Though he pushed my hand away, he still didn’t move to leave. “I used to be. Now I’m hiding under a bed with a witch. Did you know I was found in the garbage?” When I said nothing, he scoffed, shaking his head again. “Of course you did. You know everything about me, don’t you?” His eyes blazed with emotion in this small, shadowed sanctuary—and a sanctuary it was. Here, cramped and hidden from the rest of the world, we could’ve been the only two people alive. “Then you know I grew up lost. I grew up alone. They called me trash boy, and I fought tooth and nail for respect—I bloodied noses and broke bones to get it—and I killed the one person who called me family. Does that sound like a hero to you?”

A lump rose in my throat at his expression. He could’ve been that lost, lonely little boy all over again. “Reid—”

Beau’s head popped under the bed. “What are you two whispering about under here?”

As if I’d lit a match in his trousers, Reid surged away from me, up and out of sight. Beau watched him go with a startled expression before extending a hand to me. In his other, he held the neck of the whiskey bottle. “Any luck with the seduction?”

“None, thanks to you.”

“I have to protect my investment. But his memories . . . ?”

I frowned. “Coco thinks—”

“I know what Coco thinks.” He hooked an arm around my neck, pulling me closer. Reid watched us sullenly from the farthest corner of the room. “I want to know what you think. Wager aside, would you rather we focus on restoring his memories? I know we can’t force him to reverse the pattern, but perhaps we could help him along.”

The weight of his words settled heavy in my chest. A choice. He’d offered me a choice. Free of judgment or disapproval, free of guidance, he’d led me to a fork in the road, and he now waited patiently for me to step left or right. He would follow whatever direction I chose. Except . . . I glanced at Reid. He’d already made a choice—a stupid choice, but a choice nonetheless. He’d stepped without consulting me, but he’d obviously thought it necessary. Had it been necessary? Morgane had forgotten me, yes, but she hadn’t forgotten her wrath against the Church and Crown. The kingdom was in more danger now than ever.

I’ll find you, Lou. I promise.

I feigned a smile and flicked Beau’s nose. “Don’t think you’re getting out of our wager.”

“I’d never dream of it, sister mine.” Still speaking low, he released me with a wink and a grin of his own—our understanding implicit—and wagged the bottle of whiskey in my face. “Perhaps an olive branch, just for tonight? I don’t much feel like sleeping.”