“I came to see you,” he drawled.
“Why?”
“Let’s talk inside.”
I debated it but wanted answers. How was it that I had not only one man knocking at my back door recently, but two? One would have been strange enough, but two—with one of them being my ex-fiancé?
Opening the door, I let him in. The cats came over, curious, but then scattered to various hiding spots. They must have been smarter than me. Perhaps, I was a fool, but we’d meant something to each other once. He had meant the world to me, actually.
Marius glanced into my house and followed me from the kitchen and into the living room. He wore a black cape that swooshed behind him as he strode. He’d started to wear those when he first ventured down the path of darkness to become a powerful sorcerer. Seeing him still wearing one wasn’t a good sign.
He turned and faced me, not saying any of the niceties one says when entering a new home. “You don’t appear surprised to see me.”
I raised my chin. “Oh, you can bet your magic wand I’m surprised. How are you here, anyway? I heard you were dead.”
He stepped closer and touched my cheek. “Do I feel dead to you?”
I turned my head away. His fingers were warm and solid. “Don’t touch me, Marius.”
His eyes gleamed. “You used to like when I touched you.”
“That was alongtime ago. Things have changed.”
“You’re more beautiful than ever.”
I ignored the small part of me that enjoyed his praise and crossed my arms. “I’ve been suspecting you might be part of the recent troubles.”
He brought his fingertips together, and his expression changed to one of mock innocence. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I’d sensed his magical style in recent months when a vampire named Diego had been affected with a potent memory charm and love potion. That had been reinforced later when Gianna was hit by an age curse. The magic involved in both spells was so intricate that it could only be created by someone greatly experienced with dark magic, so much so that it had seemed at times near impossible that we’d ever be able to reverse the effects. It had required the most powerful magic of all to undo the spells—love.
There was something about the signature, the magical energy, that reminded me of Marius’s style. But he was dead.
Or so I thought.
I’d started to question if the reports of him being dead were simply rumors. After all, it wouldn’t have been that difficult for someone with his abilities to fake his death.
I’d tried scrying to find him, but it didn’t give me any answers. The idea that he could be alive had been brewing more and more like steam in a boiling cauldron. Now with him standing before me, the truth was clear.
“Aren’t you happy to see me, Pandora?” He drew out the question as he stared at me with intensity.
“Don’t play with me,” I warned.
“As I recall, you liked it a great deal when I played with you.” His tone lowered to one with a seductive edge.
My skin flushed. I broke his gaze. He was right. No one had played my body quite as well as Marius could. Images of those memories flashed vivid in my mind. But that was a lifetime ago. I was older now. Smarter.
I hoped.
Shoving them out of my head, I demanded, “Why do you want to see me?”
When I brought my gaze back to meet his, he stared at me with an amused expression. That damn decadent gleam in his eyes still affected me even after all this time. I gritted my teeth. No, I wouldn’t let him get under my skin.
“To save you.” His tone lowered, turning a notch more sensual.
I blinked at him. “What?”
He gestured in a circular motion around my living room. “From this bland life you created for yourself,” he drawled. “It’s not living, Pandora. It’s hiding from life. Merely existing.”
