I released the man’s throat and tossed his lifeless body onto the boat, then did the same with Tony and tattoo face, whose neck I snapped when he still showed signs of life. Then I drove the trawler out onto the river.
Conveniently, I found a red plastic container of gasoline onboard and a lighter in tattoo face’s pocket. I doused the entire vessel, then lit the fucker on fire. Oh, how I reveled in that blaze, until the first rays of sunlight broke the horizon and I surfed the shadows back to my apartment, back to Night Haven.
Eloise may never know exactly what I did to those two humans, how I’d been cruel and prolonged their suffering, but she knows enough. All I pray is that she accepts that what I did was necessary, and that her soft heart doesn’t cause her guilt or shame for it.
As usual, I manifest in the parlor beside the grandfather clock and sniff the air for Eloise’s scent. It’s there, but faint. I prowl the rooms of the old house, flitting from shadow to shadow until I hear her voice from above.
“Damien, I’m in the attic.”
I shoot through the web of darkness and form on the landing at the top of the stairs. I can’t get any closer to her. When I try to enter, the room is... locked. Inaccessible to me, even in my shadow form. “Eloise?”
The knob turns and the door swings open, power washing over me like a swarm of bees buzzing against my skin. Before I can even greet her, she’s throwing her arms around me. Her lips crash into mine the moment I lean down to her height. When she breaks away, her eyes are wild with excitement.
“Come in. Wait until you see. I have so much to tell you.” She takes my hand and pulls me over the threshold.
All my cells come to attention. This room is enchanted. The walls, the ceiling, the floor. Gods, what is this place?
“Is that the keyspell?” I ask breathlessly. The symbols from her tattoo are sketched on the floor, but not in the shape of the key. They're drawn in chalk along the border of a wide rimmed circle, and the power oozing off it rattles my fangs.
“It is.” Her voice is soft, laden with a note of sadness. “I know what it does now.”
I can’t take my eyes off the symbol. I stepdeeper into the room and the tingling along my skin intensifies. I’m shifting into shadow along the outside of my arms and legs as if the symbol is coaxing me to change into my true form.
“It’s tampering with my illusion.”
Her fingers thread into mine, tears in her eyes pooling along her lower lashes. “It’s your way home.”
Now I do break apart, circle her in my shadow form and come together with her in my arms. My mind is everywhere, remembering what Lazarus told me, the page from the book. I shouldn’t be surprised, time and time again my mate has proven herself to be more than anyone around her expects, but still, I fight against the implications. “How can you be so sure?”
Her smile falters. “It’s in my parents' spellbook. My family’s keyspell unlocks curses but also portals between worlds. That’s how I was able to speak with my parents when I… when Tony...” Her gaze drops. “When he was strangling me and I might have died.”
A growl rumbles in my chest. “He’s dead. They’re all dead. He’ll never hurt you again.”
She places her palms on my cheeks. “I know. I know. Thank you for that. The boat, the fire.”
I’m relieved she understands and accepts what I had to do. Taking her hands between my own, I say, “We’ll have to be careful. There could be others in the Denardi family. If they suspect you were behind his death, they’ll come for you.”
Her gaze falls to our coupled fingers, and although her brow creases, she doesn’t respond to my warning. “The keyspell will carry you home to Tenebris, Damien. This was my parents' specialty. They developed it after drinking dragon’s blood when they were members of a coven calledthe Order of the Dragon. According to the spell, all it needs is your blood. If I've drawn it correctly, and it works as the book instructed, the symbol will open a gate to take you home.”
Instantly, I know everything she says is true. I can feel the pull of the symbol, practically smell the warm scent of the crimson fields of my world. A pulse in the air around us beckons me to activate the magic. The idea that I’m so close to going home, to potentially seeing my parents and siblings again, to righting centuries of wrongs, is almost overwhelming. The draw of the symbol tugs an invisible cord in me, tying it into a knot that clogs my throat and makes it hard to breathe.
“What about you?” I squeeze her hand tighter. "What about us?"
“What about me?” Her tone is light, but her eyes tell a different story.
“You’re my mate, Eloise. I will not leave without you.” I pull her closer, until we are nose to nose. “Come with me,” I say quickly. “I will make you a princess of Stygarde. My people will adore you. My family will be your family. We will not be separated by night and day.”
She opens her mouth, closes it again. “I want to, but I can’t. Not yet. Not now. I just found this place.” She sweeps a hand toward all the books and baubles on the shelves lining the walls. “I need to learn my family’s magic. Maeve is going to help me. I have to know who I am before I become someone else.”
I stare down at our coupled hands. "Then I will remain here."
“But you can’t stay because of me,” she grits out. I can smell the salt in her tears, and the scentburns in my throat. I hate that scent. I never want her to cry, especially not because of me.
“I can and I will.” My voice is trashed and comes out more as a growl than human words, but she hears me and understands.
“No, Damien. I can’t keep you from your home, your family, your people. What the Gowdies did to you was wrong, and this is the way to make things right.”
My muscles tense like I’m being torn in two. I do want to go home, but every instinct tells me I can’t leave her behind.
