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I wake to an empty bed.

The candles have long since burned out, and in this windowless room, the darkness is almost absolute. I cannot see the rumpled blankets next to me nor the divot left behind by a much larger body.

Memnon.

My own body seems to come alive at the thought of him, and I can’t help the grin that spreads across my lips as I remember the night we just had. But as soon as my smile comes, it wilts away because even in the darkness, I’m sure the Sarmatian king is not in this room.

I reach down our connection.

Memnon?

My queen, you’re awake , he says, surprised. He himself sounds highly alert, which makes me sit up, my blanket falling to my waist.

Where are you? I ask.

Coming for you.

I hear the scratch of unsheathed claws, and I remember that Ferox has been in the room this whole time. Embarrassment heats my cheeks, knowing what Memnon and I did while the big cat was in here with us.

Now I sense Ferox making his way to me. A moment later, the mattress dips as the panther hops onto the bed, moving to my side. He curls up next to me, and hesitantly, I pet his body, still getting used to his presence.

Across the room, the door opens, and I don’t need to see the figure’s face to recognize the staggering stature. My hands memorized him all through the night.

Memnon.

He murmurs something under his breath, and a burst of blue light ignites in his hand. He tosses the flare into the air, where it illuminates the room, casting Ferox and I in shades of blue.

“I leave for but a moment and already the panther has taken my place,” Memnon says, striding in.

A smile curves my lips.

I rest a hand on Ferox’s flank. “Don’t leave and maybe you won’t be replaced,” I say tartly.

“Oh, believe me,” he says, his eyes heated as he takes me in, “I have no intention of leaving your side ever.” He rounds the bed so he can clasp my face and kiss me.

It’s sweet but brief, over before it’s barely begun. “This place, however, is a different matter.”

I raise my eyebrows in question.

“We need to leave.”