Page 42 of The Shadow Prince's Ruin
Something about it makes me uneasy, but before I can make up my mind as to why, the door slams into the wall, and Hawk barges in, the engraved axe high above his head. “What the fuck are you doing to him, you freak?”
Tassarion grabs a dagger off the side table. “And who in all hells are you, huh?” he snarls but then his tone changes, and he steps a bit closer to my promised. “E-exquisite…” he whispers.
“It’s fine, Hawk, I’m fine,” I say, even though I’m still a bit dazed by the pain burning the sides of my neck. I don’t know what this is about. I just need to rest for a few seconds before we can go on and enter the Nightmare Realm, leaving behind this in-between place.
Tassarion ignores me, so I look up, forcing my eyes open, and my stomach drops when I spot Hawk’s long, tar-black shadow. It’s almost reaching the smith’s feet.
A split second is all it takes for Tassarion to pull a strand of hair-thin shadow from his head. He reaches toward my promised’s darkness, luring in one of the threads always pushing out of the edges. He squeezes both in his right fist.
“No!” I scream, stumbling forward, but when the grimsmith opens his palm, his shadow is already one with Hawk’s.
I’m breathless as fury rises inside me, scorching every ounce of good will and kindness I ever possessed. How dare this washed-out criminal steal my promised in front of my very eyes, using my moment of weakness against me in a way so perfidious?
I spin my shadow into a lash and send it at the bastard, but after not using shadowcraft in months, it makes barely a ripple.
Chapter 16
Sylvan
It’s like watching my future vaporize and disperse into nothingness in front of my very eyes. Hawk’s shadow was the only means of earning my way back into Lord Kyran’s graces and back to the Nocturne Court. To lose it means being stuck in the human realm until I become a husk of my former self like Tassarion has.
But when Hawk approaches, attempting to stand between me and the dancing shadows, as if he believes himself capable of protecting me from a user of shadowcraft, the fury inside me turns green. Perhaps there are more humans out there, who escaped the River of Souls and have a shadow dark as the depths of Grief Ocean. Perhaps I could tie myself to someone else, but that person would not look at me the way he does, wouldn’t be so dependable, patient and loyal. They wouldn’t be so ready to place himself between me and danger. And I sincerely doubt their touch would feel as addictive.
I peek out at Tassarion from behind Hawk. “What have you done?” I say through clenched teeth, still in disbelief over what has just happened. “Release him!”
The grimsmith shrugs and wraps his arms on his chest, but his pale shadow remains close to his feet. It’s nowhere near as strong as it must have been at the peak of his craft.
“You’re a prince of the Nocturne Court. You know the bond is unbreakable.”
I step out from behind Hawk and put my hand on the axe to let him know I’ve got this under control, even though I definitely don’t. I must remain confident if I am to deal with this lowlife.
“You’re a master of grimsmithery. If someone can break such a bond, it’s you.” I flatter him in an attempt to sort out this mess.
Tassarion shakes his head with a smug smile. “No one can do that, not even the Lord of the Nocturne Court. I will make much better use of his shadow than you ever could. Besides, look how his shadow calmed down.” He points out that the wild tendrils around Hawk’s darkness have settled. “It was begging to be taken.”
Hawk stares at him, then back at me, lowering the axe as confusion colors his face pink. “Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on here? I’m all for weird kinks, but this is me using my safe word. I feel like I’m in theTwilight Zone!”
A low rumble leaves Tassarion’s mouth and shadows carry him across the floor, as if he were gliding on one of those mobile walkways I’ve seen at the mall.
“You shall see today. It’s Full Moon in the Nightmare Realm, and I’m willing to break the rules of my banishment to make you my Dark Companion,” the smith whispers.
Dark tendrils slide over the walls in a gleeful dance, and Hawk’s mouth drops open as he inhales, going tense. “What was in that coffee…? Was it… spiked?”
My heart is hot and cold at the same time. It’s not just about the potency of Hawk’s shadow anymore. This is an affront to the Goldweed name.
Nobody takes what’s mine.
I stand in front of Hawk. “Stay back, he’s dangerous,” I say because while Tassarion’s shadowcraft is diminished by the years he spent in the human realm, neither of us knows the extent of his powers. I’m only glad Hawk isn’t his Dark Companion yet, because if he were able to use Hawk’s shadow freely, I’d be helpless against him. He would have choked the life of me within seconds, and since I’m banished, he wouldn’t even be punished for it.
“I sure am. And I’m not giving up on an opportunity like this.” Tassarion extends his fingers to his face. “I will treat you well—”
Hawk leans back as if he were about to be touched by a limb swarming with maggots and slaps the hand away.
That’s it.
I lose it. This bastard is not allowed to evenlookat Hawk, let alone speak to him.
I launch myself at Tassarion with a primal screech. I don’t care how strong the bond of their shadows is. I will break it.
