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I rush over to the window in time to hear the dullthumpof Kane hitting the ground, no magic there to soften the impact.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

My magic recoils into me an instant later, and I feel that insidious tug inside my head, the one that indicates I lost another memory from using my power.

It doesn’t matter. Not when Kane may be out there dying.

I swing my leg out the gaping hole that was my window, but Memnon scoops me up from behind.

“First you trap me in a tomb and fuck me over for two millennia, and now you dare to break our unbreakable vows andtouchanother?” Memnon growls against my ear. The lilt of the ancient language curls around me like one long, unbroken memory.

Has this man forgotten our entire last conversation?

“I—am not—Roxilana!”I kick at him.

Memnon ignores the strikes and, clutching me close, he steps onto the broken windowsill, then leaps off.

For a moment, I’m weightless. Then we land, and my entire body jolts from the impact, my teeth clicking together.

I catch sight of Kane’s slumped form, and I let out a horrified scream.

There’s a pool of blood around him, and he’s lying there, unmoving.

I struggle in the sorcerer’s grip all over again, but Memnon holds me fast. And then, he begins to carry me away, just like those captive fae brides Sybil warned me about.

Oh, hell no.

“Let go of me!” The command comes out in Sarmatian, though I barely notice. I’m spitting mad and consumed with worry for Kane.

Memnon ignores my shrieks and my struggles, continuing to stride onward, into the darkened woods.

In the distance I sense my familiar, but when I slip into his mind, all I see is forest.

Come now!I call to him, though I don’t know if Nero heard or felt compelled by the command.

Moving back into my own mind is confusing because the scenery is nearly the same—more darkened trees.

Once I get my bearings, I strike out with my power. The sorcerer laughs.Laughs.

The fuckinggall.

“Don’t insult me, Empress. You know you’ll have to do much more than that if you wish to harm me.”

“Youpsycho! Let mego!” I twist in his arms, my magic flaring out of me with my panic and anger. It doesn’t so much as loosen his hold.

We’ve long since lost sight of the coven house when Memnon finally stops, reluctantly setting me down.

I’m breathing hard, my heart pounding a mile a minute when I turn and catch sight of him. The moonlight falls upon his features, turning them sinister. They tug at my mind, and for one brief second, I’m somewhere else—

Memnon grabs the long length of his hair and withdraws a knife.

Before I can react, he brings his blade to his coarse dark locks, and with one brutal stroke, he cuts most of it off.

Then the image is gone. The same man stands before me, but his eyes are harder, the set of his mouth harsher. Despite how angry he looks, every inch of my skin buzzes with this electrifyingawareness.

Empress…you are mine…

I rub my temple, wanting him out of my head. I also want to scream because I thought we’d dealt with this whole mistaken-identity issue.