Page 20 of Reign

“I can get you in.”

“Stone.”

Stone complied with my order. He wound purple twines of magic around Jed’s arms and hands.

“That should hold him, boss.”

“Good. If you try anything, that fae prince over there is going to pin you to the ground with shards of ice while I feast on your insides. We clear?”

He nodded.

I stalked back over to the table. Sophie had moved to the back of the coffee shop, and it didn’t escape my notice how she stayed out of Jed’s line of sight. “Sit.” I pointed at the chair I’d been sitting in. I didn’t give him the opportunity to inhale Sophie’s scent, just in case he knew her.

He lowered himself heavily and looked at me. There was no challenge in his gaze. If anything, he couldn’t hold my stare. His gaze slid past me, and he looked around the coffee shop. “Keep your attention on me. No one here will hurt you unless I will it. And no one who works here will hear you speak. They are currently on their break, and the coffee shop will remain shut until we are done.”

Lionel and Myles stood outside the doors. It was obvious to anyone who looked at them that the cafe was off-limits. I leaned forward, the wood on the chair arms splintering under my grip. I wanted to rip this bastard apart. “Is she alive...and unharmed?”

“She is.”

I didn’t hide my relief. My body slumped, and for a moment, emotion-filled my chest, but I wouldn’t give Jed the satisfaction of seeing my weakness. I straightened and eyed him coldly, deciding whether or not to kill him anyway. But the rational part of me knew I needed to hear his information first.

“I don’t know how you found out where he lives, but you won’t get in, not even with the men you’ve brought with you. I can help you.”

“Why? Why help me? You’re the one who took her from me. And if you dare mention money, we are done. Or rather you are. I’ll rip your heart out.”

He huffed a bitter laugh, his shoulders caving forward. “You don’t need to. She already has.”

I cocked my head and studied him. He was...different, still tough and physically strong, but his eyes were shadowed. I stiffened. I knew that look. He was worried, anxious for someone he loved. My nostrils flared. What the fuck did I do with that knowledge? My top lip curled. “How the mighty and cold-hearted have fallen. Who is she?”

He met my gaze, then looked away. It took me a second. Then my fist connected with his jaw, and he tipped out of his chair, smacking his head on the floor. “You fucking bastard! It wasn't enough that you took her from me! You had to try and make her yours, too?” I leaped on him and punched him again. “Did you fuck her, you raping, kidnapping son of a bitch?” I roared.

I felt hands under my arms yanking me back. I shook them off and raised my fists to hit him again, and this time there’d be no holding back; I’d kill him!

Heat surrounded my fist. No matter how hard I tried to land that killing blow, my arm wouldn’t move.

“Connor, that’s enough. Ember is alive, and this male, no matter what he’s done before, has come here to help you. I can sense the truth of his words; he has fallen in love with Ember, and he wants to help her.” I didn’t want to hear Sophie’s words, not at all, but then B’nar backed her up.

“It’s true, Prime. I can also feel his emotions. He is as confused by his love for her as you are angry at him for it. His hope that you can help her is real.”

I nodded to Sophie, who released her hold on me, and I lowered my fist. But I didn’t move my weight off him. My capitulation didn’t mean I was done with him.

He spat a mouthful of blood on the floor. “She is alive and physically well.”

“What does that mean?”

He closed his eyes. “She has no memory—of you, of who she is, that she is mated, or that she is even a shifter. She has no memory of the supernatural world at all and believes herself to be utterly human.”

Behind me, Stone and Owen swore. I climbed off the gorilla shifter and plonked myself in my chair, my whole body heavy. After all this time, I’d finally found my mate only to discover she had no idea she was mine, or even who, or what, she really was. “Get him up.”

Stone kept the magical bindings in place and roughly pulled the male to his feet before pushing him into the chair opposite me.

“What did you do to her?” I forced myself to look at Jed.

“I didn’t do anything to her. Rex has been searching for her kind for years. He knew what she was when he saw her in the fight rings in the prison.”

“He was there? With you?”

Jed nodded. “I went once.” It was the look of disgust on his face that saved his life at that moment. “Rex tried to buy her that night from the Warden, but he wouldn’t sell her.”

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