Page 2 of Gambling with Time

"What is it? Did the gem breaking make you ill?" His fingers glided over my legs and up my arms, checking for injury. I watched him up close. Didn't he know he was in danger being this close to the pointy end of my dagger?

"What gem?"

He reached for something in his back pocket, coming back with a key, and my heart lept into my throat. Then he worked the lock on my binding.

"Fuck," he swore. His fingers ghosted over the damage I'd done trying to get away. "I'm so sorry. I'll get a healing salve. Just stay here. Okay? You don't have a way back to the mortal world without me, and you are safer in this room."

Flowers bloomed in a pot next to the window, and I glanced over at them. Something about that tugged at a lost memory. Did I know this God? Had we been friends before my memory was messed with? Was that why I couldn't remember some things? I thought it was a spell that had failed, but what if it hadn't failed and I had forgotten people?

"What gem?" I gripped his fingers between mine, holding him in place, demanding an answer to the question.

"The red ruby, it was broken by the Leyak. It changed things. People." He swallowed. The sadness was back. I set my dagger next to me and brushed a strand of his dark hair from his forehead. I just wanted to ease it. His eyes dropped shut, and he leaned into my touch as if he were starved for it. My stomach did a strange little flip, and I ran my fingers down the side of his face, over his stubble that felt a little like sandpaper, before dropping my hand. "But I'll fix it, I promise."

I blinked back tears that wanted to fall. I felt sort of trapped inside my head, like there was something just out of my reach, something important.

"Now, stay here."

CHAPTER 2

Bellamy

The Leyak was angry.

That was probably an understatement if the way he was tearing the pawn shop apart was a sign. I leaned against the wall, watching him lose his shit. All over the demon hunter. She was interesting, and I couldn't stop thinking about her icy blue eyes and white hair. Or the way her lips parted when she looked at me. She made me feel like she wanted me, not because of my power, but because she was attracted to me. Of course, my magic slipped its reins and tried to reach for her.

Was she off-limits? Of course. But what demon followed those rules? I could give her pleasure the future king could never give her. Even if I was a false prince.

"I'll find her for you?" I suggested.

The mage glanced at me before dismissing my offer. He looked at the dragon shifter. "You, I want you to track her. Then I want you to bring her back."

The prick just nodded his head. I should have known he would send his brute after her. He was all muscle and no brain. I glanced over at the Demi-god; he'd been silent, mostly. And his walls were sky high when it came to reading his mind. In fact, most of the demons in this room were unreadable. That was disappointing.

All of this was actually quite boring. I released an exaggerated sigh and slumped back against the wall again. My brother would make this interesting, if he wasn't playing house with Juliana. The memory of him seemed to tug something loose inside me. I could see his girl and her men in a room with the demon hunter, dragon shifter, and Demi-god. I shook my head and narrowed my gaze at the mage.

It was possible he'd done something to my memories. To all of our memories, but there was someone missing. Alastor. My once best friend and secret crush. I had to find him. Maybe he could tell me what was happening, why I had memories that didn't make sense.

"I need to go hunt," I said. Kicking off the wall, I stepped forward. "I'm getting weak."

The mage nodded absently, and I took it to mean whatever, so I slipped out of the building and strode down the street. I just needed a mirror and I could travel to Tartus. A vague feeling of knowing the area poked at me, and I turned down the next street. My feet carried me to a place I was sure had mirrors because it was in my fractured memory. A club, Fantasia. There was a room with almost all mirrors, the one my brother had met us in.

I picked up my speed and was practically running by the time the neon sign came into sight. A large troll stood in front of the door and stepped out of the way with a grunted, “Good evening, Prince".

My tail flicked the ground behind me as my brow furrowed. Did I know him?

"Do you know me?" I turned on him as I passed.

The look of surprise on his face to my question was strange. "Yes." He said it slowly, like it was a trick question. "Lex said you are free to come and go."

"Lex the Demi-god?"

"And the owner of this place. Are you okay tonight, Prince? Did something happen to my boss?"

This was another piece of the puzzle. A confirmation that my memories were altered. All of them were. If the dragon and the Demi-god were still with the mage, then their memories were too.

"I'm going to find out," I murmured, finally answering him, and entered the familiar club. Knowing exactly where the keys were kept for the VIP rooms, I circled the bar and snagged one. The vampire that was bartending nodded at me like I belonged and went about his business.

In seconds, I was in the room and in front of the swirling mirror. Without hesitation, I stepped through into a place I used to know well, Alastor's tower room. A startled gasp filled my ears moments before I was pressed into the now solid mirror at my back, a dagger at my throat.

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