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“Impressive, my queen,” Memnon says across from me. His eyes glow like embers, and his hair ripples with his power. “Truly. I didn’t expect to have to give in to my truest nature for this fight.”

His magic strengthens against mine, and all the ground I thought I was gaining is undone at once.

I scream from exertion, nearly falling to my knees. Using this much magic all at once is becoming painful. I feel as though I’m ripping my own muscles away from their bones, the magic unmaking my body bit by bit.

Worse, despite my efforts, people are still suffocating; I can see their eyes bulging out and their faces changing colors as they’re deprived of oxygen.

I draw on yet more magic. The throbbing beneath my skull has increased, and the haze at the corners of my eyes has spread, obscuring my vision.

The first witch falls, her body hitting the floor with a dullthud.

“Stop,” I plead.

“Agree, and I will.”

Another body falls. Then several.

Now I do drop to my knees, my muscles weak and shaking. I can hardly see him through my blurred vision. “Please, Memnon, end this.”

“I will, once you agree to my terms,” Memnon says.

Burning away, everything is burning away…my high school memories, then my childhood ones. I’m sure of it.

“Speaking of terms,” he continues, his hair billowing in some invisible wind, “there is one more demand I forgot to mention earlier.” He strides toward me, magic billowing out of him with every step he takes. “I’ll need you to agree to it too.”

I stare up at him as he comes up to me, his ominous form looming.

“Marry me.”

CHAPTER43

“What?”

I want to laugh. I want to scream. Around us, bodies are still hitting the ground, and I’m the one on my knees, and this can’tpossiblybe an actual proposal.

Memnon’s hand slips beneath my chin. “Marry me.”

I can’t see him well through the strain shrouding my eyes, but my ears heard him correctly.

“Agree to lift the curse and be my wife in earnest, and I will release these people.”

“You’re sick,” I whisper.

His grip tightens on my chin.

“You’re running out of time, little witch. Better decide fast.”

“No,” I say breathlessly. “Choose different terms.”

He lets out a laugh, as though there’s anything amusing about this moment.

“WhywouldI?” he says. “I have youright where I want you.” His expression grows serious, and his gaze burns. “I am stillawfullybitter about being locked away for fucking millennia.”

I glare at him as he kneels before me, putting us at roughly eye level.

“But I love you,” he continues, his entire demeanor gentling. “I havealwaysloved you. The night I found you half dead in that forest made me face a truth I tried to bury. I cannot live without you.” Iron enters his voice. “Iwon’t.”

My body trembles, and the throbbing in my head only increases. He’s given me an impossible ultimatum, one I must agree to if I want these people around me to survive tonight.