Page 52 of Marked

Why did he have to keep pushing? This was the last thing I wanted to talk about. “You need to get over yourself. I certainly got over you.”

“Then why are you so angry I’ve returned?” he asked. “If you’re so over me, why all this rage?”

“You’re right, I am angry, but it’s not because of some crush. I am angry because you left him.”

“Him?”

“My brother,” I hissed. “You were his best friend. His only friend. And you left without telling him, and without sending a word after you disappeared. We didn’t know if you simply left on your own or if you were lying dead in a gully somewhere. You hurt my brother. I could handle your return better if it was just me you hurt, if it was just my rejection. But you destroyed my brother, and I will forever hate you for that.”

Ace turned to me and opened his mouth, but whatever he planned to say caught in his throat.

A branch snapped in the direction we’d come from, stopping both of us from speaking.

We turned in unison toward the sound and drew arrows from our quivers, our conversation forgotten.

Taking a step away from Ace to create space, I took cover behind a tree just as a large man with blond hair stumbled onto the path.

I cursed and lowered my bow. “Rye!”

He held up both his hands, a sheepish grin on his face.

“What are you doing here?” I stepped away from the tree and glanced at Ace. He was frowning. Again. So that told me nothing.

Nala yawned and appeared completely unbothered by it all.

“I almost shot you,” I said.

Orion dropped his hands and rolled his shoulders back. “Well, that would be one way to ruin the evening.”

“What are you doing here?” I repeated.

“It’s getting dark,” he said as if that somehow answered the question.

I looked up. Sure enough, the sky had darkened. My focus on tracking the rogues narrowed so much, I hadn’t noticed. “I’m not scared of the monsters lurking in the dark.”

I was one.

I was the nightmare parents warned their children about—a cautionary tale of what would come after them if they dared to stumble into the forbidden forest. It was a bit unfair—I’d never harm a child. But the stories were told regardless as a deterrent for hunting where they shouldn’t when they grew up.

“We expected you back in Perga,” Orion continued. “I was worried.”

“I can handle myself.” I strung my bow over my shoulders and placed my hands on my hips. “And it’s not like I’m alone. I’m with the partner you talked me into keeping.”

Orion’s gaze flicked to Ace briefly before he stepped closer to me. He lowered his voice. “About that. Can we talk?”

“We are talking.”

“In private.”

Ace rolled his eyes and spun on his heels. Without a word, he walked down the path about forty feet before turning to face us. He crossed his arms over his chest and called out, “Will this suffice?”

That was exactly what I would have done. A flashback from our youth smacked my mind—one of Ace smiling and laughing as we joked around. That was before he crushed my heart and that of my brother’s, of course.

Orion scowled at Ace, but when he refocused on me, he hesitated.

“Just spit it out,” I said. If he took any longer, it would be impossible to set up camp. We needed the light, and the sun was setting fast. At least one good thing had come from Orion’s interruption.

“It’s Ace,” Orion said.

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