He cleared his throat. “Is that what we’re calling it now?”
“Do you have something better to call it?” I leaned on the counter and inhaled the smell of coffee.
“Dry humping.”
I chose to take a deep sip of the coffee instead of commenting. The rich flavour coated my tongue, and I savoured the warmth as my senses woke up. “What do we do now?”
“About what to call your gyrating on my leg?”
“About our entire situation.”
“Funny, before you called our intimate embrace last night chafing, I had planned to ask you the same thing.”
“I want to talk to Orion.”
“What? Why?” Ace turned on the couch to face me. “We saw him yesterday and he left us to return to Perga.”
I took another long sip of coffee. “I need to understand why the arrow didn’t harm me this time and whether my hypothesis is correct. If I’m right, I need to know what that means.”
Ace didn’t say anything right away.
Shit. I hadn’t admitted to Ace the arrow was poisoned. I cradled my mug to my chest and walked back to the living room.
“You can’t trust him, Mouse,” Ace said.
“I’ve known him for a long time. I’ve hunted with him. He’s saved my life. Of course I can trust him.”
“First of all, telling Onion the arrow was poisoned and didn’t harm you will mean revealing more than you might be ready to.” He took another long sip of coffee as if to buy himself time to choose his words. That was so unlike Ace. He usually spat out the truth and spared no feelings. Or at least he never spared mine. “Besides, you’re immortal. How exactly did he save your life?”
I opened my mouth and then shut it again. I hadn’t told Ace my suspicions. Had he figured it out on his own? He took the news of the ineffective poison as if it didn’t surprise him at all. Regardless, he made a couple of good points.
I mentally shook my head.
Good points or not, Rye had patched me up on more than a few occasions, and he cared for Nala.
“And if he is so trustworthy, if he truly has your back, where is he?” Ace continued. “Why did he return to town instead of running away with us?”
“He thought I needed the healing balm.”
“Yet you told him you didn’t, and you weren’t showing any signs of poisoning. Maybe the simplest explanation is the right one.”
“And what’s the simplest explanation?” My pulse thudded in my ears. I folded my arms tightly across my chest. “Please enlighten me.”
His jaw tightened, and for a moment I thought he might refuse to answer. Then, with his voice low and heavy with frustration, he said, “He’s a part of this.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Of course he is. He works for the royals, just like us. Those hunters were shooting at him, too. Or did you miss that part while you were busy spinning conspiracy theories?”
Ace exhaled harshly and pinched the bridge of his nose. The other hand still cradled his now forgotten coffee. “You’re purposefully being obtuse.”
Heat spread through my body. How dare he imply I didn’t understand. I grasped his point perfectly well, thank you very much. I just disagreed with it. “I’m refusing to jump to harmful conclusions about people who haven’t hurt me.”
His gaze snapped to meet mine. Dark and stormy. I’d seen them wild before in the bloodied moments we’d barely survived, but never like this, and certainly not aimed at me.
“He’s responsible for this,” Ace said, enunciating every word carefully. “He’s in this so deep, Mouse, I’m surprised he hasn’t drowned yet.”
I felt something shift in my chest, cold and uncertain, but I shoved it down. “That’s ridiculous.”
“It’s not.” He leaned forward on the couch. “And you’d see that if you weren’t so busy panting after him.”
