He smiles at me again, and there’s a vicious edge to it, despite the softness in his eyes. “You already know who I am. You may be the only person who truly knows, est amage.” My queen.
I push away from him then and run my hands through my hair. “I need to speak with the Politia, and I need a shower and to change—and breakfast would be nice.”
Memnon stares down at me, and the affectionate look in his eyes is unsettling. I sense that last night changed things between us for him as well.
“My spell took away your pain, but you need to rest, Selene.” Already, he’s trying to turn me around and steer me back to my bed. “I will bring you breakfast. The Politia can wait.”
Crap. You let an ancient supernatural king stay with you for one night and lend you his power, and suddenly, he gets all bossy and presumptuous.
Going to need to nip this in the bud.
“Um”—I put a hand on Memnon’s chest, my insides squealing at his warm skin and hard muscles—“no.”
That sparkle in Memnon’s eyes is still there, but he definitely looks irritated. “What, exactly, are you disagreeing with?”
I huff out a breath. “Listen, I don’t know how they did things back when they were busy inventing the wheel, but you don’t get to tell me what to do. Also—” I give his chest a gentle shove. He doesn’t so much as budge. “Last night and this morning were nice, but now you have to go.”
Maybe if I hustle him out fast enough, we won’t have to discuss the fact I’m seriously in his debt for all the magic he lent me.
Memnon narrows his eyes at me, though the corner of his mouth curls upward. He parts his lips to speak.
“Uh-uh.” I shake my head. “You don’t get to say whatever evil little thought gave you that look. Just”—another little push that gets me nowhere—“scoot.”
Memnon catches my hands, trapping them against his chest. Very deliberately, he steps into my space, and I am suddenly very aware of his naked torso and my skimpy lingerie.
“I will leave you on one condition, mate.”
I grind my teeth. I didn’t realize getting a sorcerer out of my room required conditions.
“You must vow to keep yourself safe.”
That’s…I guess I can do that. “I swear I’ll keep myself safe,” I say. Then I force a big fake smile. “Good?”
Memnon’s gaze drops to my lips, and those eyes narrow again. But after a moment, he nods at my words. And now he’s giving me that affectionate look again. It makes my skin heat and my core clench.
He releases my hands, but just as soon as they’ve left, his mouth finds mine, kissing me with all the command of the warlord king he claims to be.
I melt against those lips, the taste of him intoxicating. My hands fall to his waist, and I draw my fingers over his tattoos.
This man is one big walking Bad Idea, and I’m learning from last night that I have a weakness for them.
Memnon pulls away. He drags the pad of his thumb over my lower lip. “Keep your vow, little witch,” he says.
With one final soft look, the sorcerer leaves me.
CHAPTER 31
“What were you doing out in the Everwoods on the night of October tenth?” Officer Howahkan asks, staring at me across the white table, his long dark hair pulled back in a braid.
The interrogation room is small, plain—it looks like every other bland, ominous interrogation room I’ve seen on TV. The only difference is that the walls of this one are lined with spells. They shimmer and jiggle a little when I focus on them.
I’ve only been in the Politia’s interrogation room for five minutes, but I already feel the magic on those four walls closing in on me.
“I can’t remember,” I say.
I reach a hand down and stroke my familiar. Nero bumps my hand, giving me the courage I so desperately need.
I still haven’t reported what happened last night, and now I’m not sure whether I should. Except for Kasey, I don’t know the names of the witches who attacked me.
Officer Howahkan sighs. “In your earlier testimony, you said the following: ‘He tracked blood into my room. When I realized it wasn’t his, I decided to follow the trail back to its source.’ Do you deny that now?” The officer glances up from his notes, his eyes piercing.
“No, I’m sure I knew what I was talking about at the time.”
The officer gives me a foul look, like I’m giving him an attitude. “Yet you can no longer tell me anything about the incident.”
“I can’t remember anything about it,” I clarify. “I’m not trying to withhold memories from you on purpose.”
Officer Howahkan holds my gaze. Despite the enchantments in the room that compel me to speak the truth, I get the distinct impression he doesn’t believe me.
His eyes drop to Nero. “That’s your familiar?”
Nero stares up at the officer, looking wholly unamused with this situation.
“Yeah, he is,” I say.
“He’s a panther?”
“Yes…” Don’t know where this is going.
“I imagine your panther hunts in those woods.”
My brows come together. “Are you accusing my familiar of killing Charlotte?” The thought is horrifying.
I put a hand on said panther.
“No,” the officer says emphatically. “A human killed the witch, not an animal. But still, I’m curious about the order of events you describe in your original testimony.”
“The order of events?” I echo.
“You say you saw blood and followed your familiar back to a body. One could rearrange that timeline to suggest you came from the body to your room, then discovered your familiar dragged evidence back to your doorstep, so you returned and reported the incident to make yourself look innocent.”
I can’t seem to take a full breath of air, and I feel myself paling.
“Are you suggesting I killed this woman?” I whisper, horrified.
I thought this was just some routine questioning.
Officer Howahkan shakes his head. “As a homicide investigator, I have to cast doubt on every single person and look at the evidence from all angles. Unfortunately, your memory loss doesn’t help clear you.”
“I didn’t choose to erase these memories,” I say hotly. “I don’t get that luxury, something you’d know if you pulled any of my files from Peel Academy or from Henbane Coven.
“You want my alibi?” I fish my planner out of my bag. “Here, you can look at this.” I plop the thing on the table.
Officer Howahkan slides it over to his side, and after a moment, he thumbs through it.
He stops on a particular day and studies the notes I have written down.
“There’s nothing here that covers the time of the murders,” he says.
“I have other planners,” I respond. I usually have several going at once. This is just my most functional one. “I don’t have them with me, but I could bring them here if you need them.”
My nerves fray as it settles in: I’m a suspect in a murder investigation.
The officer slides the planner aside. “Let’s move away from Miss Evensen’s case for a moment, shall we?”
I exhale, then nod.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve seen one of these murdered witches, is it?” he says.
I tilt my head a little as Officer Howahkan flips through the papers on his clipboard and taps something he sees. “I don’t know what you mean.”