The Shadow Prince’s Ruin (Dark Companions #2)

Chapter 20

Sylvan

H awk rearranges Tassarion in the bathtub and pushes his hand under the water’s surface. In the past, I’ve often worked with assistants, but this feels different. I want him to be here with me, even if some things would have been easier to deal with on my own.

“This one won’t dissolve the body, but it will prepare the water so it’s receptive to the next ingredient,” I tell my lover and hesitate when I open the vial filled with purple powder. “Do you… want to do it?”

Hawk’s eyes glint, and he nods, grinning at me. “And this won’t hurt our skin? Don’t we need gloves, or something? I know nothing about this Breaking Bad shit.”

I shake my head and pass him the vial. “Not this one. The residue won’t be a problem unless we’re submerged in a large quantity of liquid. We will, however, need to be careful with redpoles,” I tell him, nodding toward the jar on a nearby shelf.

“And you just know all this by heart?” He asks with amazement and spills the Doe Dust into the tub. The tiny grains melt as they meet the water, making it shimmer with a yellowish hue, which brightens Tassarion’s slack features. I always thought this effect was very aesthetically pleasing.

Hawk looks at me with so much adoration my heart beats faster. Alchemy is a difficult skill to master, dangerous in the wrong hands, and contributes to so many conveniences my world depends on for survival, yet it is seen as a lesser art, something anyone could master with enough effort. It only now occurs to me that I’ve never been praised for knowing my way around concoctions and solutions before. It was scoffed at as a way to go around my lack of talent for shadowcraft. “Well… yes. I spent a lot of time learning about all and any ingredients, their uses, and how they interact with each other. You don’t need talent for that, just time and a good memory. Now, step back.”

I grab one of the massive leather gloves I found in the forge and use it to pick up the next jar. “These are live redpoles.” I show him the finger-sized creatures floating in the concoction that keeps them in suspended animation. “They’re asleep, but they will awake when they sense blood, and become voracious. They eventually grow into lovely frogs. It takes them about a month.” I worry I’m boring him, but when he leans in with a glint in his eye, I continue. “I kept one as a pet a long time ago.”

Hawk grins. “That’s awesome! I always liked frogs. They taste good too!” he says but obediently takes a step back as I unscrew the jar. “You’re a real brainiac, aren’t you? If I were your lord cousin, I would have kept you imprisoned in some tower. Sending you out here is such a waste of the skills you have.”

I blush when he tickles me between the shoulder blades. “Thank you. I know that for you all this is new and different, like electricity and phones are to me. You’d probably find even something as simple as swamplight impressive, but I won’t deny that coming up with the combination of ingredients I’m using now required thought and ingenuity.” I drop the redpoles into the bathtub one by one. “I do have a lot to offer, and once I have access to your shadow, my power will be multiplied so many times that my cousin will have to respect me.”

When the critters dive underwater to start their ferocious dance, Hawk steps behind me and kisses the top of my head. “Plenty of things are normal in my world—building space ships, chemistry, and so on—but if I tried my hand at any of that stuff, I’d probably lose all my limbs on day one. It’s hot that you’re so confident in your skills,” he whispers as the tub fills with red foam. “And that you’re fine with everything that happened here. I’ve never dated any guy who wouldn’t have freaked out over so much blood.”

I lean back against him, calmed by his size, his sturdiness. It’s like resting against a statue made of flesh. “I guess I’ve always had an interest in learning how things work and was excited when I could find unusual connections between them. I see no reason to be scared of a corpse. He was much more frightening when he still breathed.”

“You have that right. My aunt’s husband beat her. She tried to hide it at first, but when my father and uncle found out, they went to have a talk with him. I don’t know what their real plan was, but by the end of the night he was found dead just off his porch. Twisted his neck as he ‘fell’. Apparently. He didn’t seem so scary when he lay cold, with flies coming in and out of his mouth.”

