“How do you know my name?” Ginny breathed, crawling backwards, away from him. Away. From. Him? “I don’t understand why I’m here! What is happening?”
Jonas ran into an invisible barrier, ice forming a frigid layer on his skin. His voice emerged sounding like a wheeze. “What do you mean, how do I know your name?”
Elias’s dark laughter rang out. “I did what you were too weak to do. She remembers nothing of Jonas Cantrell.” With a hateful smirk in Jonas’s direction, he turned to face the High Order and executed a sweeping bow. “For years, I’ve urged him to resume his duties and he refuses. He does not deserve the honor—an honor I covet above all else.” He flicked a wrist in Ginny’s direction. “Take this as my show of good faith. Consider me for his council seat instead. I will spend my every waking breath undoing the damage he’s done to your reputation—in a way only I can. I know every place he’s been, every vampire he’s met with, every safe haven he’s established.”
Torment seared Jonas’s insides.
He’d been dropped into hell to be roasted among sinners.
A violent ringing started in his ears and vibrated down his spine and if he had a functioning stomach, he would have emptied it on the ground at that moment.
No.
No.
No.
Yes, the betrayal was equivalent to a spike being driven into his stomach, but he could focus on nothing but Ginny. His love looked right through him as if she’d never met him. Never spent hours speaking to him, never kissed him or enraptured him with her laugh. Every magical minute since he’d woken up on her table…gone? How could that be? How could such valuable, perfect hours cease to exist? His mate didn’t know his touch. She didn’t know he would keep her safe. Didn’t know him at all. These realizations hit fast and hard, leaving him bereft, stumbling sideways in front of the Order and nearly dropping.
“Look at him,” marveled the king. “A shell. Over an inconsequential human.”
“I’m going to kill you, Elias,” Jonas choked out, doubling over, bracing his hands on his knees. “How could you do this?”
Not only to him. But to Ginny.
How many times had she begged him to leave her mind intact? Once upon a time, had he actually considered erasing himself from her memories? The pain of occupying no place in her mind—and therefore her heart—was unfathomable. His bones were turning to dust where he stood.
“I am entertained,” cooed the king, steepling his fingers beneath his chin. “Anyone else?”
The High Order murmured their agreement.
Clarence got more comfortable in his throne. “You want to know why I put Miss Lynn in such perilous situations?” He waved at someone or something, Jonas couldn’t be sure, couldn’t feel or deduce anything. “Larissa, please come closer.”
Jonas watched Ginny’s eyes widen, just a fraction, her attention training on Larissa. Her skin turned the barest shade lighter, as though some blood had left her face. Recognition? Shock? It all happened in the split second before she went back to looking confused and fearful.
That was odd.
“The poor thing is so confused,” murmured the king.
“Does she not remember me?” Larissa asked, peeling the red hood back from her face. “Jesus. H-how far back did he erase her memories?”
“Far. Years,” Elias supplied quickly.
Too quickly?
What are you looking for? Hope in a void?
Stop.
Elias had betrayed him.
His only mission in this life was to get Ginny out of this place unharmed. He would be put to death and thus, she would no longer be a conduit for his hunger pains. There were no other options. None. He couldn’t sustain himself on her blood when she didn’t even fucking know him. It would be against her will and he would die first. He would die first.
“Larissa is a seer. An immortal, such as we,” said the king. “She came to me around the time I sired you, bargaining protection from us in exchange for a vision she’d had. Always scouting for her next payday, my darling seer.” He regarded Larissa fondly, but his expression quickly soured. “She told me you would challenge me one day for the throne—and win.” He unfurled his index finger and pointed it at Ginny. “But it would only happen if and when you found your mate.”
“Mate?” Ginny echoed, regarding him with renewed terror. “What are you talking about? Who are you people?”
Her words were a blow to Jonas’s chest and he closed his eyes to absorb the jolt, attempting to soak in what Clarence had revealed at the same time. “That’s why you tried to kill Ginny before I even met her. You didn’t want us to find each other.” He turned his focus on Larissa. “All this time, the threat was right down the hall.”
Larissa seemed to be having a hard time taking her eyes off Ginny. “I was hired to keep tabs on the girl. Killing her didn’t strike me as necessary until you arrived in Coney Island.” Her chin went up a notch. “After that, I didn’t have a choice but to alert the king. The prophecy was in motion.”