Allegiance(67)

“Her? You mean F—”

Sofie’s hand flew to my lips, clamping on tightly. I moaned in pain but she ignored it, rushing with her whispers now. “We’ll talk about it later, but whatever happens, you cannot mention her name. As long as no one mentions her name, we’re golden. If he hears you mention it again, the spell is broken and he’s back in Merth. Understand?”

Not mention her. She didn’t exist. I felt as if she had just walked up and walloped me across my injured jaw.

“Understand?” Sofie prodded.

I nodded, dumbstruck. “So, if he doesn’t remember … her … what does he remember?”

Pity flashed across Sofie’s face—one hundred percent unveiled pity. It sunk my insides to my feet just as a loud, jovial voice sounded from our right. Bishop’s voice.

All thoughts and worries vanished. My heart melted, my body gravitating toward that beautiful sound. I turned just as Bishop appeared, grinning broadly, his gray eyes twinkling in that playful way. He scooped me into his arms and spun me around. I giggled excitedly. Just like old times … like happy times. Like—

Bishop’s lips closed over mine, pressing against them. At first I thought it was show of friendly affection. But when he didn’t pull away, when the kiss became deeper, more intense, when his hands slid to my back, running along my contours, I knew something was wrong. It was a kiss I’d seen him secretly give Fiona countless times.

Alarm paralyzed me. I felt my cheeks blaze with embarrassment. What the hell was going on? Why was Bishop kissing me? Bishop pulled away, his jaw tensing angrily as he appraised my injured face. “They sure did a number on you.” I heard myself make some sort of guttural sound, unable to speak, unable to move—as stiff as a stick within Bishop’s arms.

Sofie swooped in, shaking his arms loose from around my body. “Yes, you probably shouldn’t get that close until she’s cleaned up. You’ll need to be cautious with your affection for a while. That must have hurt …” She turned my face to feign investigation of my injury, all the while pleading with wide eyes. Sorry, she was saying.

In all honesty, I was so stunned, I hadn’t felt the pain of his kiss against my mouth.

Bishop squeezed the bridge of his nose. “I’m so sorry. I was just so excited to see you. I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever,” he whispered, pulling me into an embrace. That’s when I saw Caden standing behind us, glaring at Amelie, a slight shake of disapproval. Caden! Oh my God! Oh my God! I’m cheating on him, right in front of him! He watched Bishop kiss me! What would he do? What would he say?

Jade eyes locked onto my face.

He smiled.

What? What the hell was going on? I pleaded silently with my stare, to him, to Amelie, to Sofie. Why was Bishop like this? He was acting like we were together! I looked back at Caden in time to see him mouth, “Everything will be okay.”

No! Everything will not be okay! I felt my teeth grit painfully. This was wrong! All wrong! I must’ve had a wild look of panic because Caden turned away, squeezing his own eyes shut for a moment, a pained expression marring his face.

Great, I have to deal with another one, Max groaned. Do you want me to bite him?

I stared at him, thankful for our secret communication. “What do you mean, Max?”

Bishop believes you are a couple. The Fates have filled his head with all kinds of false memories. It’s their twisted way of giving Sofie what she asked while complicating things. It’s how they roll, Max said.

“But … why?” I asked, aware that my voice had taken on an annoying whine.

Bishop pulled away from me. “Why what?” he asked softly, his hand reaching up to affectionately graze my jaw.

“Oh … nothing. Max just asked me a silly question.” Another wave of anxiety tore through me with his touch. On instinct, I pulled away, taking two steps back. “I need to go lie down for a while. This morning took a lot out of me.” I gave a furtive sidelong glance to Caden. Follow me, please …

“That’s a great idea,” Sofie chirped, walking over to place a hand on Bishop’s forearm. “Bishop, do you think you could help Mage clean up the mess in Paris?”

“Yes, I definitely could use some help with that,” Mage stepped in without missing a beat. “It’s already made the news. Hopefully, we can make it blow over as a terrorist attack but we should head out now. We should be back in a few hours.” She looked at me. “Enough time for you to get cleaned up and take a rest.”

For days I begged Sofie to fix Bishop, and now I could kiss Mage for taking him away.