Page 29 of Taken By the Shadow Prince

She chews on a bite of seasoned potatoes with a thoughtful expression. If I asked her what it was she was thinking about, would she answer me? It’s hard to say. It’s not that I expect that fucking her once will have changed everything between us, but...

Shelaughed. She laughed at something I said, and for some reason,thatfelt like it changed things. But did it? Or am I just reading into things that mean nothing?

I don’t know. I don’t know if I know anything at all right now.

Finally, Mavey looks up at me and says, “Are we gathering the demon witches tonight or tomorrow?”

I shrug. “I had originally planned on today, but we got a little distracted, didn’t we? It might be a little too late in the day now. It’d be best if we waited until tomorrow to gather everyone. I’m thinking we’ll see how many of them are willing to fight with us, and then we’ll go back to collecting those that I know about in Aligris, and hopefully that’ll be enough to fulfill my bargain to you.”

Hopefully indeed, otherwise she’d have no need to join me in Atheya after the fight. If I failed, then there would be no bargain for her to uphold.

So I would just... not fail.

Simple as that.

Mavey nods. “Tomorrow is fine,” she says. “But we can’t push it any longer.”

“We won’t,” I assure her. “I’ve already put too much effort into this to just give up now,” I say, the words taking a teasing lilt to them.

She gives me the slightest curve of her lips before pushing her food away from her. “I think I’m going to go take a shower,” she tells me. “Are you still going to be here when I get out?”

I contemplate her words—try to figure out what it is she wants, so I don’t make a complete fool of myself. But reading between the lines has never been easy with her. So I ask, “Would you prefer I leave?”

Mavey shrugs. “I’m too used to having you around to care one way or the other. I just need to know if I should prepare to be ogled or not when I get out.”

Oh.Oh. She was making a joke again. Or trying to, at least.

I crack a grin. “I might just come watch you shower and ogle you then.”

She snorts. “Nice try.” She goes to her armoire and pulls out the change of clothes I’d promised her would be in there earlier. There are quite a few, actually, and some in her closet, too. They’re not tailored to her specifically, but I had a pretty good idea of what her measurements were. “Wait here, if you want, but just know I plan to crawl into bed and go to sleep the second I get back out. It’s been a long day.”

It most definitely had been. Not that I’m complaining, considering everything that’s happened.

I huff out a breath and stand up. “Fine, then. I suppose I’ll go to my own rooms. If you need me, have a servant send word, alright?”

Mavey nods. “Yeah, alright. I’ll be fine.”

And she probably would. But, still, I wanted her to know she could call for me if she needed me.

Ihopedshe would.

I’d keep that part to myself, though.

Chapter 17

Mavey

fighters

I did not realize how many there would be.

I suppose I should have suspected—how many people would turn down immortality? Very few if I had to guess—especially by the number of demon witches seated before me.

Armin called them all to a luncheon in his palace. He laid out a feast for them, and three tables that seated twenty four peopleon each sideof them had been set up. Most seats were full.

I told myself not to get my hopes up. That it was very unlikely that any of them would want to fight for us, anyway, since it wasn’t their problem. And, yeah, Armin could technically order them to fight, but I’d prefer if they did it by choice so they didn’t try to sabotage us out of spite.

He and I sat at the front of the room, at our own private table. It was elevated about six inches above the rest of them—a rather subtle display of superiority, compared to what I’ve seen before. Though I suppose the iron fist he rules with, the fear that you’ll be squashed by said fist, speaks a hell of a lot louder than a tall dais does.

---