I put away the empty jar and remove the gloves. When the contents of the tub rise beyond its brim and overflow, Hawk picks me up and steps away, making sure I’m safe.

“There’s nothing wrong with righteous violence. I’ve witnessed my first execution at seven, but I’ve not killed anyone before tonight,” I confess and turn in his embrace. “I wouldn’t say the act of taking his life made me happy, but I’ve never been more furious. So much was taken from me over the years, be it by my siblings or by circumstance. You? I will not allow anyone to take you from me,” I tell him with sparks spreading through my body. I cannot bear the thought of someone else having his shadow, having him —

“Never had anyone fight like that for me either. Is it a bit psycho that I’m getting hard just thinking about you calling me your man and cutting his throat?” Hawk mutters, carrying me out of the bathroom. He leans in, and as his hot breath tickles my ear, I barely contain a soft moan.

Oh no. I’m very new to pleasures of the flesh, but I fear I recognize the excitement building inside me at his touch. “Oh. I… I am flattered. But we do need to go. I would like to be in the Nightmare Realm by the time the moon rises.”

I’m relieved when he puts me back down, but then his hand pulls mine to the hard bulge at the front of his pants, and I know we’re not done negotiating. “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to focus like this,” Hawk tries, but his wide smile reveals he’s joking.

Which I’m not used to. The games of my siblings were cruel when they involved me, so I’ve not developed a playful nature. My friendly human co-worker at BBB has taught me that not every interaction must be a verbal duel, but I still struggle to navigate the idea that this man likes me and wouldn’t hurt me just to get the result he wants.

It’s so hard to pull my hand away from Hawk’s stiffening cock when I do want to pull down his soft pants and suck it. But that could devolve into hours of lost time. We don’t have those.

“And I won’t be able to focus until you’re my Dark Companion. Would you like to keep one of the redpoles?” I ask to distract him. “Now that it’s fed, it will soon grow into a frog.”

He looks back to the bathroom. “Yes,” he tells me with a grin, but just when I think the danger of sex is over, he pushes me at the wall and rubs his stubbly chin against my cheek. It’s like being stroked by hot moonrays, but I shouldn’t succumb to temptation. There’s too much at stake.

“We’ll indulge once we’re wed, my sweet beast.” I give him a kiss to ease the pain caused by my rejection and slide out of his embrace.

I know I’m disappointing him, but he doesn’t complain and lets go.

I use forceps to fish out a bloated redpole, then send the others down the drain. While Hawk packs some snacks for us, I clean the now-empty tub to leave behind no trace of what’s happened here. The tunnel leading to the Nightmare Realm is hidden under the grimsmith’s bed, but I don’t know where exactly it will lead us, so we need to be ready for camping out in the wild.

I tuck the Sunwolf Crown into my backpack with utmost care. I can already imagine my cousin’s face when he sees it. There will be no other way for him. If he wants to be seen as a fair ruler, and I know he does, he will have to accept my offering. And me along with it, as well as my Dark Companion whose shadow vastly overpowers that of Lord Kyran’s own husband.

I spend a moment too long searching for a button or lever to move the bed aside, but Hawk solves the issue for me by grabbing the heavy piece of furniture and dragging it away from a trapdoor with iron hinges. I don’t want to shower him with too many compliments, since that would make them sound disingenuous, but I can’t help the giddy smile blooming on my face as I watch him use the raw power in his muscles. He’s such a beautiful animal. And he’s mine.

He opens the trapdoor for me before I can ask him to, and we descend into a dark passage. Once I make use of the swamplight solution found in Tassarion’s bedroom, torches attached to the wall on my left all burn with a steady, green flame, revealing a passage without an end in sight. This place reminds me of the secret corridors beneath the Nocturne Court, but instead of intricate carvings predating the castle itself, the stone slabs supporting the ceiling are marked with crude pictures and writing featuring everything from names and personal insults to images of an erotic nature.

