Page 92 of The Rebel's Prize

Valentin raised his eyebrows at Chloe as though asking how she wanted to handle the questions.

Short of sedating Lucien, she couldn't see how they were going to avoid explaining to him that he'd lost months of his memories.

And if anyone was going to tell him, it had to be her. After all, she'd made vows to the man. She was his wife—even if he didn't remember her.

She passed the tea back to Irina and stood, taking a moment to smooth her dress while she reassured herself that her legs would hold her up. Taking the three steps across to Lucien felt like stepping over a gaping abyss. As though it would be far too easy to tumble back into it and be smashed if he didn't react well to the information.

What if he never remembered what they'd shared? Would he still want her?

She chewed her lip, staring into the green eyes that she knew as well as her own. He gazed back, his expression unreadable for a moment.

"Just tell me," he said softly. "You never were one to beat around the bush."

"No, I wasn't," she agreed, managing a small smile. He remembered they had been friends. That might be a place to start again if they needed to. He'd said he'd been in love with her since he'd met her. Could what Deandra did touch that? Ruin it? Or did they have a chance? She wanted to reach for his hand, but perhaps he wouldn't understand.

She took a breath. "I came home close to six months ago."

His eyes widened. "Six months? How did I not know that? Have you been hiding away?"

"You did know. You saw me the day I got home. We ran into each other on the docks."

What little color had been left in his face drained away. "I don't remember that." He swore suddenly, head turning to Valentin. "You're saying I've lost sixmonths?"

"About that, it seems," Valentin said calmly. "We can work out exactly how long if we need to. If you can remember that Queen Sophia took her throne, then that gives us a boundary of a sort."

"Ifwe need to?" Lucien asked incredulously. "Of course we need to." He turned back to Chloe. "Months? You've been home formonths? Perhaps you should catch me up on the salient details of what's happened. And of this case we're investigating."

She pressed her hand to her stomach, feeling queasy all over again at the thought of trying to explain.

His gaze dropped to her hand, and his eyes widened. "You're wearing a wedding band." He looked closer. "And my old signet ring. Chloe, why are you wearing my signet ring?"

"Because we're married," she blurted.

His jaw dropped open. "Married?What? How?"

"That's a rather more complicated tale than I think we should deal with right now," Valentin said. "You need to rest."

"You need to fix me," Lucien snapped. "Goddess damn it, if I'm married, I want to remember. So do whatever earth magic healer nonsense you need to, but I need you to fix this, Valentin.Now."

"Ah, for that, you are going to have to be patient, I'm afraid. We don't know how to undo the magic yet. We—"

He didn't get any further. Or if he did, Chloe didn't hear it. Because the panic trickling through the bond suddenly became a torrent that drowned out anything else, shutting off her senses and sweeping her into a maelstrom of fear and confused images.

She felt her grip on the bond dissolving under the overwhelming flood of power and shrieked for Octarus in her mind just before everything went black.

CHAPTER20

Chloe drifted awake to the sound of voices.

"Should it be taking this long?"

"She has to wake up eventually. We gave her a sleeping draught, nothing more."

"Well, we can't wait much longer." A hand touched her shoulder, bringing a familiar scent. "Chloe, open your eyes for me."

"Papa?" She struggled to do as Henri asked. Her lids felt heavy. Her wholeheadfelt heavy. Her thoughts moved slowly, seeming to spiral downward from the top of her head to the base of her skull, weighing her down against the pillow beneath her head.

"Yes, it's me," Henri said. "Open your eyes."

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