My heated blood iced over the second the guard went down on one knee in front of me and announced, “Dark Prince Desdemona has a message for you, which is for your ears only. He said you wouldn’t want to dismiss his envoy this time, because there was something you’d like to remember, and he hoped you could remember.”

The emphasis on “remember” hit my nerve. My throat ran dry. My magical markings indicated I’d promised an unspecified future date with the vampire prince to buy myself time to find the portal. I did not recall the details. I didn’t remember what Desdemona looked like or what he’d said to me. I hadn’t expected to be stranded on Pandemonium for so long.

The vampire was losing patience.

How could an immortal have no fucking patience?

Now he’d sent a messenger, hinting that he knew about my memory problem and would use it to blackmail me.

If my subjects realized the mistress they feared couldn’t remember a damn thing and couldn’t discern one day from the next, they’d rise against me.

I needed them to guard my tower while I searched for a way off this planet. I had no illusions of their loyalty. They served me because I was a better choice. It was either that or being food for the vampires and cannibals.

I’d been stalling for so long, and it had finally caught up with me, just like everything else had. 

How had the Dark Prince found out my most veiled secret when no one else could have possibly known it?

Apart from the Angel’s ship and the ship Kaara told me had crashed yesterday, there hadn’t been any other crashes that indicated my enemies were on Pandemonium. 

I could just dismiss the messenger and deny the Dark Prince’s accusation. But what if he had evidence?

I couldn’t allow him to plant doubts and dissensions in my guards’ heads. I’d have to find out what exactly Desdemona knew and how he’d learned my dark secrets.

Before I issued an order to the kneeling guard, Kaara moved toward me.

“Lady Fiammetta,” she said quietly, “I’ll personally bring the vampire messenger to the torture chamber in the old museum for you to interrogate.”

I snapped my head toward her, my eyes sharp and cold. Did she know about my amnesia? If she did, she could be the one who had deceived me. If she was the traitor, I would freeze her blood. But my markings and my instincts told me I could trust her. The mere idea of ending her made my heart ache.

Kaara gazed back at me, waiting. There wasn’t a hint of dishonesty in her compassionate, intelligent eyes, and my coldness couldn’t reduce the warmth in them.

But appearances could be deceiving.

Was she fooling me? 

If she was the one who stabbed me in the back, she wouldn’t want me to interrogate the messenger. I might not have my memories, but I still had my common sense.

I nodded at Kaara. “Have the guards take the messenger to the torture chamber.” I paused. Had I built the torture chamber? Did I use it often? “If the rest of the bloodsuckers try to cross my boundaries, kill them. And Kaara, you’ll accompany me to the chamber.”

“I always do, Lady Fiammetta,” she said.

Kaara barked an order at a massive man who wielded two axes, and the alien man took off.

“I’ll guard you as well,” Gabriel said, his intense green eyes meeting mine. They were a forest I wanted to explore, not Akem’s jungle, but a rainforest that bordered the endless purple ocean.

I blinked. I was having a flashback! Did I come from the place I saw in his eyes? I wanted to cling to the image. Needed to. But the vision was gone, ashes and smoke left in its wake.

I bit back my desperation. 

Even though my markings would record the significance of my first vague memory, I wouldn’t be able to remember the smell, the color, and the feel of the forest and ocean tomorrow. I wouldn’t remember a glimpse of a possible home when I woke again in the morning.

I peeked deeper into the Angel’s eyes, hoping to see more. But all I saw was his scorching desire. 

“I’ll defend you against all foes,” he said.

Kaara led the way.

Gabriel swaggered beside me, his body heat radiating off him. I couldn’t recall whether I had met his kind before I’d awoken on Pandemonium. He was a creature of light, fire, and sky. I was darkness and ice.

Yet he drew me in. 

We prowled through a withered garden of black trees concealing a gunmetal-gray building. Kaara explained to Gabriel that the building housing the torture chamber had once been part of an art and history museum. It had survived whatever had happened to this planet, but half of the garden had been burned down. Some stone columns etched with complex drawings still stood as witnesses to a once old, grand civilization.

Had I always allowed her to talk so much?

Gabriel and I followed her into the building and down the corridor to the torture chamber.

Four of my soldiers stood guard around a vampire sitting on a hard chair.

The room was dim, the high window not allowing much light into the chamber.

There was never enough light on this planet anyway. The lack of sunlight, however, never bothered the vampires. They favored it. They might be the only species who never wanted to leave this shithole. 

I strode toward the messenger. He stared at me. I had no idea whether I’d seen this particular vampire or not. He was pale-skinned like me. Their race believed they represented the finest in the universe. 

On my way here, I’d gleaned enough information from Kaara as she’d told Gabriel about the vampire race. They’d been the first aliens on this planet and had once lorded over Pandemonium, until the wolf clans had arrived and my coven had joined the power battle. Gabriel had shared what he knew about them. He’d met a branch of their kind before he’d crashed here. The vampires here were mutants.

Gabriel’s mood had turned dark when Kaara mentioned the Dark Prince being the most stunning and powerful vampire, and he’d given me a sidelong glance to gauge my reaction. I had my perfect, icy mask in place, as always.

I didn’t remember what the vampire prince looked like.

