Page 46 of Love's Ace

The thoughts made it impossible for me to stay in the room, and my pride meant I couldn’t ask Wren to follow me when I decided I had to get out.

I refused to admit the relief I felt when he came anyway.

I waited until the door was closed before I turned on him. “Were you worried I was going to run off like he said? Wreak havoc on the churchgoers?” The usual venom in my voice didn’t quite reach my tone, and Wren frowned.

“Fuck off, Theo. I just needed to get some air.” Even as he said it, he took a step closer to me. My usual instinct to shove anyone who tried to get near me away threated to rise, then died the second his fingers brushed against my wrist.

Almost of its own volition, my hand spasmed and took hold of his. The second our fingers threaded together, I felt something in my chest loosen. Tension I didn’t realize I was carrying melted out of me in such a rush I nearly collapsed. My eyes dropped to the ground instead, and I blew out a breath.

“It’s just…”

“Gethin’s a lot.” Wren supplied before I had to figure out what I wanted to say. He started walking, and I wasn’t sure if he had a direction in mind or if he just wanted to get us away from the little house behind us and the man he was talking about. “But he’s been through enough that I give him as much leeway as he needs. He’s…”

Wren didn’t stop walking, but his words caught behind lips that were pressed together.

“He said something about his wings?” I prompted. I was curious—probably more curious than I should have been. Maybe it was because I’d seen the way Wren tensed when I touchedhis… and I’d noticed the near panic in his eyes a second before the pleasure had settled in his gaze.

“He…” Wren looked at the house behind us, and then back at me almost helplessly. “They ripped his wings off. When you do that to a cupid, it renders them practically powerless, always in pain. It breaks our auras. We can’t summon arrows; we can’t take to the sky. We can only remember what we were and live forever knowing we’ll never be whole again.”

His voice was thick with pity, but I didn’t miss the horror that chased at its heels. It made sense…

“Why would they do that?’

Wren’s eyes dropped to the ground, and he continued to speak like he couldn’t stop the words from spilling out now that I’d asked. “Gethin is different than the rest of us. When they first tried to make him, they thought it didn’t take. He was raised as a human and he fell inlovewith one of the boys he grew up with. And when he turned eighteen, he sprouted his wings.”

“They took them because of that?”

“No.” Wren squeezed my fingers and pulled me forward, further from the house and Gethin, like it made it okay that he was spilling the man’s secrets. “They took his wings because he kept killing anyone who got close to Liam.”

Oh.

I didn’t know what to say after that—some part of me could understand it. He fell in love, and then whatever powers that be decided he couldn’t have the person he wanted. My eyes flicked to Wren again, and I bit my lower lip. I didn’t realize I was doing it so hard until he winced.

“Sorry.” My apology came on the taste of copper, and I wasn’t sure I could tell him why. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew.

I knew that I was thinking about him, about impossible things… Like what it could have been like if I’d met him beforeI was broken, before I’d learned that the world wasn’t a place where I could be happy.

What would I have done then, if I’d been told I couldn’t have him?

What wouldn’t I have done?

“I guess it makes sense why he’s such an asshole.” I finally conceded. Wren didn’t say anything, he just pulled me further into the graveyard, the expression on his face a war that I couldn’t quite understand. Maybe he felt bad that he’d told me his friend’s secrets?

Or maybe he was thinking about what he would have done in Gethin’s shoes. I wanted to ask him—Ialmostasked him.

Instead, I pressed my lips together and followed him as he pulled us toward a building at the back of the property.

“Gethin’s been trying to figure out how to reverse what they did since the day they did it, so…” Wren pushed open the door to the building, and my eyes widened.

There were books everywhere—scattered over a table, littering shelves—handwritten notes were pinned to the walls on one side, and on the other, there were pictures of a man.

A very pretty man with a sweet smile, and I didn’t have toaskWren who he was. If Gethin had fallen in love, it was clear those emotions hadn’t gone away with his punishment. The pictures were all of the same person. They followed him through life—teenager, early twenties. He looked like he was approaching thirty in the last photo on the wall.

“I can’t imagine wanting someone so much you’d be willing to give up everything for them.” I stared for another few seconds before pulling my gaze away from the smiling face that had obviously brought Gethin nothing but pain. “Doesn’t seem worth it.”

“I…” Wren started, then shook his head and grabbed a book from the table, tossing it at me. “Humans do strange things.”

I didn’t have to remind him that I was a human—at least, I thought I was stillmostlyhuman—or tell him that even when I’d beencompletelyhuman, the only thing trusting someone had done was hurt.

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