Page 42 of Love's Ace

Wren was there in an instant, forcing his body between the vision of the two women holding hands and me. That didn’t stop me from trying to lunge forward, my clawed hands scrambling, my voice coming out in a snarl.

And then there was a rush of air as his wings burst from his back, fanning forward and flooding my mind with the scent of chocolate and berries.

The growl died in my throat, and I fell to my knees in front of him. He didn’t stop me when my head dropped forward against his thigh… and I didn’t stop him when his fingers shifted, tangling in my hair to hold me there until the sound of the voices faded away.

That heat was still burning in my chest—it hurt to the point that I could feel my eyes stinging with tears. All of this ached, felt like it was trying to break me apart from the inside out.

As long as this was happening, it was never going to be safe for me to be outside. Maybe I didn’t like people much, but I couldn’t imagine a world where I locked myself away for the rest of forever because I couldn’t look anyone in the eye without wondering if I was going to see the red trail of their soulmate spilling out behind them.

A century of seeing people falling in love, Wren had said—a century of that, and he hated it.

What was I going to do if I was like this for longer?

I stayed there on the dirty ground, with Wren’s wings blocking my vision of everything behind us—they curled forward like he could shelter the world from my viciousness if he was precise enough.

Or maybe he was trying to shelter me.

I wasn’t sure.

I just knew that after a few seconds, I took a deep breath and swallowed hard enough that it hurt.

“I can’t keep doing this,” I whispered softly. Wren’s fingers in my hair tightened at my words, prickling to just this side of pain. It grounded me, made me take in another deep breath, and he nodded.

“I know.”

I know, he said, like that was a fucking answer at all. I finally lifted my head to snap at him, but he was looking down at me with an expression I couldn’t read, and his fingers tightened again.

“Then what am I supposed to do, Wren?” I hated it—my voice was full of pain I couldn’t hide. His fingers in my hair held me tight, and his wings around me were the only fucking anchor that was keeping me from losing my mind.

And still… I knew… I knew that if I’d lunged forward, if I’d made my way past him, he would have stopped me. He would have pulled the bow from his back and shot me.

And I…

Fuck. Maybe I deserved it.

“I think I know somewhere we can go. He should be able to keep us safe while we figure this out. You just have to hold on for a few days while I work things out.”

His words brought me up short. He sounded like he’d shocked himself saying them, but now that they’d left his lips he wasn’t going to take them back. He tugged on my hair, and the sensation brought me to my feet with a little wince. He didn’t stop until I was standing, and I noticed his wings were still out, spread behind him, circling around us.

Us.

Somewhere we can go.

My gaze lifted to meet his, and I took a shaking breath.

Berries and sweetness.

Soft memories.

My world swam in the depths of Wren’s violet eyes as he looked me over like he was searching for a sign that I was going to try to get past him, that I was going to lose myself. Instead, I stretched my hand out and placed it on the center of his chest. He tensed for just a moment, then relaxed when he realized I wasn’t trying to hurt him, though my fingers were still tipped with dark claws.

His heartbeat was a soft tempo, and after a few more seconds of drawing in gulps of air that echoed the sensation of his cool calmness running through my body, I nodded.

I couldn’t say it aloud, but at the end of the day… there was no other option.

I had to trust that he knew what he was talking about.

I had to trust Wren.

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