Page 42 of Kill the Queens

The wall came and went like a gust of icy wind, blowing her hair back, and knocking the air out of her lungs. She tipped back into the man’s body, and his biceps flexed pressing his arms tighter around her. Wet warmth touched her right arm.

Ace cracked an eye. Blood. He was bleeding on her. Oh great.

Then she opened the other eye and wished she'd just gotten crushed by the wall instead. Trees rose up as high as the wall, if not higher. It wasn't just their impressive height thatmade Ace shudder, it was their color. Black. The trees looked like standing charcoal but they oozed shiny red. They bled crimson sap.

So it wasn't just the stranger that held her whose blood she had to worry about, it was the forest's too. The horse was still carrying them into the ominous woods, protected by the glowing white light, and it didn't stop until they were at a distance no arrow could reach.

"Sorry about that," the man said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. The fabric that had torn around the arrow opened with the movement and though red stained the linen top underneath it his flesh was whole. He dragged the handkerchief across her arm dabbing up the blood.

"Who are you?" Ace blurted. "Why are you like me?"

He laughed and the noise was too nice, too full of sunshine, joy, warmth, and all the good things Ace could think of. "I suppose that would be a good place to start." He cleared his throat and Ace felt the vibration of it against her back. "My name is Rehan Bailey. And you didn't think you were the only person brought back to fix the imbalance now did you, love?" He chuckled again.

"Love?" Ace coughed. "Don't call me love."

"What should I call you? Beautiful? Darling? Sweetheart?"

She tried to turn and get a good look at him but none of the angles were good enough for her to meet his stare. She could see his smile though, a big toothy grin that sparkled in the light. Gods above, how was he so perfect? Like an angel. Which was what Petu had called her, so she immediately shoved that idea right out of her head.

"Don't call me any of that crap!" Ace rushed to say.

"Well, do you have a name then?"

"Ace." She pursed her lips and set her gaze straightahead.

"And a last name…"

"No last name."

"Well, Ace No-Last-Name, it's nice to finally meet you. Sorry about your friend back there."

"Shelby. His name is Shelby." Her already deflated spirit somehow shrunk even more. The distance between them and the wall was growing by the second and Shelby had been left behind. Shelby was in a wagon soon to be sent to the capital for him to be tried for the Impelling. But unless the Impelling was really just some version of having a stick up your ass then Shelby didn't have it.

"Is Shelby Mr. No-Last-Name?"

"I'm not sure that is any of your business."

Rehan was laughing again. The sound was much like that of his voice, melodic and in perfect pitch. Ace tensed and Rehan's laugh came to an abrupt stop.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" he whispered.

"Well, I mean you literally juststoleme so I would have to say yes."

His hold on her loosed and he tipped back giving her the smallest bit of space he could offer. Ace held her breath but he didn't do anything other than give her what he could in the space between them.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I did not mean to make you feel that way. Can I do anything to help ease the feeling?" His tone, pacing of his question, all of it felt…genuine.

Maybe he was just a good liar.

Ace held up the cuffs. "This would be a good start."

The horse huffed as Rehan pulled on the reins and they came to a stop. Ace turned and Rehan leaned over her, bringing with him the scent of honeysuckle. He even smelled good, damn it. Rehan grunted as he undid the cuffs and tossed them to theground.

"I'm more than happy to get those terrible things far away from us."

The bone bindings had been on Ace for a matter of maybe minutes but her wrists still felt raw as she took turns rubbing them. A sharp breath filled her lungs as everything rushed back to her. The power of the gods hit her so hard pain struck behind her eyes. Her limbs were no longer weak. Her mind was no longer empty.

So glad they finally found each other,Greshta sang to herself.

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