So this was retaliation for the bodies in the woods, bodies that Patrick ordered Memnon to move.
From everything Memnon’s told me, it seems blatantly clear that he’s the one staging these victims. It doesn’t seem like it would’ve been hard for Patrick to prove Memnon’s guilt. But the mage didn’t do that. Instead he died, and Memnon was punished alongside his colleagues as though no one knew who the culprit was.
This is a dangerous sort of game Memnon is playing. He’s clearly manipulating many minds to hide what he’s doing. But this is a multimillion-dollar criminal organization he’s messing with. Luck and strategy can only last so long.
Why did you move the body? I ask. It made sense before, when he was framing me. It doesn’t make sense now.
We’re working to bring down the murderers, Memnon reminds me. The killers aren’t just people. They’re a kingdom. A seemingly untouchable one. They’re not so different from Rome, really. The first step in defeating such a kingdom is undermining their power.
You don’t have to put yourself at risk for this—for me. I don’t want that.
Make no mistake, Empress. I enjoy doing this. I feel like the king I once was.
Spoken to me while his back is a mess of injuries and he’s faint from blood loss.
But Memnon could’ve healed himself or else altered minds to prevent his punishment in the first place. He didn’t. I need to remember that.
If Patrick is dead, then why would you still pretend to follow his command? I ask as my eyes linger on his healing injuries. Most of them have closed, the new skin pink.
Juliana Fortuna commanded it. I was forced to bond to her, along with the rest of Patrick’s former bonds.
I go still. From what Memnon previously told me, Juliana is a daughter of Luca Fortuna, the head of Ensanguine Enterprises, a.k.a. the Fortuna crime ring. If this binding was as public as it sounds, then—
Is the bond—
Real? Memnon finishes. Gods, it nearly was, but no. I managed to avoid it. Barely. But Juliana and everyone else there believe it is.
I exhale, my body going slack with my relief.
I’ll meet with her tomorrow, Memnon continues. I still haven’t been able to get close enough to either her or Luca to physically see into their minds, but now that I’m under Juliana’s control, I’ll have more opportunities. Once I’m able to peer at their thoughts, I’ll understand why the murders are happening—and I can then perhaps alter their minds and stop them.
Or he’ll kill them, but he doesn’t say that.
Suddenly, I feel weary. So weary. I should be thrilled. Finally, the pieces are falling into place, and Memnon has all but admitted he might actually be able to stop the murders.
But when I asked for his help, I was fueled by anger and resentment and my own sort of revenge. Now, I can feel two thousand years of fear creeping up my spine.
Memnon, the last time you took on an empire like this, it ended badly for us.
He turns on the couch to look at me fully, and his hand goes to my cheek. This isn’t Rome. It will be different.
I search his eyes. There’s a feeling knotted in my chest, an echo of the pain I felt the night I discovered him in that sarcophagus, hopelessly out of reach.
I can’t lose you again. I’m horrified when I realize I’ve pushed the words down our bond.
Memnon’s eyes go soft, too soft, and if I were standing, my knees would weaken at the sight.
My queen, since I woke, I have desperately dreamed you might say such a thing. That you might feel a shadow of what I feel for you. But you do not need to worry, he continues. I’d sooner burn every last remnant of the Fortuna dynasty than let something come between us. You won’t lose me, I swear it to you.
That’s not truly something he can promise me, but I tuck the vow away anyway.
I glance at his back. The last of his lashes are nothing more than faded lines. Even those are slowly darkening to match the rest of his bronze-toned skin. I release a little more of my power, this time to lift the blood from Memnon’s shirt, his skin, and his hair, and then my own. The red liquid vanishes in seconds, and it appears as though he weren’t hurt to begin with.
I tug the hem of his shirt down, covering his back. “You’re going to have to make up an excuse to your shitty new boss about why your back is healed—or you can just snap her neck as you do most people who annoy you.”
Memnon gives me an amused smirk, his eyes twinkling. “Is my soul mate growing vicious? I do approve.”
Before I get a chance to respond, Memnon stands, pulling me to my feet. He cups my face.
His eyes glitter. “Thank you, Empress,” he says.
I take a deep breath and nod. “Of course.”
His expression turns amused. “Now let’s go meet these wolves.”
CHAPTER 31
When Memnon and I drive up to the cabin on shifter territory, the place is unsettlingly quiet. There are cars parked outside it, but there’s not a soul around, nor do I hear the bereaved howls that cut through the air earlier.
Memnon and I get out of the car, shutting the doors behind us.
“You sure there’s a meeting tonight?” Memnon asks.
No sooner has he spoken than the cabin’s front door opens, and Kane comes out. I catch a glimpse of the room inside, and I notice the solemn, silent crowd.
It might be quiet here, but there’s a crowd inside.
Kane’s eyes are red-rimmed as he closes the door and approaches us. “I didn’t think you were coming,” he says.
We’re more than twenty minutes late.
“I had to drop Nero off somewhere safe,” I say, forcing myself not to think too hard about my familiar, who’s likely stalking some cute, fluffy forest creature in the woods behind Memnon’s place.
He’s safe, the sorcerer reassures me.
“How is he doing?” Kane asks.
Plumes of Memnon’s magic unfurl out of him then, a clear sign his agitation is rising.
“He’s okay,” I say softly.
“I’m sorry we didn’t come,” Kane says. “My alpha forbid us from crossing—”
“Kane,” Memnon cuts in.
Just the tone of the sorcerer’s voice has the lycan tensing. I can hear low rumbling from Kane, like he chafes at the power in Memnon’s voice.
“Enough,” my mate says. “Your apology is an insult. This whole meeting is an insult.”
Hell’s spells, here we go.
A menacing growl rumbles deep in Kane’s chest. “How dare you—”
Memnon steps in close, his eyes beginning to glow. “Yes, I dare. You and your pack left my mate to be attacked. They were outnumbered, and when I found them bloody and brutalized in the woods, they were alone. Why were they alone?”
Kane’s growl has deepened, and his eyes have shifted. “We cannot cross—”
“You failed her. All of you failed her. And now you have the audacity to use your useless friendship with her to call me in—”
“Is everything alright out here?” Vincent, the Marin Pack alpha, stands on the front porch. Despite his easy words, his body looks tense and his translucent magic is thick in the air around him.