Unwilling to let Hawk focus on them too much, I slide my hand into his and lead him forward. He carries most of our equipment but hasn’t yet voiced a single complaint. I did leave some of the heavier and less valuable books in the grimsmith’s living room, hidden among those he owned. I don’t want to abuse Hawk’s kindness, and if all goes right, I can always attempt to retrieve the tomes in the future.

“Do you think you’ll miss the sun?”

Hawk blinks. “Shut up! You mean it’s not there at all ? I thought you just have very little of it, like in the Arctic Circle. Don’t plants need the sun to survive?”

“Not our plants. They thrive in moonlight, or other types of light that exist underground. I’m sorry if I never explained that. Our night is when the sky is clear, and our day is when the moon comes out. But our moon is bigger, brighter than the one you’re used to. You will enjoy it,” I assure him and kiss his knuckles.

It’s as if Hawk’s been waiting for it, and he pushes me at the wall, his mouth on mine as we kiss, breathing in the cold, damp air, and the sweetness of each other’s bodies. “I’ll definitely enjoy seeing you naked in the moonlight.”

I smile against his lips as excitement lights up my body, opening it to pleasure. A wiser man would have called these stolen moments wasted, but I can’t deny myself the simple joy of his tongue playing with mine. It’s only when heat pools down my stomach that I press on his chest, letting him know we can’t take things any further. Memories of his cock entering me for the first time flood my brain like a sniff of fairy dust, and all of a sudden I can barely bring myself to refuse his touch. It hurt a little, yet I was too aroused to care, and now the ghost of that sensation is back, reminding me of our furious coupling.

“Hawk. We don’t even know how long this trip will take. We need to save our energy. Do you think I am not eager to taste you? But after last time you needed a nap.” I pet his cheek and give him one more kiss before pulling him along.

Hawk groans but follows me without more protest. “I love it when you talk dirty with fancy words. Eager to taste you ,” he repeats with a pleased hum as we walk on, again on the trail of green torches.

My heart grows giddy with familiarity when I spot glowing mushrooms ahead. The corridor widens, its walls no longer slabs of stone but the rough rock of a cave. Even the air’s changed, now fragrant with marsh orchids and salt. It brings back fond memories of extracting oils from flower petals, a task so repetitive it becomes meditation.

More fungi appear as we follow the passage, lured by their soft fluorescent glow. Most of the mushrooms have halos of green and yellow, but the blue ones scattered in between are easy enough to spot.

“Those are Cerulean Puffballs,” I tell Hawk and point them out with a smile. “You have to gather them very carefully so they don’t explode, but their spores make the sweetest sleep tea.”

“So those aren’t radioactive, or something? Your people eat them without dying in terrible pain?” Hawk asks, grinning, but there’s no mistaking the awe in his eyes for anything else. His hand remains in mine, but he’s enchanted, and as the colors cast on his skin change, I too see various facets of his handsome features.

My introduction to his world was painful and unwanted, but I‘m already looking forward to showing him the beauty of my realm and seeing his mouth open in amazement the way it does now.

“Those aren’t poisonous. Not in the deadly sense. We don’t consume them unless someone needs to be sedated. Depending on the part of the Puffball you use, and how ripe it is, you can even put someone to sleep instantaneously.” I glance around this underground garden where glowing mushrooms grow even on the ceiling. “You know, I might actually harvest some. You never know when such an ingredient can come in handy.”

“Didn’t you say we have little time?” Hawk asks, but instead of lingering nearby and attempting to capture my gaze in accusation, he walks farther into the tunnel to sit on a mossy rock.

I’m not surprised to see him pull out a pretzel. His tall, strong body needs more nourishment than my small form ever could, and I find his voracity quite endearing. He makes such a charming picture with the golden glow of Nightbells creating a blurry veil behind him.

The food is half-way to his mouth when reality crashes into me like a violent wave onto a shore.

Nightbells.

“Don’t move!” I say as I freeze, terrified of what might happen next.