“Are you still bonded to this Juliana?” the alpha cuts in.

“No,” Memnon cuts in. “I killed the sorceress.”

It’s quiet again, and I imagine Vincent, Apani, Kane, and the pack beta, Irene, are all putting together what they might’ve seen on the news with this information.

Memnon’s gaze narrows on Kane. “By then, she had spent a good hour torturing my mate. I bound the woman to me, forced her to give up the information we just shared, and then I gave her the death she deserved.”

If I expected the shifters to be horrified by Memnon’s implied brutality, I assumed wrong. They all have a slightly feral look about them, but none seem disturbed by the information. If anything, they seem to be reconsidering him.

“An hour?” Kane says, his voice rough. Clearing his throat, he runs a hand over his mouth. “Shit, Selene…” When Kane looks at me again, there is so much pain in his eyes.

I shake my head. “I’m … fine.”

Hate that word, Memnon says down our bond.

To the rest of the room, I say, “Juliana’s death freed a number of supernaturals from their forced bonds, and it’s likely some of them will bring this information to the Politia. If you have a pack member working for the authorities, this is how you can verify our story.”

The room is quiet, almost thoughtful.

“You’re planning on attending the upcoming auction?” Vincent finally asks.

“Yes, we plan on stopping it,” Memnon says. My soul mate looks like he’s relishing the thought, and why wouldn’t he? It’s undoubtedly going to get messy and violent, and Memnon was raised for battle.

Kane looks between us, frowning. “Doing so could get you killed. Why don’t you just let the Politia handle this? If supernaturals are informing them of these forced bonds like you said, they might go after the sorcerers themselves.”

Memnon leans back in his seat. “If these newly unbonded supernaturals do report their experiences to the Politia, and if the Politia believe them, and if the department’s pockets are not too weighed down by Fortuna money, then perhaps they will go after this crime ring. The stars must align just so for those cursed authorities to do anything.”

“The sorcerer has a point, Kane,” Vincent says, his eyes flicking to the shifter sitting next to me. “It’s not clear the Politia will have enough evidence or time to stop the Fortunas before this auction, especially not when they’re likely pooling their resources to hunt down a mass murderer.” Vincent’s gaze moves pointedly to Memnon.

My mate narrows his eyes at the alpha, but before he can say anything, I cut in. “They’re taking my coven sisters.” There is a whole previous lifetime of steel in my voice. “And they’re taking your pack mates.”

Irene growls at my words. “We’re aware.”

I continue. “I’m not willing to risk another supernatural dying or getting bonded against their will because these monsters care more about money than human lives.”

Vincent clears his throat. “We must discuss this with the entire pack before we make a decision about our involvement in this,” the alpha says.

Memnon leans across the table, his entire demeanor going from relaxed to malevolent in two-point-five seconds. “You will not.”

The alpha growls, his eyes shifting. “Think twice, sorcerer, before you challenge me beneath my own roof.”

Memnon’s eyes begin to glow. “We’ve discussed this before: I will not let you put my soul mate at risk because you believe everyone has a right to know this classified information.” The alpha’s growl only deepens, but now Memnon rises, leaning his hands heavily on the table. “Do you want me to tell you how the sorceress broke my mate’s bones one by one? How I heard Selene’s screams through my bond before I could get there? These are not mild people. You do not have to involve your pack in this business, but you will not risk mine.”

The air is crackling with tension. What muscles I can see of the alpha’s are taut. Something is about to happen, unless I put a stop to it.

“Once the sorceress bonded me,” I say, interrupting the standoff, “Juliana commanded me to keep our bond a secret. She then ordered me to be loyal to her above all others.”

Vincent is still squaring off with Memnon, but the other shifters are listening to me, so I press on.

“So if you want to find the shifters who might be under forced bonds,” I continue, “give your pack mates a vial of truth serum and ask each one these questions: One, did you swear an oath to secrecy with someone outside the pack? And two, were you forced to do so against your will?” Vincent has reluctantly torn his gaze from Memnon. He too is now listening to me.

“Exclude any shifters who answer yes to those questions from the meeting,” I say, “and make sure no information gets back to them. Then make your decision.” My gaze moves over Vincent and Irene, Apani and Kane. “As for me and Memnon, you already know our decision. If a fight breaks out, we will defend any shifters present at the auction as well as any other supernaturals there against their will. I hope your pack considers joining us, but if not, then I want to thank you all anyway for considering me a friend of the pack for a time. I will still always consider the Marin Pack friends of mine.”

I stand and nod to each lycan. Vincent and Irene stare at me speculatively. Apani dips her head, and Kane, Kane looks heartbroken all over again.

Nothing more to say, I head for the door. I’ve barely passed Kane when the shifter catches my wrist.

“Selene.”

I stop and turn to him, decidedly ignoring Memnon.

“Swear to me you won’t die.”

I stare down at him, and though I cannot read his mind, I can practically feel his worry and powerlessness. Kane is hemmed in by the will of his pack. And I think right now, he desperately wants to join the fight, or at least protect me from it.

Memnon’s chair scrapes back, then the sorcerer’s heavy hand falls on Kane’s shoulder.

“You’re a good man, Kane,” Memnon says, “and your protectiveness will serve you well as a leader one day. Selene cannot make you that promise any more than I can. But I can vow to you this: I will not willingly lead her to her death.”

Kane stares at me a moment longer, and I nod.

“It will be okay,” I say softly.

It’s as close to a promise as I can make, and it might not even be the truth. Because none of this is okay. Not the forced bonds, not the killings, not the auction, and not the upcoming violence.

But there’s no going back from what happened last night. Not for Memnon and not for me. The only option for either of us is to stop the Fortunas before they stop us.

And hopefully the shifters decide to help.

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER 43

I drive Memnon’s car back to his house while the sorcerer takes his motorcycle. The sky has been heavy with the scent of rain this whole evening, but it’s only once I’m on the winding mountain roads that the heavens open up.

I flick on the wipers and try to force my focus to stay purely on the road.

Unfortunately, it keeps drifting.

“Did she tell the truth?” Vincent had asked.

“As she knows it, yes,” my mate had replied.

What had he meant by that?

Memnon?

I shouldn’t be bothering him. Not when he’s traveling these same slickened roads I am. On a motorcycle. With no helmet.

Yes, est amage?

Forget it, I say.

Well, I cannot forget it now, after I’ve been teased. What is it?

I adjust my grip on the wheel. Fuck it.

Tell me something you don’t want me to know.

I ignore the twinge of guilt in my stomach that comes with the command and brace for some horrible truth.

I think about marrying you all the godsdamned time, Memnon says down our bond. I think of ways to work around our arrangement just to make it official sooner. And once you’re my wife, I plan on convincing you with gifts and food and mind-blowing sex to stay with me, in our house, forever.