Page 81 of Love's Ace

I wanted—

“Did you kill them because of what I’m becoming? I saw it spilling into your chest, I—”

“No, Theo. I didn’t do it because of the Enmity.” It wasn’t a lie. I wasn’t sure if he’d want to hear about how much Ihatedthe couples I brought together sometimes, or how I relished the moments when I got to fight Enmity. I didn’t want to tell himthe black strands he saw were something that had always been brewing just beneath my chest.

I didn’t know if telling him I’d always been capable and the darkness in his chest had just given me the rage to finally give in would help the situation.

Theo seemed unwilling to go without an answer, though, because he took my hand and flipped it over, looking at the way the cuts on my palms from my frenzy were already starting to heal.

“Then why?”

“I…”Fuck, what did I tell him? “Don’t worry about it, okay? It’s done. That’s all that matters.”

It wasallthat mattered.

When I pulled away to go for my phone, he followed me, catching the door before I opened it. “Why did you do it, Wren?”

Whywas this so important?

“Theo, I need to call Gethin. I have to get everything cleaned up, I need—”

“Why?” His voice broke when he shouted, and I whirled. I couldn’t lie to him. I couldn’t keep this from him.

I couldn’t do a damn thing but give him exactly what he wanted and hope that it wasn’t too much—hope that the red thread between us, already shining bright again now that the darkness had faded, wasn’t wrong.

“Because they hurt you, okay? Because you’re mine, and Isawhow much they hurt you and I… fuck, I…” I took a breath and felt it rattling around in my lungs.

I felt like I was going to fly apart.

I felt like I was three words away from being whole for the first time in my life.

“Wren?”

Whole.I wanted to be whole.

“Gods damn it, Theo. Iloveyou, okay?” His eyes went wide and he froze, but it was too late now. The words were coming, and I couldn’t stop them. It felt like they’d lived just beneath the surface of my skin my whole life, trapped against my ribs, beating violently to find their place. To findhisexpression,hisheart. His touch.

I couldn’t stop now that I’d started.

“Maybe it doesn’t make sense, but I fucking love you so much it hurts, so much I can’t think around it, can’tbreathearound it. I love you so much that the thought of someone whohurtyou existing for another second drove me crazy.”

“Wren…” He sounded so soft.

So sweet.

So broken.

So perfect.

And he was crying. My hand came up, cupping his jaw so I could wipe away the tears. I leaned forward, pressing my lips to his so I could whisper the last bit of my confession into his mouth, offer it to his tongue so he could taste the truth, swallow down the promise I was giving him.

“You wanted to know? Then listen to me. I love you enough that I’ll break all the rules. I’ll killanyonewho tries to hurt you. I will killanyonewho tries to take you away from me. I love you. Iloveyou, Theo.”

“Fuck… Wren…”

“Do I need to say it again?” How much did you have to say something for a person to believe it? I’d spend eternity whispering it in his ear, following behind him like a shadow if I had to. I understood if he couldn’t say it back. Iunderstoodthat he’d gone through so much he might never say it.

It didn’t matter.

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