Page 86 of Love's Ace

I’d kill anyone I had to if it meant I could keep Wren safe.

When I swung at the stranger, he caught my wrist, and the strength of his grip was paralyzing. His light brows drew together, and he used his free hand to pick a bloody feather from my fingertips.

“You’re lucky you’re tied to him, beast.”

His voice was cold, then his hand was on my throat. He squeezed, and the air went out of me.

He squeezed, and my arms still tried to work, to strike out at him.

To keep him away from Wren.

When his wings suddenly sprang out in a burst of white light so bright I was blinded, I felt my knees give out. There was one word on my tongue.

Just one.

Wren.

Chapter 29

Wren

My lashes fluttered open,and I wondered for a second if I was in some kind of nightmare. I was on a couch, and a few feet from me, Aiden stood over Theo with a blade pointed at his throat.

This was everything I’d been trying to avoid, everything I couldn’t let happen.

I didn’t think when I stood, even though the corners of my vision were still spotty and my body felt weak.

I didn’t have to be strong. I just had to get between the blade Aiden held and Theo’s chest.

“Wren, don’t.” Theo hissed the warning, but I couldn’t listen. I flung myself across the room and realized I couldn’t knock Aiden over. I couldn’t risk him ramming the blade down.

The only thing I could do was put myself between the knife and Theo. It tore a line of agony along my shoulders, probably a preface to the pain I’d feel when Aiden ripped out my wings… but it didn’t matter.

I rolled both of us and landed with Theo beneath me, twisting my body so I could look up at the man who’d been the only fatherI’d ever known. Aiden was the only family I had, but I’d never really known if I could trust him.

I had to trust him now, to understand… he had to understand.

“You can’t kill him.” I panted the words, and felt Theo’s fingers trail along the slice on my shoulder. “You can’t.”

Aiden fixed me with his pale eyes and frowned, the knife still held in his hand.

“We’re built to kill Enmity, Wren. Did you somehow forget that?” His eyes tracked the thread spilling from my chest, the one tangled around both of us as we lay there on the floor together. “Or did you do something impossible, and now you think you’re exempt from your duties?”

I stared up at him, surprised my heart wasn’t leaping from my chest. The anxiety rolling off Theo was like thunder, like waves crashing and threatening to pull us both down. But his arms were wrapped around me, his chest plastered firmly against my back.

He was protecting my wings.

My hands slid up, and I threaded my fingers through his and flicked my gaze back up to Aiden.

“I didn’t forget anything. I just didn’t know… Fuck, Aiden.” My eyes dropped in near accusation to the red thread, and when I looked back up, he was frowning. “You always said cupids couldn’t have soulmates.”

“They can’t—”

“Then what the fuck is this?” I couldn’t yank on the damn thing because I knew what it would do to me, but I wanted to. I wanted to stand and drop it into his hands and have him tell me that it wasn’t exactly what we both knew it was.

“What did you do, Wren?”

“I didn’t—”

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