Page 201 of Bedeviled

“Come, let’s wake our debt collector and leave this place.” With that, Memnon moves over to the Bargainer.

Crouching next to him, he places hands on either side of the fairy’s head.

I hear the Bargainer’s swift inhale, then Memnon is thrown clear across the room. He crashes into some smoldering shelves nearby, and the entire structure collapses under Memnon’s weight.

The darkness crowds in close to the Bargainer as he rises.

“Wait!” I call out to the fairy. “He’s under my command now.”

I can barely see the Bargainer beneath the shadows that cling to him. His breathing is labored, and he’s giving Memnon a look that would shrivel my balls if I were a dude.

But he doesn’t act right away. The shadows around him seem to stir, then eventually clear.

Both the Bargainer and the sorcerer eye each other as Memnon gets up.

My soul mate gives him a subtle nod. “I’m sorry.”

Memnon’s apologies to anyone besides me are few and far between.

After a brief hesitation, the Bargainer inclines his head to Memnon. The fairy’s gaze swings to me. “You bound him?”

I lift a shoulder. “I figured my commands might suppress Eislyn’s—and I was right.”

The Bargainer’s eyes flick over me, then he nods. “Well done, sugar.”

Memnon crosses over to us. “Careful what you call my wife, fairy,” he warns.

That seems to significantly brighten the Bargainer’s mood. “Alright, daddy.”

Memnon grimaces, clearly liking his new name even less than mine.

He’s baiting you, I tell him down our connection.

Memnon’s attention snaps to me, and even across the distance I see his gaze soften.

It’s working, he says. But accompanying the words is a feather-soft emotion that is some combination of happiness, adoration, and love.

I like feeling the stroke of your voice in my mind, he admits, and I love it even more that I can speak freely back and you’ll hear it.

Memnon’s eyes slide to the Bargainer, who is assessing the smoldering remains of the scrolls on this level.

“I don’t know if Eislyn’s scroll was consumed in the fire,” Memnon admits.

The Bargainer flashes us both a grim look. “I suppose we’ll find out soon enough.”

CHAPTER 49

We do find out soon enough.

We’ve barely made it outside, the fallen fae guards still scattered about us, when we see smoke and an orange haze discoloring the sky above the Flora Palace.

That’s not the only thing the night air carries our way. The distant sounds of screams and the clashing of metal echo even out here, miles from the palace.

“She’s already crossed over,” Memnon says darkly, violence in his gaze, but a small, cruel smile tugs at the corner of his lips. I can tell he’s already savoring the battle ahead, the one that’s been brewing for two millennia.

His hair is beginning to stir, but he keeps a tight, tight leash on his emotions.

“What do you know of this fairy’s plans?” the Bargainer asks from where he stands near us and Nero.