Again, that long, assessing stare. His nostrils flare.
“Are you scenting me?” I ask, raising my eyebrows. “What’s going on?”
“He named a business successor.”
“Okay…?” I say uncertainly.
Kane leans forward. “Luca Fortuna was the sole owner of Ensanguine Enterprises, the multimillion-dollar conglomerate. Besides his three now deceased children, he had a wife and two mistresses. And that is not even taking into consideration his extended family or the half-dozen close confidantes he was grooming for future roles in the company.”
Clearly Kane has done his homework on the family since we’ve been apart.
The shifter levels a look at me, one that desperately makes me want to look away. “Guess who Luca named to inherit his empire?”
Some sick emotion wells up in me. “You told me this was about Memnon.”
“It is.”
Kane reaches into the pocket of his running shorts and pulls out his phone. He taps on the screen, then slides the device over to me. I stare down at an image of a document titled “Ensanguine Enterprises Board of Directors Meeting Minutes.”
“Look right there,” Kane says, reaching across the table to point to a section of the page titled Succession Plan. “Read what it says.”
My eyes scan the text.
In the case of Luca Fortuna’s death, the leadership of Ensanguine Enterprises passes to Leonard Fortuna, Sophia Fortuna, Juliana Fortuna, and Memnon Uvagukis.
I can’t breathe for a second.
“Luca Fortuna named your mate as the heir to his company,” Kane says. “Along with, of course, his three legal children, who are all now conveniently dead.”
Horror trickles down my spine.
Kane studies me, his nostrils flared. “You really didn’t know,” he finally says, like he only now believes it.
“Where did you get this?” I ask.
“Ensanguine Enterprises is a publicly traded company. The succession plan was made public a few hours ago, and one of my pack mates brought it to our alpha’s attention.”
I press a hand to the tightness in my chest and shake my head. “I don’t…understand.”
Only, I do. I understand the killing, the claiming. That was all a part of the Sarmatian ethos two thousand years ago. A king didn’t just defeat an enemy; he moved in and acquired his land and wealth.
Kane sighs, his whole body relaxing. He runs his hands through his tousled hair.
“Memnon didn’t destroy the Fortunas’ empire last night. He took it over.”
The unbreakable oath’s magic cinches tighter around my windpipe. It now feels uncomfortably like a noose.
Est amage, Memnon calls down our bond, breaking through my thoughts, I hope you’re ready. It’s time to get married.
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COMING SOON
Keep a lookout for the third and final book in the Bewitched series!
Bewitched #3
Coming 2025
Be sure to check out
The Curse that Binds (Bewitched #2.5)
where Memnon and Selene’s story first begins.
Coming Soon
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THANK YOU FOR READING!
As always, I am so grateful to share my worlds and characters with you.
If you enjoyed this book or any of my others, you can sign up for my newsletter here to get notifications on future releases as well as bonus content and more.
I always appreciate ratings and reviews, so thank you in advance if you decide to give this book one.
Much love and happy reading!
XO,
Laura
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ALSO BY LAURA THALASSA
The Four Horsemen
Pestilence
War
Famine
Death
The Bargainer
Rhapsodic
A Strange Hymn
The Emperor of Evening Stars
The Fallen World
The Queen of All that Dies
The Queen of Traitors
The Queen of All that Lives
The Unearthly
The Unearthly
The Coveted
The Cursed
The Forsaken
The Damned
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
If I could describe my feelings about Bespelled in a single sound bite, I would say this book was pure indulgence. It is full of scenes that made me thrill and seethe and tense and swoon. While there was a satisfying flow to the book, it wasn’t necessarily easy to write. I have a book’s worth of removed lines and scenes, bits and pieces of Bespelled that weren’t quite right so I had to cast them aside.
The one person who listened to me through the entire life of Bespelled—from its inception to its conclusion—is my husband, Daniel. It’s strange to give thanks to what has become such a fundamental part of our relationship, like thanking a friend for having the same interests as you. But I want to thank you anyway, because I am eternally grateful for the weekly—if not daily—chats about stories and writing and all the beautiful places it takes us. I’m thankful to always, always have your support, for this book and all the others, and for the fact that you celebrate my wins as though they were your own. I love you—may it be forever.
To my agent Kimberly, I don’t know what good deed I did to get to work with you, but I am beyond fortunate and so grateful for all the love and support you pour into my books. Thank you to Aimee, who lost sleep over this book so she could give me feedback.
Christa Désir, you are incredible at what you do, and you’re an absolute delight to work with. Thank you for the wicked good feedback. Your excitement and belief in my stories is so, so humbling.
Sabrina Baskey, thank you for making this book sing! I appreciated each one of your comments and revisions. You truly added the polish to Bespelled.
Naomi, you were the first official reader to get Bespelled, and you not only managed to bring the book together with your feedback, your genuine excitement for Bespelled and your bookish updates while reading it have stayed with me since you read it.
A huge shout-out goes to my mom, who stayed with me during the end of my edits simply so that I could get them done in time. I’m going to try not to get weepy about this, but the truth is that it meant a lot to me. I love you, Mama. Thank you.
A big, heartfelt thank you goes to my dad, whose brain I picked about succession plans. And a secondary thank you goes once again to my husband, who reassured me a retrofitted skyscraper in San Francisco would remain standing even after a portal to hell ripped through part of its foundations. I’m sure your architecture professors back at Berkeley are super proud you could use your knowledge for such important and sobering matters.
I want to thank my family as a whole for supporting me in so many ways during this book’s journey. There were so many shared posts and so much love showered on me, and I’m honestly still moved by it.
To my lovely kiddos, though you both in the most literal sense did not help with the book, you helped quiet the mess of my mind and gave me your laughter and your curiosity and sweet mischief.
