Page 67 of Love's Ace

He didn’t hesitate. “You heard Gethin. You’re probably going to get caught. They’ll tear off your wings.”

“It’s fine.”

“No it isn’t, you—”

“It doesn’t matter, Theo. We just won’t get caught. That’s all there is to it. We can—”

“Wren, I’m notworthallthis. The danger, your wings. I’m just… not.” His voice was sharp and full of strain,painedwhen he cut me off. He wasn’t looking at me when he spoke—instead, he ran the sharp edge of his nail across the top of his hand, leaving behind angry red marks. “You’regood. I can tell that you’re good. And I’m… well…” The tip of his nail drew blood—red, tinged with the faintest swirl of black. “I’m me. I’mthis.”

I didn’t think as I closed the distance between us. I took his hand in mine, threading our fingers together and bringing the cut up to press my lips to it. The sting of my kiss burned through our connection, but I was more focused on the way his eyes widened in some strange mixture of fear and helplessness. I drew him closer—close enough that I could press a gentle kiss to his mouth.

“You’re worth it, Theo. You’re worth all of itbecauseyou’re you.”

Chapter 24

Theo

Iwas being stupidand I knew it. But if Wren was willing to risk everything for me, the least I could do was take a risk for him too.

That… and I wanted to see something.

Since the graveyard, the heat inside me had settled. It wasn’tbetter, but I didn’t feel the same burn scorching through me whenever Wren left the room. I wasn’t tempted to stalk him into the bathroom or across the house. I didn’t feel like I was going to burn to cinders and turn into a monster the second he was out of my sight.

I just… missed him. It was a different kind of ache in my chest, something that made me burn for a different reason.

I needed to know if I was more in control of myself.

Was it possible that the flare I’d seen between us, the way the red thread seemed to shine a little brighter than it had…

Could I handle being out of his sight? If I could, it might make it easier for him to get in and out of his apartment without anyone questioning him.

I still had no intention of going very far, and I was going in the middle of the night when I was fairly certain I wouldn’t run into anyone. I planned on keeping my eyes on the ground and walking around the block—just to see.

Just to know if Wren would be safe if something happened when he was on his suicide mission to get information to save me…

Fuck, Ireallywanted to keep him safe.

And that's exactly why I wasn’t paying attention.

I’d been in this neighborhood before, but I didn’t realize it until a voice called out to me, causing my breath to catch in my chest in a wash of terror that made my eyes snap up.

Erin. I knew his voice, a sting of acid on my skin that instantly threatened to flay me raw, to make me feel small and broken.

He was everything wrong in my life, and I’d somehow been so wrapped up in Wren that I hadn’t realized the house we were in was in the same neighborhood where I’d grown up. I hadn’t lookedupbecause I was afraid of hurting someone, so I hadn’t seen where we’d landed.

It was my own personal hell, and the place Erin had never left.

“I knew you’d be back.” God, just the sound of his voice was enough to make me shrink in on myself. The confidence that I’d felt, the gentle coolness that Wren’s touch wrapped around me, dissolved.

My body was twitching, a mixture of terror and that fire, all swirling just beneath the skin and threatening to break me apart, to turn me into everything I was trying to fight against.

At least there wasn’t a red thread in sight. Instead, I could see a halo of darkness around Erin’s body, extending back to the two men who stood behind him. I vaguely recognized them, but I’d never bothered to learn the names of the assholes who worked with Erin.

I’d never bothered to learn the names of the people he passed me around to.

“I didn’t come back,” I said mutely.

I needed to leave—I needed tofight.

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