Chapter 26
The Price of Magic
Eloise
Iwake to the scent of freshly baked biscuits, coffee, and blood, all swirling with the familiar dark spice of my mate.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been asleep, but he’s kneeling beside the bed, eyes closed and head rested on his folded hands as if he’s fallen asleep praying. I place a hand on his and shake.
“Damien?” He opens his eyes and blinks at me. “Come to bed. You don’t look comfortable there.”
“I was praying.”
“For me? I just needed some rest.”
He massages the bridge of his nose. “For an answer to our situation. I was worried for you as well, but the sound of your heart gave me peace.”
“We still don’t have enough men, do we?”
“No.”
Hearing him acknowledge it aloud makes it all the more real for me.
He stands and walks to a tray of food that has appeared while I was sleeping. Loading a plate, he brings it to me, along with a full goblet. “You should eat. You must keep your strength up.”
As much as I want to continue this conversation, hunger takes control, and I down all the blood at once, then gobble everything on the plate.
Holding open the portal was harder than I expected.
I’m relieved that I was capable of transporting the soldiers and that they could come now.
It gives us time to prepare and time to recover before we attack. But it’s still not enough.
Think, darling, comes Phantom’s voice in my head. You have soldiers, but you also have magic. Might there be a way we could help you?
I chew my food slowly, carefully. Perhaps we could somehow shield our troops.
Too many, Phantom says. We could do a single unit if they were in the same location.
I swallow and rub my head.
“I went to see Jaqual while you were gone.”
My brows shoot up, and I turn my full attention on Damien. “You’re lucky he didn’t have you killed the moment you entered his territory. We didn’t exactly part on great terms.”
“The conversation went better this time.”
“Better, how? Did he agree to help us?”
“No, unfortunately. He considered it, but he wants an election if we win the war. I tried to promise him one, but he doesn’t trust me.”
“That’s why he wanted me. Not because he wants me, but because he knows you would follow through if my life were on the line.”
He runs his fingers gently through my hair. “I told him it was out of the question. We need you and your dragon to fight this war. I know he couldn’t hold you. You’re too powerful. But I don’t trust that he wouldn’t abuse your good nature.”
“Fair. It would be an unnecessary complication. He’d expect me to stay with the caravan, which would mean I couldn’t protect you. I can’t promise him my physical presence, and that’s the only thing he trusts.”
“I think you’re right about that, little bird.” Damien crawls into bed beside me and stares up at the ceiling.
“But the rest of it, the election, is that something you’re willing to barter? It would mean there’s a chance it’s not you on the throne.”
A muscle in his jaw twitches. “My mother, the queen, still lives among the witches. My sister too. It pains me to think of them losing their home all over again. But here we are, Eloise, at the crossing point, and the bridge is about to wash out from underneath us. Better that Stygarde be Stygarde with a Rivertoad on the throne than the Hymirs remain in power. If Jaqual would have agreed to help us, I would have allowed the election and stuck to my word.”
We can make it so, Phantom answers when I send a thought in their direction.
Damien groans. “I know that look on your face, little bird. You have an idea, and why do I think I’m not going to like it?”
“We—my ancestors—have a binding spell. I have a way we can magically ensure your compliance with Jaqual’s terms.”
That muscle in his jaw pops again, and he scowls at me. “I don’t relish binding myself or you to a Rivertoad.”
“He would be bound to us as well. He and his people. Neither of you could change your mind without consequences.”
He releases a heavy sigh, his eyes drifting closed. “We need his men. If he’ll go for it, I will too.”
I turn on my side and watch his profile. “I should be well enough in a day or two. I’ll return to the caravan and propose the option to Jaqual.”
“I’ll go with you.”
I clear my throat. “If what you say is true, and he trusts me, maybe I should talk to him alone first.”
Damien doesn’t open his eyes, just frowns into the darkness. “You’ll go first. I’ll give you a few hours and then catch up to you.”
“Okay.” I’m not sure his being there is the best thing for our cause, but I know he won’t stay away. Besides, if Jaqual agrees, I’ll need Damien for the spell.
“If he agrees, that brings us to fifteen thousand. We have a chance, although Undaku mentioned something today that I’m afraid will be a significant challenge.”
“What’s that?”
“The children. Many of the shades in the units, especially the ones from the Borderlands, will be fighting their own offspring, drugged by Nevina to be killing machines. Every one of them knows they could come face-to-face with someone they know, but I’d be a monster to think any of the warriors wouldn’t hesitate.
That hesitation, coupled with our reliance on vampires who cannot shift, could be the end of us. ”
The cursed children have bothered me since my time in the castle.
The problem is, Nevina used a gumdrop to track my every move for months.
She can track the children as well. Without getting my hands on the magic used to control them, I can’t study it to find an antidote.
“If we could recover one of the children, Phantom and I might be able to study their blood and formulate an antidote for the elf poison keeping them under Nevina’s control. ”
He nods. “If we were able to obtain a child for you, how long would it take you to analyze their blood and develop an antidote?”
I reach down my bond with Phantom and ask my ancestors. My great-great-great-aunt Sara was the best with potions, and I relay her answer. “Five days. Maybe a week, depending on the complexity of the antidote and the availability of the necessary ingredients.”
His disappointment expands like a held breath. “She’d track us. We might be able to set you up in a safe house, but she’d inevitably reach you before you were finished. Not to mention, we’re running out of time.”
A chill runs the length of my spine, and my voice comes out like a thin squeak when I ask, “What do you mean?”
“Tempest has been having food delivered from outside our realm to feed the troops. They’ve been careful to have the crates unaccounted for so that there would be no record of the number or amount included in the deliveries.
Because they weren’t using food from Tenebris, there was no way for New Stygarde to surmise that Aendor was feeding seven thousand men here.
But the last shipment was detected and compromised.
One of the crates exploded, injuring Tempest. The entire shipment had to be destroyed. ”
“Is she okay?” I clutch my chest, worried for Tempest.
“Yes, but there are now New Stygarde soldiers stationed in Aendor. Brahm and Nevina’s soldiers are inspecting every crate that comes in, under the guise of protecting the public. We only have five days’ rations now that we have more men.”
“Goddess, we don’t have time for an antidote.”
“No. We barely have enough time to implement a rational war plan.”
I sit up and pull my knees into my chest. “Are you saying we’re going to war, ready or not?”
He repositions himself to look at me. “Yes.”
My hand finds his, and we thread our fingers together. “We have the prophecy and the goddess on our side. We’re going to win this, Damien.”
His tentative smile breaks my heart, and I know what he’s thinking. There are many ways to interpret the prophecy, and the majority of those ways don’t require our survival.