Page 102 of Love's Ace

And…

“Oh, don’t celebrate yet, boys. Just because my brothers let you go doesn’t mean I’m finished with you.”

Fuck, I’d hoped Aiden had stayed in fuck-off land with his weird brothers.

Wren went stiff for a moment before his arms around me tightened again. He pulled us to standing and took my hand.

We stood shoulder to shoulder as we faced Aiden, and a small part of me wondered how anyone had ever been fooled. His pale eyes were like eternity made into color—they weren’t like Wren’s at all.

“Fuck you, Aiden,” Wren snapped, and the shock on Aiden’s face was almost funny.Almost. “I’ve spent my whole existence thinking you were a fucking cupid and you’re… you’re what? Some cosmic entity?”

“Fate,” I muttered in his ear, and Wren laughed. Loud and shocked and a little angry.

“Fate! You’re fuckingFate?What the fuck. And you…” He paused. Wren’s eyes were softer when he looked at me. “You brought him back to me, didn’t you?”

Aiden moved forward, close enough he could touch the thread between us. It didn’t burn this time. It didn’t send a surge of strength ripping into my chest at the cost of Wren’s aura.

It was just warm.

Solid.

Real.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. I’m curious… and now… well, now you have a choice.”

“A choice?”

“You’re a cupid and an Enmity. I can’t actually interfere there. You have to pick a side.”

Oh.

“You still… want me to work for you?”

“No.” Aiden answered Wren’s question with a smile. “I want you to both work for me. Theo can’t make arrows, but at least he can keep you safe while you’re shooting them.”

Wren’s fingers pulled from mine, and there was a moment where I thought he was going to swing at Aiden. Instead, he wrapped his arms around him and jerked him forward into a hug.

I was just as surprised when Aiden’s arms lifted and he returned the embrace. His voice was a whisper, words for Wren’s ears alone, but I still heard them.

“I’ve always believed in you, Wren. Of course I want you on my side.”

“I’m on whatever side Wren’s on.” I didn’t actually care if the conversation was supposed to be private. It felt wrong, not touching Wren, even if he was only a few inches away from me. I moved forward and slid my fingers gently over his wings, bloody where he’d torn out the feathers, but still there.

Still whole. Already healing.

Aiden glanced at me, his head tilting curiously before a smile quirked at the corner of his mouth. “Perfect. Then I expect you both at Love’s Ace tonight.”

Tonight.

He wanted us to come back to that hotel tonight.

He wantedmeto be there.

With Wren.

“I still don’t understand.” Wren drew back from the hug and pulled me to his side again. “You’re paying the price for us. Why?”

“Look at you. Look at your connection… A cupid and an Enmity with a bond stronger than anything I’ve ever seen. That’s worth saving.”

---