The vampire messenger didn’t blink. Evidently, he had no problem seeing me well in the darkness.

He opened his mouth, his voice silky and sexy. “Do you remember me, Lady Fiammetta?”

Gabriel growled.

It hit me the next second that the voice didn’t belong to this vampire, because though his lips parted, they hadn’t moved.

A chill crept up my spine. Desdemona had the power to speak through others. What else could he do? Had I encountered him, flirted with him, or even fought him? Why hadn’t my markings told me more about this formidable being other than a warning of “do not go near Dark Prince Desdemona” on my ankle?

“You think you’re that impressive that I should remember you?” I asked. 

The Dark Prince chuckled through his vessel. Again, his voice was rich, velvet, and seductive, as if it could caress without a touch.

“Let me end him!” Gabriel snarled, his black wings arched aggressively behind his shoulders as he drew his sword.

I gave him a hard, warning look, as did Kaara.

“Is that winged being your new pet, Wicked Witch?” Desdemona asked, flicking a glance at the Angel. “He killed three of my warriors.”

“They attacked him first,” Kaara said. “Your sister worked really hard to breach the truce.”

“We’ll discuss my sister another time.” Desdemona returned his gaze to me, dismissing my general. “The winged creature desires you. You should hand him over to me. I don’t want him near you.”

Fury seared me, and my eyes grew colder. “I choose who stays near me, Prince Desdemona.”

“We have an agreement about our future arrangement,” he said.

I should have let Kaara brief me on the details of the arrangement between Desdemona and me.

“In the future,” I said.

The vampire’s eyes grew hard, and there was jealous rage in them. “The future is a dangerous business,” he said, his voice no longer silky. “I can’t allow anyone to taint you. You’re mine.”

Rage sizzled off Gabriel, and Kaara stepped in front of him to block him.

“I belong to no one, Desdemona,” I said.

“I’ve fulfilled the obligations you required of me,” the vampire prince said. “For three years I’ve protected your interests and offered you peace and freedom, but I won’t be strung along forever. A man has needs! I’m only being reasonable.” His predatory gaze fixed upon me. “If you want me to refresh your memory on the details, Lady Fiammetta, I’d be more than happy to oblige.”

He knew. The Dark Prince knew. That was why he’d come for me. I didn’t know how he’d learned about my secrets, but I wasn’t going to let anyone else find out about them. 

“Let’s get it over with then,” I drawled, my gaze staying on the vessel as I waved the guards out. “You’ll guard the door in person, Kaara. Anyone who enters will die.”

“I’ll stay,” Gabriel said. “With a vampire in the room, one can never be sure. Their kind craves blood more than anything else.”

Desdemona sneered. “This being should learn his place.” 

“Get out,” I told Gabriel, frost emitting from me. He thought he could interfere with my business because I’d slept with him? He hadn’t tasted my true wrath.

Kaara dragged Gabriel out with her. “We’ll be right outside the door, Lady Fiammetta.”

I regarded Desdemona with more interest when the door shut behind them.

“Come to me, my lady,” he said. “I can’t contain my craving for you any longer.”

“You’re an immortal. You’re supposed to be patient. That’s why I dealt with you in the first place.”

“Things have changed. I am immortal, but that doesn’t mean you can take me for a fool. Come to my tower and be with me, and I’ll protect you and your secrets.”

“What secrets?” I asked softly. 

“You can’t remember your own secrets,” he said, watching me intensively. “Or can you?”

“My secrets might be too much even for you, Dark Prince,” I purred. “By the way, who offered you the garbage information?”

“I have my resources. I’ve been here much longer than you, longer than anyone, and I plan to stay here with you for eternity. Be mine, Lady Fiammetta, and I’ll protect what’s mine. My secrets will be yours as well.” He chuckled. “Even though you won’t remember any of them the next day.”

He wasn’t going to tell me who had betrayed me unless I became his.

Until he turned me.

“You came to my tower to gloat and threaten me?” I drawled.

“I came to make a final offer. Be my queen.”

“And if I refuse?”

Desdemona’s eyes flashed crimson. “You’ve toyed with me long enough, Fiammetta. I’m giving you an ultimatum: surrender to me as my bride, or be drained of every drop of your witch blood. My sister said I was too soft on you and that you walked all over me. I don’t like being hard on you, but I won’t tolerate any deception. To show my final courtesy, I’ll give you a week to decide. And if you still can’t decide for yourself, I will do it for you.”

“That’s very generous of you, Prince,” I said. “I’ll let you know my decision right now to show my appreciation.”

Desdemona smiled, though it didn’t reach his cruel eyes. “I knew you’d make the right decision. We’ll be good together, my queen, and we’ll rule this planet together and forever.”

I shivered. I couldn’t explain why I resented people calling me princess or queen. 

“Forever?” I asked.

“I’ll always cherish you.”

“You’ll cherish me even more after this, Desdemona,” I said. “No one should ever come to my door to give me an ultimatum. I might not remember it all, but I do know I am the Wickedest Witch in the universe. And in case you forgot, now’s the perfect time to remind you.”

My time had run out with the Dark Prince.

Three years of being stuck on Pandemonium had finally taken a toll on me.

I struck.