It’s all too vivid.

The longer I dwell on it, the more my blood heats.

I wet my lips. “When would you want to get married?”

Cannot believe I’m even asking this.

Memnon leans forward and takes my hand, clasping it between his. He is perversely beautiful, and I hate that I notice it, even now.

“Immediately,” he says.

My breath leaves me all at once. “No.”

“Yes,” he insists. “We are already bonded—your magic claimed mine the moment it manifested in you, soul mate. And though you cannot remember it, we have been married for a long, long time.”

I release a shuddering breath. “Then why bother marrying me again?” I say, throwing in one last-ditch effort to steer him away from this terrifying idea of legally binding ourselves together.

Memnon lifts a hand and strokes my cheek, the action disarmingly sweet. “Our magic has always been committed to us, but I want your deliberate commitment as well, Selene. I want to hold your hands under this sky before our old gods and your new ones, and I want us to pledge our vows.

“And even if you don’t believe in me, I want you to believe in the sanctity of our union.” He scrutinizes me with those luminous eyes of his. “And I think you will.”

I don’t know how much he knows about me—my memories in general are a bit muddled after our earlier battle—but yes, I believe in the sacredness of marriage.

Which is why I have stayed far, far away from it.

I hear the faint sound of sirens in the distance. At first, I think nothing of the sound. But then, through the bruised, aching recesses of my mind, I remember fragments of a call I had this evening. I strain to remember—

The Politia is going to arrest you.

I suck in a breath as the memory returns.

They’re going to arrest me. Tonight—right now.

Fuck.

Memnon must hear the sirens too, because he raises his eyebrows, knowledge alight in his eyes. “Oh no.” There is zero sympathy in his voice.

And why would there be? He orchestrated this entire fucking situation.

“We better lift this curse before they arrive,” he continues. “Time, after all, is almost up.”

I’m seething, but there’s one inconsistency my mind snags on. “Why marry me if I’ll just be rotting away in jail?” Because it looks like that’s where I’m headed.

Memnon’s still holding my hand, and now he gives it a squeeze. “Don’t worry about reasons, est amage. All you need to do is uphold your end of the bargain.”

I grimace at him.

There’s more he’s planned. There must be. Otherwise, the situation doesn’t make sense.

“Are you ready, est amage?”

Goddess save me, we’re going to do this. I think I may hurl.

I force myself to nod. “Let’s get this over with.”

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER 45

Outside, Politia sirens draw closer.

“First,” Memnon says, “we must make an unbreakable oath.”

I draw my brows together as he reaches into the inner pocket of his tuxedo. “An unbreakable oath? About what?”

He gives me a look. “About what you promised me this evening. As much as I care for you, est amage, I don’t trust your word.”

From his breast pocket, Memnon pulls out a dagger with an ornamental hilt. I tense at the sight of it

Before I can further react, Memnon draws the dagger down his hand, not flinching even a little as he cuts himself open. It takes me an extra moment to remember that binding spells require blood.

And that’s what we’re doing right now. Making the agreement binding.

He wipes the blade on his pants, then hands the knife hilt first to me.

After a brief hesitation, I take it, staring down at the dagger. It’s clear the sorcerer is determined to swaddle me in promises until I’m buried so deep, there will be no possibility of escaping him.

We’ll see about that.

That’s my promise.

I drag the blade down my palm, biting my lip at the flare of pain. A line of blood springs up, and for a moment, all I can do is stare at it.

Memnon takes the knife from me while I’m distracted, then wipes it clean again before tucking it away. With his bloody hand, he reaches for my own, threading his larger, darker fingers through mine. The wound on his palm presses flush against my own, our blood mingling.

What little magic I have left rouses at the contact, tendrils of it seeping through my blood and into Memnon’s. His own magic reaches for mine, twisting around and around it.

Outside, I hear cars come to a stop, their sirens cutting off. I have minutes—if that—before they close in on me.

Memnon gives my hand a squeeze, silently urging me to speak.

I part my lips and seal my fate. “I vow before my gods and yours, that tonight I shall lift our curse, and as soon as circumstances allow, I shall marry you. I bind my life to these vows.”

My magic flares as I finish the oath, and I gasp as it melds with Memnon’s.

I glance up at the sorcerer.

He’s already looking at me, his gaze both soft…and eager.

My heart gallops, and I’m breathless, which I wish were due to my own horror and not this strange curiosity that begs me to stroke his face and give in fully to this oath I made.

“Now for your memories,” Memnon says, his voice roughened with emotion.

Outside, I can hear car doors opening and closing.

Memnon releases my hands before cupping my face. “Est amage, I know this feels like the end, but I swear to you, this is the beginning. Whatever is between us, we will lift this curse and discover it together. And we will fix it. I am still yours—forever.”

I work my jaw. There is nothing left to fix. This will be a marriage and a bond in name only.

Memnon must see or feel my intentions because his expression grows somber.

He takes my hands in his, our bloody hands pressing together once more.

“Repeat after me.” He switches languages then, his voice becoming more rolling and guttural. “The curse I placed, I now shall lift. I withdraw my will. I end my spell. I bring into balance that which I set askew.”

I echo his words, my head pounding harder and harder with each sentence.

“Reveal the memories that this curse sought to hide. For now and forever.”

I take a fortifying breath, then repeat this too. My magic churns restlessly beneath my skin, the growing pressure of it making me fidget.

Memnon and I repeat the lines once more, this time together.

“For now and forever.”

My magic explodes behind my eyes, and then—

It begins.

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER 46

It starts with the most recent memories, this evening and then the rest of the day filling out in such detail, I nearly gasp.

It’s…it’s actually working.

There was a part of me that didn’t think it would.

The previous week comes back in all its fullness, then the week before that—and the one before that. Faster and faster, the memories return, though there’s no time to examine each one.

I see the span of my time here at Henbane Coven, and then I see my time before that.

I see myself opening Memnon’s tomb—then awakening my trapped mate. And before that, finding Nero and the harrowing plane crash I survived.

My lips have parted, and though I know Memnon is staring intently at me in the present, I’m locked in my past, my unearthed memories demanding nearly all my attention.

The past year comes back to me, and my breath comes out in shaky gasps. There was so much yearning and frustration and self-doubt as I worked to get into Henbane Coven. But there was so much self-discovery over that time too—I was able to live alone and function well in San Francisco. I had my own job and paid my own rent.