No, no, I wasn’t. My stubbornness almost got Nala killed and my arm hurt. “I’ve been better.”
He nodded and stepped forward.
I hesitated, unsure of what he planned to do.
“I’ll get the arrows,” he said before jerking his chin in Nala’s direction, “Check on your familiar. I'll carry her back if she can’t walk on that leg.”
I watched him move to the first wolf. My eyes stung. I blinked rapidly, trying to stem the tears threatening to fall.
Why was he being so nice when I was such an ass?
Ace wrenched an arrow free from a wolf and straightened. Before he moved to the next wolf, he glanced over at me and stopped in his tracks. “What’s wrong?”
“I... I’m not sure,” I said. No point in lying. I wasn’t used to his kindness. He had always looked after himself and my brother. I was ignored for the most part, and he’d never gone out of his way to be nice. When he’d returned to Perga, I’d expected him to fall back on similar behaviour—especially after how he left things.
But for some reason, I mattered to him now. He had my back and he hadn’t let me down. Yet.
Could I trust him?
Could I trust this warmth spreading through my chest?
His expression softened. “You don’t have to do this alone anymore. You can trust me, Mouse. You can depend on me. I don’t plan on screwing you over or letting you down.”
Trust? Depend? Those words sent unease travelling down my spine.
“I think that’s the problem,” I said.
“What? Trusting someone? You trust Orion.” He scowled as if he tasted something fowl.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Orion was safer to trust. “Trusting you.”
He pressed his lips together. “When have I given you any reason to doubt me? Since I returned, you have insulted me, questioned me, held secrets from me, yet despite all that, I still want to be your partner because you're smart, talented and phaaning sarcastic.”
I held up my hand to stop him.
He clamped his mouth shut.
“I thought I knew who I could trust, but now I can’t even trust my own brother.”
He yanked an arrow free from another wolf as he visibly contemplated my words.
“Every time I’ve tried to trust someone, I’ve been let down. I’ve been betrayed. That’s why I prefer to work alone. It hurts less.”
He studied the fletching on one of the arrows, keeping his gaze off me as if he somehow knew I couldn’t handle eye contact right now. “This isn’t about your brother. Or Orion. This is about me. You said so yourself. Stop deflecting and tell me the truth.”
“You left before,” I whispered. “You left my brother. You left me. How can I trust you won’t disappear again?” His disappearance had crushed me.
“I won’t, Em,” he said. “I won’t leave you ever again.”
I shifted my weight from foot to foot. I’d heard that before. Phaan, my brother had said it right before he disappeared for a few weeks, going on a bender after falling in and out of love for the millionth time.
Ace’s gaze locked on mine, something dark and fierce flashing in the dark depths. He remained still as we continued to stare at each other, the rain splattering his head and shoulders. “Come on, Mouse,” his deep voice rumbled. “What do you have to lose?”
Everything.
6
I sipped the hot coffee while Ace wrapped my wound. The bite marks still wept, and I wasn’t healing as quickly as normal. Maybe the poison was still working its way through my body. Maybe I had misunderstood my reaction to it, and I wasn’t a part of the same bloodline as the phaanon who made the poison. And maybe, I was just looking to separate myself from the mess of this situation.
