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Memnon’s sharp gaze flicks to mine. “What sort of voice?”

I open my mouth, but then I shake my head, at a loss for words. “I don’t know. It might have been many voices, but it spoke to me.” I don’t mention that this likely was the same entity that granted my final spell as Roxilana, nor do I mention that it lent me power tonight. “I don’t know what to make of it.”

The sorcerer looks concerned as his eyes search mine. He turns back to my arm, watching his magic as it sinks into my skin.

“Have you ever heard of anything like it?” I ask.

After a moment, Memnon nods. “My father called them the Hungering Ones. He told me they were malevolent but formidable deities. They have a taste for power and enjoy nothing more than blood-soaked earth. I’ve always ignored the voices when they’ve called out to me. If you hear them again,est amage, you should too.” He holds my gaze, his eyes steady. “There are things even kings and queens should not meddle with.”

Unfortunately, I think it’s too late for that.

CHAPTER 24

Once the darkmagic is out of my system, Memnon sets to healing me. His hands press against my stomach, his magic moving through every limb.

“You were with the shifters tonight,” he states.

I swallow delicately, already knowing I’m going to hate the conversation.

“How is it that on the very night you met with an entire pack, you and your familiar manage to get severely injured?”

Memnon makes it sound like they were involved.

“It wasn’t their fault,” I say. “Nero and the shifters didn’t get along, so my panther left the meeting to hunt in the woods. It was there that the witches cornered him.”

“The lycans must’ve been aware of the attack—I heard their howls. Why weren’t they there fighting off the witches?” Memnon says.

Down our bond, I feel the breadth of his anger.

There’s only one explanation that makes sense to me, not that it makes me feel any less wounded.

“Shifters cannot cross into witch territory without permission,” I say.

Memnon scowls. “That pup crossed easily enough the night I found him in your bed weeks ago.”

I give Memnon a look. “His name is Kane, and I gave him permission then.”

“And you didn’t tonight?” Memnon presses. “I would assume that permission was implied.”

I open my mouth to argue, but nothing comes out. In fact, the longer I sit with what he’s saying, the more uneasy I feel. I am a friend of the pack, but where was that friendship thirty minutes ago?

The sorcerer continues. “It seems to me thatKaneand the rest of his pack are so worried about following the rules that they let evil slip through their fingers in the name of them.” Memnon leans forward as the last of my wounds pull together under his magic. “Call me a monster, call me a devil, but you and I both know I will fuckingshatterthe rules for you.” He stares at me fervently. “Always for you.”

My gaze dips to his lips as my pulse begins to race. Memnon’s right; for all his faults, he would do anything, give anything, for me. And at one point in time, I did the same for him. That’s why the two of us exist at all in this future—I sold my last life to some buried god for the chance to sit here in this room with him.

The air feels thick with tension as the moment draws on.

Memnon leans back on his haunches then, breaking the tension as he removes his hands from my stomach.

“Your wounds are all healed,est amage, though like Nero, you’ll be a little lightheaded from blood loss. You’ll need to take it easy.”

My eyes flitter around the room. I’m staying here tonight, I realize. I guess it was assumed from the moment Memnon carted Nero and I away from the forest, but only now is it truly setting in. I’mstayinghere, after a measly few days back at my residence hall.

The defeat stings a lot less than I thought it would.

I go to stand, and the edges of my vision darken.

Memnon is at my side in an instant.