He came to the palace, joining me outside by the pool. Gilbert brought us scotch and a cheese board. Everything was on the table, and our chairs were turned to the pool, the sun setting but light still in the sky.

Melanie was swimming in the pool, far away and unable to hear us. She was in a revealing bikini with her hair and makeup done, looking like an angel without wings. It was hard for me to take my eyes off her—like always.

Magnus stared at the pool for a long time, his glass in one hand. “How’s the new butler?”

I shrugged.

“The palace looks the same.”

“Most of the blood was on the third floor.” I turned to him. “You took care of Jeremy?”

He nodded. “Last week.”

I would have done the dirty work myself, but hunting him down wasn’t a good utilization of my time, not when it would take me away from Melanie.

“I’m sorry about Gilbert.”

I looked at my brother again.

“He worked for you for a long time.”

It’d been a couple weeks since he passed away, but it was still hard to think about. He had been the closest thing to family that I had besides Magnus. He was loyal—always. I knew the reason he died was because of his feelings for me. If they hadn’t been a factor, he would have made the pragmatic decision to save his own ass. His feelings never bothered me, but now I wondered if I should have let him go once he had issues with Melanie. It obviously had had an effect on his work. And he’d still be alive.

Magnus continued to watch me. “I can tell it’s affected you. I’m here…if you need to talk.”

All I did was shake my head. I didn’t talk about things like that to anyone—except Melanie. “You know what I want to talk about?” My gaze left the pool and stared at him head on. “Raven. That’s what I want to talk about.”

Magnus immediately tightened in unease, hearing the rage in my voice.

“She came into my fucking house and brought my woman to tears.”

He looked away.

“Asshole, I’m talking to you.”

He gave a loud sigh in frustration then turned back to me.

“If she does that shit again, she can’t leave the camp. Understand me?”

All he did was stare.

“Fucking bullshit.” I grabbed my glass and took a drink, turning my gaze back to the pool once more, my anger slowly fading away when I saw Melanie look at the grounds with her drink in hand, oblivious to the tension between us.