Page 6

“Look at me, Selene.” It’s a command, yet all I hear is a plea. Memnon wants connection, reassurance. This was his grand plan after all. He couldn’t resurrect the past, but he could at least draw forth my memories of it. I suppose, at the heart of all the sorcerer’s vengeance, he simply wanted to feel less lonely.

My gaze reluctantly moves to his. He’s torn his own attention briefly from the road ahead of us.

“It doesn’t matter when we marry, little witch.” He squeezes my freshly healed hand. “Neither magic nor time can keep us apart.” His eyes are luminous. “We are like the stars. Eternal.”

I mean to stay awake. I have every intention of noting the streets that lead to Memnon’s place and then every detail of the house itself. But the winding roads that cut through the mountains north of San Francisco rock me gently, the clock says it’s after three in the morning, and my fatigue is overwhelming me. It might even be that despite my hate for Memnon, something deep in me is supremely comforted at being in the car with him and my familiar.

Whatever the case, I make it maybe three miles before my eyelids start drifting shut and another mile before I close them for good.

I stir twice more—once to the feel of my body being gathered into strong, warm arms and again when I’m placed on a soft mattress and tucked in.

Memnon’s voice echoes inside me as I slip off to sleep.

Be at ease, fierce queen. You don’t have to fight any longer. You are safe with me.

CHAPTER 3

I blink groggily and stretch,basking in the feel of dappled sunlight on my skin and the masculine smell clinging to my sheets.

I reach for the owner of that smell, but my hand lands on nothing but blankets.

My brow creases, and I sit up, stifling a yawn. I have a destabilizing moment where I’m confused, because I’ve never laid eyes on the massive, glass-encased room I’m now in, and I can’t remember how I got here. I remember last night all too well, no thanks to the sorcerer, but my memory does a nosedive after I got in the car with him.

Memnon must’ve carried me in and placed me in this bed.Hisbed. That makes my spine straighten and my eyes sharpen. I must be in his house, though the man himself is nowhere to be seen.

My gaze greedily takes in the room. The first thing I notice is the space. You have to be a rich bitch to afford something bigger than a tin can here in Northern California.

Memnon is definitely a rich bitch.

The room is massive, and it’s made all the more cavernous by the lack of furniture. There's this bed, a bookcase on the wall tothe left, and a side chair next to it. Beyond that, there’s nothing, save for the panoramic windows that take up most of three of the room’s walls. Out the windows directly across from the bed, I can see the rolling coastal hills, and out the ones to my right, I see several evergreen trees that flank the house. Past them, the forest looms dark and lonely. I don’t know how far we are from Henbane Coven, but these woods look similar.

Also along the right wall is a massive en suite bathroom, and to my left is the doorway out.

“Memnon?” I call out.

The building remains silent. A minute later, however, Nero pads into the room, his coat looking particularly sleek as he moves in the soft light. He walks right up to the bed, then hops on.

I reach out and pet him. “Have I told you that you’re the best familiar in the whole wide world?”

He gives me an uncomfortable look, his ears twitching a little. I imagine this is the expression teenagers give their parents. I guess he used up all his sentimentality last night during our reunion.

I run my hand down his neck. “Memnon?” I call out again.

Where in the seven hells is the sorcerer? He finally has me in his bed where he’s been apparently angling to get me this whole time, yet now he’s the one missing.

I throw the sheets off, biting back an oath once I realize that I’m in an oversize shirt—hisshirt—and my panties from earlier.

He undressed me. Of course he did.

Bastard.

A small, reasonable part of me is willing to throw the guy a bone—he probably just wanted me to sleep comfortably. But fuck him and the fact that he saw my tits while I’m still angry with him. I seethe at the thought.

Memnon, I all but growl down our bond.

The first thing I sense is his smile.

You’re awake, fiancée. Did you sleep well?