Devilish Game (Shadow Guild: The Rebel 4)

Was this all a game to him?

Something he could just toss aside at any time? Erase his memories and chuck it in the bin like it had never existed?

No—it was the opposite. Far from a game, which was why he’d given up the memories. It had been necessary.

Still, I drew in an unsteady breath, pain slicing through me. I knew it was the smart thing for him to have done, but it still hurt, of course.

That dream we’d had…

He doesn’t remember the dream.

He doesn’t remember any of it.

Holy hell, it was all gone for him. Yet I still held onto it, the only one who remembered what had happened. The best night of my life, and I was the only one to remember.

But it was for the best. We were determined to stay away from each other, and we’d done a good job.

Until our magic had dragged us together, our subconsciouses unwilling to stay apart. Fate was so strong—so determined—that we had to fight this with everything we had. Which included erasing our memories.

I was going to do the same.

As soon as this was all over, I was going to Cyrenthia and demand that she erase my memories, too. I couldn’t hold onto this alone. I didn’t want to.

And yet . . . I did.

Finally, I reached the entry foyer. Miranda stood at her desk, her face impassive. Her dark hair was pulled up in a neat knot on top of her head, and her blouse and pencil skirt were perfectly pressed, as usual.

I turned to her. “Does he seem different to you?”

“I’m uncertain what you’re referring to?” Her voice was so blandly polite and her expression so passive that I knew something was up.

Miranda and I had not grown close exactly, but earlier that week we’d bonded over our worry for Grey. She’d even violated his rules to tell me when he returned from wherever he’d gone. And yet, now . . .

She was as cold as when I’d first met her.

I just nodded. “All right.”

She gave me a bland doll’s smile, and I turned to leave. The air was fresh and cool as I stepped out into the moonlight. It was dreadfully late at night, and the city was dead silent. Eve and Mac waited for me in the courtyard.

“Well?” Mac raised her eyebrows. “What happened?”

“He forgot me.” The words made my chest ache.

“Forgot?” Confusion echoed in Eve’s voice.

“A spell of Cyrenthia’s.”

Mac and Eve’s jaws both dropped.

“That’s dangerous,” Mac said. “The mind doesn’t like having holes like that.”

“He must have insisted.”

At my side, Cordelia appeared. She looked up at me, her little masked face pinched in concern.

I saw it. She wrung her tiny hands. He did insist. Want me to go have a wee in his shoes?

It was tempting, that was for sure. But I just shook my head. “Thanks, pal, but no. It really was the smart thing to do, and I’m being silly.”