“You are not to hurt my friends unless there’s a reasonable cause for it,” I amend.
Shit, there’s definitely room for Memnon to abuse that rule. Whatever. I can fine-tune the command later.
I draw in a breath. “Now that you know what happened between us long ago, I want to talk about the other reason I called you here.” The real reason.
He waits, arms casually slung over his knees, watching me again with that look in his eye as dusk bleeds into darkness.
“You told me not so long ago that I have enemies,” I say.
Memnon watches me carefully. “I did.”
I think back to the threatening note left in my journal. “Those witches, the ones who were after me the night I saved the shifter girl—when you lent me your power—they are still out there.”
My mate’s expression darkens. “Not all of them.”
Right. Because between me, Nero, and Memnon, a few of them definitely kicked the bucket that night.
Okay, so at least he knows what I’m referring to.
“There’s also the murdered witches,” I say. “The ones whose deaths you framed me for.” I don’t mean for the bitterness to enter my voice, but there it is. And it’s going to be there for a long time, regardless of Memnon’s efforts to repay his debt. “I’m linked to these two separate issues. And I know you know more about the murders than I do.”
He’s gone quiet, but his eyes are cutting like daggers.
“I want you to help me learn everything I can about both the murders and those spell circles, and I want you to help me stop them both.”
There’s a certain poetic justice to the idea of Memnon, who drove me into all this misfortune, now helping me resolve it.
Once I’ve said my piece, I wait. If Memnon were anyone else, I know he’d scoff at me. I’m no detective, and even if I were, these are no ordinary mysteries.
To Memnon, however, I’m more than just Selene, Henbane student with prior memory issues. I’m also Roxilana, queen of a nation of warriors, co-ruler of an empire. Inserting myself into deadly business comes naturally to me. Almost as naturally as it does to Memnon.
A bloodthirsty, pleased look spreads across his face. “I can do that, my queen.”
CHAPTER 10
He’s going to help me. I don’t have to marry him, and he’s now going to help me.
I exhale a long, relieved breath.
I can tell he badly wants to touch me, hold me. There’s a hollowness in his eyes, and regret is starting to creep into the rest of his features.
Finally, I think he gets it.
He fucked up.
He really, really fucked up.
Memnon rises. He reaches out a hand for me. “I have a lot to tell you, and I think you’ll find your room a more comfortable place to hear it all.”
I take his hand and let him help me up, noting that he holds my hand for a second longer than necessary once I’m on my feet.
“Is it safe to talk about this stuff there?” I’ve been played too many times in the last few weeks not to be paranoid.
“No,” Memnon says. But fortunately for us, he continues down our bond, we can speak of it like this.
Fair point.
I stare at him a little longer, then reluctantly begin walking back toward my residence hall. Memnon sidles up next to me as we hit the tree line.
“I just want you to know that I actually want nothing to do with you ever again,” I say, “and I’m only doing this now—”
“Because you want my help,” he finishes.
“Because I know you won’t leave me alone,” I correct, “and putting you to work seems better than letting you run wild.” It’s not entirely a lie.
Memnon stays quiet.
“You have nothing to say to that?” I ask as we weave between trees, our shoes crunching over pine needles.
“Oh, I have plenty,” he says.
“Then say it.”
The sorcerer shakes his head, but my words carry their own compulsion. Memnon forces out the admission. “I loathe hearing you say you want nothing to do with me, but after being in your head, I understand it all entirely, so I must eat my feelings on this.
“But yes, I have no interest in letting you go. None at all. So I will help you with these mysteries, though the extra scrutiny may very well place you in more danger, and that means I will likely have to kill more people, and I don’t want to admit that to you because I have a reputation to redeem. And I need to redeem it because I want you to crave me the way I crave you. You are the air in my lungs and the blood in my veins, and all the power and glory in the world are useless without you—” His voice breaks off.
Great Goddess’s tits, that’s…a lot to take in.
After a moment, he mutters, “Fuck.”
I think the situation is sinking in for him as well.
“No, no, keep going and tell me how you really feel,” I say sarcastically, though my words ring a little hollow.
Memnon makes a pained noise. “I hurt for all that I lost and how I lost it, and I’m despairing that I will ever get it again. I’m drowning in self-loathing at the moment.”
I glance over at Memnon, my eyes wide, before I realize that though I made a joke, he was forced to take the command literally.
After a moment, the sorcerer groans. “Gods, what have I done?”
Despite the heavy admissions, I smile, just a little. I might actually like Memnon this way. He’s disarming, which is a step up from hateful.
You’re not supposed to like him.
“You are supposed to like me,” Memnon replies. “That is the entire point of being soul mates.”
“Get out of my mind.”
“Est amage, it is you who are in my mind,” he says.
I glance down at my new boots. “You were right last night,” I admit softly. “There is so much about you I don’t know.”
It’s silent for several seconds. Then— “Please don’t make me give another confession. I can hardly stand the thoughts when I say them out loud.”
I swallow a laugh.
“How did you come to live in that house?” I ask as we walk.
“It’s a rental,” Memnon replies.
“How did you get the money to pay for it?” I ask.
“I know you remember my power,” he says. “With a touch and my will, I can get into anyone’s head. I can learn their secrets, such as account and routing numbers. And I can use them to my benefit.”
So he’s been stealing money. It’s not the worst crime he’s committed, so I guess I should curb my horror.
“And how did you learn about bank accounts, routing numbers, passwords—”
“—and mortgages and the stock market?” Memnon finishes. “I am still figuring out most of these, but once you touch enough minds, the information fills itself out. Assuming, of course, that the minds correctly understand the concepts. I’m pretty sure most people have no idea how the stock market actually works—myself included.”
Ahead of us, the trees thin out, and I can just make out the conservatory and, farther on, my residence hall.
“So you’ve been using your powers to take what you need?” That explains how Memnon learned English so fast.
“I can hear your disapproval, Empress.”