. Bastard nearly cut my arm off. Scarlett and…our new friend saved me.”

“New friend. Why are you being vague, Zane? This isn’t like you.”

“Few people know,” I say, leading Adrik into the dungeon.

I stop at the door to the lab. “Don’t scream. ”

He looks at me gravely.

I open the door.

“ Chert voz’mi. Bogi,” he murmurs.

“This is Iksah. He saved my life, and we’re going to save his.”

Adrik looks at me with fear first. Then he swallows, a fire burning in his gaze. He stands taller than before, wearing his newfound confidence with pride.

“What’s first?”