Page 18 of Marked

8

I stared at the man in front of me at a loss for words. I hadn’t seen Ace in years. What was it now? Five years? I had been twenty when he’d left and hopelessly in love. Frankly, I could go another five years before I faced Ace again. The infatuation had long fled, replaced with low simmering anger and hatred.

I turned to Paul. “You can’t be serious.”

“I thought you’d be happy,” Paul said. “You were in love with this guy. Practically obsessed.”

I ignored the heat travelling across my cheeks and jabbed my finger in the air at my brother. “I was not.”

“Don’t be shy, Mouse. Everyone knew you had a thing for me.” Ace had a beautifully seductive voice. Crap. I forgot how much I liked how his voice sounded.

“Just another reason why I hate people and work alone.” I scowled. “They talk too much about shit that doesn’t involve them.”

Ace smirked.

“I was a twenty-year-old girl with a crush at best.” I lifted my chin, despite the half-truth. I was twenty when he’d broken my heart, but I’d known Ace since I was twelve, and he was fourteen. I’d had a crush on him for eight years before he saw me as anything other than my brother’s sister and even that was short lived. His affection only lasted long enough to get my hopes up. “I would’ve swooned over anyone with a heartbeat who smiled in my direction.”

“Funny. I don’t remember smiling at you at all.” Ace rubbed the stubble on his chin.

Well, he certainly had a selective memory. My problem was that I didn’t suffer from the same affliction. I remembered everything.

Everything.

Every word, every gesture, every stolen moment and my heart had broken into a million pieces because of it.

“Okay, I’ll bite.” I folded my arms over my chest. “Why is he here? And why should I care?” And why wasn’t Paul angrier? He had just as much cause to hate Ace. Had he forgiven him so easily?

This guy had left both of us without a word. Just thinking about those first days when we realized he was gone brought up a whole well of emotions—sadness, grief, pain. I settled on anger and held it close.

Meanwhile, Ace kept his expression passive, his large, toned body relaxed, his brown gaze locked on mine.

Paul let out a long, exasperated breath before jerking his thumb in Ace’s direction. “He’s—” Paul’s gaze landed on Nala. “Shit, Emi. What happened?”

“Witnesses claimed to see a hunter at the edge of the Danu Forest and filed reports with the palace,” I explained. “The queen sent me out to have a look.”

“And you found him?” Ace’s gaze widened.

He really shouldn’t have been so surprised. This was my job, after all, and I was good at it. He probably still thought of me as the naïve twenty-year-old I’d been when he left.

“I found them,” I said. “Turns out there was more than one. They shot Nala, but I made sure they paid for it.”

“They’re all dead?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“How can you be sure?” Ace asked.

I winced. At one point in my life, I more than liked a lot about this man. But right now, I just wanted to smack him.

“I shot them all.” I raised my eyebrow. “None of them got away, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Did you inspect their tracks to ensure they didn’t have a spotter who took off once the fight broke out?” Ace asked.

“No.” Dammit. That was a good point. “I was too busy looking after my familiar. I planned to go back after I got some rest and made my report to Queen Titania.”

“The spotter will be long gone by then.”

“If there was a spotter, they were already long gone as soon as the fight broke out. My familiar will always be my priority.”

---