Page 41 of Kill the Queens

His grip slid from her waist until he was holding onto her by one hand clasped around her forearm. A guard had his arm wrapped around her waist tugging while another was stretched between them picking Shelby's fingers off of her one finger at a time. The horse between them whined and stopped before bolting away and leaving nothing but air between them.

"NO!" she shrieked as they pried the pair apart."Shelby!" Ace twisted enough, wiggled against the guard’s body, that she was able to swing an elbow into his gut. He hissed at the hit but his hold didn't loosen.

Ace wanted to reach for that thread of holy fire inside of her. She wanted her sword of blazing light to appear in her palm but then they'd know she was something more. Even with that reservation, she reached for that feeling, but it kept moving out of her reach. She couldn't cling to her holy fire.

Blue light was flicking in Shelby's palms, coming and going as his concentration waned. His face snapped to the side, spit flying from his mouth as a guard's fist collided with his chin. His figure, his magic, was growing smaller as the men pulled her away. Even then, Ace remained a whirlwind of flailing limbs. She dug her nails into every bit of skin she could find; she wanted them tohurt.

"It's going to be—" Shelby tried to call to Ace but guards descended upon him, so many bodies, too many. Another punch took the words from his mouth. White cuffs were snapped into place on his wrists.

Ace's stomach plummeted. She knew those cuffs. She'd heard about them but never seen them in person before. Bone bindings. Chains made from the bones of warlocks long since gone, enchanted to keep those bound from having access to their abilities.They were cutting him off from the one thing he could protect himself with.

Shelby’s expression fell as he took in the sight of his wrists. Ace could see the way his mind dove into dread. The exact moment he knew he wouldn't be able to fight back.

Acid was creeping up her throat, creating a scorching trail that tore out of her in a shout. She swore she could breathe fire with the way everything inside of her peaked while they wrestled her arms in front of her.

An icy, smooth shackle clamped down on her wrists. Coldfingers took hold of the fire within her and doused the flames until she couldn't feel the holy fire. Until she couldn’t feel the gods. Until she couldn'tfeel anything.

Those fiery orange eyes snapped down to her hands. Her fingers were already curling into fists. White bone wrapped around her and kept her from throwing any more punches. That acid turned to bile.

Bones. It was one thing to be brought back from the dead but an entirely different thing to have someone else's skeleton fastened around her wrists. It was almost like holding hands with the dead. She shuddered as the gifts from the gods dimmed, as she felt her strength diminish with it. It was like her senses were muting, she was becoming weak. Or maybe she was just becoming totally human for the first time since she was brought back.

"But I'm not a warlock," Ace whispered more so to herself. These shouldn't do anything a regular cuff couldn't do.

"They work just as well on demons," a guard hissed, his breath smelling strongly of onion and garlic sweeping across her face.

If Shelby hadn't been incapacitated then he probably would have laughed at that. Maybe Ace was a demon, but could demons wield holy fire? She really doubted it.

"Move." The man set Ace down, shoving his palm into her back.

Pain cracked up her body from her knees as she crashed into the dirt unable to even catch herself with the bone bindings on. Hands were on her before she could put the effort in to right herself. Ace gritted her teeth as she was pulled upright by her elbow and her shoulder began to ache, feet dragging against the ground.

She could see Shelby not far away, being led in the same fashion. His attention kept being split between Ace and weavingthrough the last of the trees until they made it into the clearing.

The wall was so much taller than it even looked from the distance Ace and Shelby had watched it. It stretched up and up until Ace thought her neck might snap in half from how far she bent back to see it. Black stone glistened like dark jewels in the sun. It sparkled though there wasn't anything but rock. Magic? The spell that kept the Fae from the Pasia borders? A broken spell if that's what this was.

Men dressed in black, somehow surviving the heat up there, looked down as their friends in green and brown pointed us to a covered wagon that had blended in with the wall. Every step Ace took was stiff as if she was subconsciously trying to keep from walking any farther.

Moisture pooled in her palms. The sensation of breath was hot against her neck. Fear was lurking. After every heartbeat was the stutter of nervousness, of knowing she was out of control. Not once as they came up to that covered wagon was she concerned for her own life. Death was not a worry she had, not when she'd been made from it. She feared for Shelby. She feared being alone.

Shelby was shoved into the wagon first. His tall frame being pushed and folded till he fit into the cramped space, shoulders hunched and cuffed hands settled between his legs. The world swayed around Ace as they forced her to a stop. Her heart beat in her ears.

Hands gripped her waist, readying to heave her up into the wagon—Ace's body jerked back. She blinked and the wagon was moving out of reach and she was…she was on a horse. There wasn't time to gasp or yell as she was hoisted upright, her body colliding with another.

Ace twisted. Shelby was standing in the wagon. The guards pointing swords in her direction or shouting at Shelby to sit. Behind Ace, holding the reins and keeping her from fallingoff of said horse much like Shelby had done was the man with orange eyes. His shoulder length brown hair was blowing back behind him. He smiled softly as Ace looked at him.

"You went through all the trouble of coming, I'd hate for that to be a waste." He purred into her ear even as arrowswhizzedpast them.

"We can't leave Shelby! We have to go back," Ace shouted. The whistle of wind picked up in her ears.

"He can take care of himself," the man confirmed before he yanked the reins and aimed the horse directly for the wall.

"No. Stop—Oh gods!" Ace shrieked as an arrow nearly nicked her arm and sunk into his. He merely grunted before he pulled it out and his skin radiated with an unearthly glow. The glow extended from his skin forming an orb that surrounded them and the horse. Arrows bounced off it.

Ace could only hope that they'd bounce off the wall too as they rode straight for it. They were going to crash and die. He was going to ram both their bodies into the stone and Ace wouldn't have to worry about completing any tasks from the gods. She'd be with the gods again. Splattered against the wall. This wasnothow she wanted to die.

She squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could. Any second she'd be gone.

But then she wasn't.

---