Page 93 of Love's Ace

“Can we stay like this forever?” I murmured the question even though I knew the truth.

And even though he knew the answer, Wren nodded and dropped down, pressing his lips to mine to whisper the sweetest lie into my mouth.

One word, and what we had to do tomorrow meant it could never be true, but for now… For now, I ignored that and lost myself to the taste of his lips, to the smell of berries andchocolate. To the soft glow of the red thread between us as Wren cupped my face and whispered, “Forever.”

Chapter 31

Wren

Saying that we weregoing to find the source of what made an Enmity and doing it were two completely different things.

The book was extremely clear. There wasn’t aplaceto find them. There were symbols to call them, ways to get their attention… and if they wanted you to see them, then they would bring you to them.Aiden didn’t have to show us the correct book, but he’d pretty much handed us the keys to exactly what we’d requested.

And I had to remember the warning it came with.

The last night we’d ever have…

My eyes dropped to the thread between us. After last night, it was brighter than ever. Every time we touched, I could feel the twists and turns of it sliding deeper inside me, wrapping me up and letting me know that wherever I went in this life, my soul was tied to Theo in ways that would never untangle.

Which meant we had to do this, because I could see the seal that Sephtis left starting to fray at the edges. I didn’t know how much longer it would hold.

It wasn’t about keeping him contained anymore. I didn’t care if the darkness leaped into my chest. But I didn’t know what it would do to Theo—I didn’t want to look into his eyes and see nothing but fury, nothing but hatred.

I didn’t want him to turn into someone I didn’t recognize, because I knew now that it didn’t matter what he was.

I wouldn’t be able to kill him.

I couldn’t hurt him.

We had to fix this.

Theo came out of the shower in a billow of steam and slicked back hair, and his expression was a perfect mirror of how I was feeling.

A little worried, but determined.

“Where do you want to do this?” His tone didn’t betray what I knew he was feeling—we both would have run from this if we could have.

“It’s probably better if we’re out somewhere, right?” I glanced around the crowded room where we’d piled the small amount of things we’d accumulated while we were together. Bloody clothes and a backpack.

It shouldn’t have felt like a lifetime’s worth of memories when it had barely been anything at all.

It shouldn’t have felt like I wanted a lifetime more and that still wouldn’t be enough.

“There’s some woods close by. If you fly us there, we probably won’t be interrupted. That will make things easier, right?”

The book was vague about what was going to happen, and it didn’t promise that they’d even answer us. There was every chance whoever thecreatorwas would see Theo down the line of the connection that we forged and kill him without saying a word.

All of this was a risk.

“We can do that.” I spoke softly. In truth, it wasn’t really about getting away from everyone else. The entire world could burn for all I cared. I would have found every human I’d ever forged a connection for and ripped the threads out myself if I thought it could save Theo.

But… flying with him again? Feeling his hands on my wings and the warmth it spread through my body?

If it was the last time I’d get to do it, I wanted it. I wanted every experience we could have.

“Okay. Then…” Theo stepped toward me, slipping his fingers into mine. “Are you ready?”

I was and I wasn’t. I was ready to help him, ready to save him. I was ready to know that we could be together, walk into the world hand in hand without worrying about him going feral and transforming into a creature that didn’t recognize me.

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