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I wet my lips. “When would you want to get married?”

Cannot believe I’m even asking this.

Memnon leans forward and takes my hand, clasping it between his. He is perversely beautiful, and I hate that I notice it, even now.

“Immediately,” he says.

My breath leaves me all at once. “No.”

“Yes,” he insists. “We are already bonded—your magic claimed mine the moment it manifested in you, soul mate. And though you cannot remember it, we have been married for a long, long time.”

I release a shuddering breath. “Then why bother marrying me again?” I say, throwing in one last-ditch effort to steer him away from this terrifying idea of legally binding ourselves together.

Memnon lifts a hand and strokes my cheek, the action disarmingly sweet. “Our magic has always been committed to us, but I want your deliberate commitment as well, Selene. I want to hold your hands under this sky before our old gods and your new ones, and I want us to pledge our vows.

“And even if you don’t believe in me, I want you to believe in the sanctity of our union.” He scrutinizes me with those luminous eyes of his. “And I think you will.”

I don’t know how much he knows about me—my memories in general are a bit muddled after our earlier battle—but yes, I believe in the sacredness of marriage.

Which is why I have stayed far, far away from it.

I hear the faint sound of sirens in the distance. At first, I think nothing of the sound. But then, through the bruised, aching recesses of my mind, I remember fragments of a call I had this evening. I strain to remember—

The Politia is going to arrest you.

I suck in a breath as the memory returns.

They’re going to arrest me. Tonight—right now.

Fuck.

Memnon must hear the sirens too, because he raises his eyebrows, knowledge alight in his eyes. “Oh no.” There is zero sympathy in his voice.

And why would there be? He orchestrated this entire fucking situation.

“We better lift this curse before they arrive,” he continues. “Time, after all, is almost up.”

I’m seething, but there’s one inconsistency my mind snags on. “Why marry me if I’ll just be rotting away in jail?” Because it looks like that’s where I’m headed.

Memnon’s still holding my hand, and now he gives it a squeeze. “Don’t worry about reasons,est amage. All you need to do is uphold your end of the bargain.”

I grimace at him.

There’s more he’s planned. There must be. Otherwise, the situation doesn’t make sense.

“Are you ready,est amage?”

Goddess save me, we’re going to do this. I think I may hurl.

I force myself to nod. “Let’s get this over with.”

CHAPTER45

Outside,Politia sirens draw closer.

“First,” Memnon says, “we must make an unbreakable oath.”

I draw my brows together as he reaches into the inner pocket of his tuxedo. “An unbreakable oath? Aboutwhat?”