Page 9 of Love's Ace

“I had a vial of Ardor in my pocket, and when I shot him he ran the arrow through us both.” My voice was soft, a whisper that made it seem like I was trying to keep a secret I was afraid the heavens would hear.

His golden eyes flickered to the red and white mixture drying on my shirt… then, for a brief moment, to his own chest. Of course, he understood—intimately.

“I see.”

He stooped and picked up the necklace that I’d dropped when he showed up and pressed it back into my palm. “Here.”

“We’re even now, I—”

“I don’t know if I would call this even, Wren. Anyway, you might need me again if something happens to your soulmate.”

“He’s not my—” But before I could get out the protest, another blinding flash of light sent me reeling back, and when my vision cleared, he was gone.

“Fucking Reapers,” I groaned, then looked down at the man still sleeping in my arms. I had no idea what Sephtis had really done, other than funnel the black filth of the Enmity back into his chest and seal it away. I didn’t know if it would help with the lack of sanity that I’d seen in his eyes.

Except for right before he’d collapsed.

They’d been so wide then, a soft brown instead of that violent red, and I…

“Fuck. Fine.”

I needed to figure out how to safely sever the connection between us.

I needed to figure out what the fuck I was going to do, because I could feel his heartbeat pounding at the back of my throat, and it was so overwhelming I wanted to claw the thing out, to cut it free.

Once I got him settled and secured, I’d go back to my apartment and get some supplies. Then I could figure out what to do about this…

Unfortunate accident.

In my arms, the accident in question stirred for just a moment before moving to curl his face against the pulse in my throat. Hesettled there, and I ignored the way the soft exhale of his breath made me shiver. The tension in his body ran out like water slipping through my fingers, and I didn’t know what to do with it.

I didn’t know what to do withhim.

I couldn’t bring him back to Love’s Ace—if anyone saw him, I wasn’t sure what would happen to me. For all I knew, they’d accuse me of using the Ardor to make this happen on purpose. It wouldn’t be the first time a cupid tried to go rogue to maintain the feelings the vial gave them.

But this… this was an entirely new level of betrayal to our kind. A cupid tied to an Enmity was…

Unheard of.

Impossible.

It wasdangerous. There was no way around it. If I let myself believe that this was anything more than a freak accident, I might feelsympathyfor him. I might want to protect him.

To—

He pulled back, and my eyes instantly drew to the way his full lips were slightly parted, the soft bruises under his eyes.

To the red string connecting us.

No.

I couldn’t take him back to Love’s Ace, and I couldn’t sever the line between us without knowing what would happen.

Until I knew what to do with my living, breathing problem, I needed to make sure he was somewhere safe.

Somewhere secure.

Somewhere that he wouldn’t be able to stab me in the back while I was least expecting it. At the end of the day, he was nothing more than a monster walking under the thinly veiled guise of a human man.

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