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We’re so close that our breath is intermingling.

“It’s why you can speak to me in Sarmatian when you’re pleased with me, and Latin when you’re angry,” Memnon continues, making me recall an earlier encounter in the spellcasting kitchen. I’d slipped into Latin with him then. “It’s why you can scream and fling your oaths and still kiss me as though we have done it a hundred upon a hundred times before—because we have.

“So you are wrong, little witch. You are many things to me. You are my queen, my empress, my wife. You are my Roxilana, the woman who awoke my magic and spoke to my mind before we ever met. You are my nemesis, who cursed me to endless sleep.”

Memnon’s hand cups my cheek. “And you are my Selene, my eternal soul mate, who woke me from it.”

CHAPTER24

Soul mate.

That terrifying, bewitching word echoes in my head.

I stagger back. “I—I am not your soul mate,” I say, even though my voice wavers.

I expect my words to be met with annoyance or frustration. This is, after all, a new version of the same old argument we’ve had.

Instead, his eyes have softened. “I saw your mind, little witch. I understand how you struggle and that much has slipped past your own awareness.”

He closes the space between us and places his palm over my heart.

“What are you doing?” I demand. I should rip his hand away. The ugly truth, however, is that I like his touch, even after all the shit he just pulled.

The gall of my body.

Instead of responding, Memnon stares deeply at me.

Empress…why do you think I’m able to speak to you like this?

I don’t breathe, my gaze locked with his.

Your heart knows the answer—as does your magic.

I feel that magic he speaks of rise now, twining with his.

Oh Goddess.

I shake my head.

No, no, no.

Memnon’s glittering brown eyes are intent on me, and a slow pleased smile spreads across his lips, like he can hear my own shocked thoughts.

We are soul mates, little witch, and we can speak down our bond…

I squeeze my eyes shut, grimacing because I canfeelhis words in me. They seep into my very blood, like a river reaching the ocean.

It felt like this every time he called to me—even when we were kissing only moments ago. I just assumed it was his brand of magic at work. Now, however…now his explanation makes a sick sort of sense.

Bonds are magical cords that connect two entities—like the one I share with Nero. Soul mates have them as well.

Could it be possible?CouldMemnon truly be my soul mate, and could he speak to me through a bond we share?

No.I reject that thought before it can take further root.

Memnon’s eyes twinkle deviously, and it makes me wonder just how formidable this man truly is. I have seen his magic and his powerful body, and I have heard enough of his past to know he must’ve been a ruler, one who ruled a vast and expanding empire. Yet, even knowing all of that, I still find Memnon’s mind to be largely a mystery. And I think it’s that very mind of his that is the most terrible thing of all.

“You can talk to me through our bond too,” Memnon says softly, his hand still over my heart.