He narrowed his eyes as if trying to figure out whether I spoke the truth, but he knew I did. He’d been with me when I confronted Marcus from the orphanage. He knew about my awful past. My twin brother and I had been dumped on an orphanage’s doorstep as babies, but the establishment hadn’t been a kind place to grow up. Once we had enough of the verbal and physical abuse, we left and survived on the streets. That was when I discovered my inability to die and when Queen Titania found us.
“And I highly doubt history contains any group of boys that could accurately be described as overly well-behaved,” I continued.
“You’re so judgemental.”
“Am I wrong?” I remembered all the shenanigans Ace and my brother got up to when we were all younger.
Ace shook his head before kneeling to pick up Nala. Instead of carrying her in his arms again, he slowly adjusted his hold so she lay across his shoulders. She didn’t make a sound.
A painful, invisible band of pressure tightened around my chest.
If Orion wanted to be stubborn and return to danger, that was his choice. He was a grown man. The most important thing right now was Nala, and she couldn’t heal if we were constantly under attack. Ace started running again, and I hurried to catch up.
We ran until the air scraped my throat and my muscles screamed. We ran until my lungs burned and my limbs grew shaky and weak. We ran until I couldn’t run anymore.
I admitted defeat and stopped to suck in air. “Ace.”
He turned and looked at me over his shoulder. Our gazes locked and he slowed to a stop.
“Is she still breathing?” I asked. I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t feel my bond with her, and it made my skin crawl. I stepped forward and rested my hand on her side. Her chest expanded a little.
I sighed, the tension in my shoulders easing slightly.
“Where are we going?” I asked. “We can’t run forever, and I’d prefer to find shelter before it starts raining.”
“Raining?” Ace looked at the sky with fluffy white clouds. “It’s not going to rain for a while. We have time.”
“The weather changes quickly here, remember? Fall is upon us. The rain is going to set in soon.” I pointed at one of the clouds with a gray bottom inching closer. “See how the bottom of that one is darker? The gray?”
He nodded.
“It’s precipitating, but the rain is probably just going to spit a little. The clouds behind that one will be even darker and bring the real rain. We need shelter.” I didn’t really need to explain this to Ace. He grew up in this forest, too, but it gave me a sense of control and knowledge when I felt I had none.
“I know a place.” He turned and started walking, his pace brisk, but not unmanageable.
I followed, but I wished to phaan I had another option.
I’d lost count on how many times I’d been attacked by hunters, and the attacks started around the time this guy walked back into my life. He’d suggested once the queen had sent him to Perga to protect me, but part of me still struggled to trust Ace.
I scanned the forest. I didn’t often go into this section. It was a buffer area between the forbidden forest and the hunting grounds. It also carried on farther north than the area I patrolled. Where was Ace taking us?
And why would he know this place when I didn’t?
“I think you have some explaining to do,” I called out and quickened my pace to catch up.
He glanced down at me and raised a dark eyebrow. “I don’t believe I owe you any explanations. Besides, how would I maintain my air of mystery?”
Air of mystery? I snorted. “How do you know this area?”
“Don’t you trust me?” His lips quirked up at the corners.
“Not at all and you know it. Things aren’t making sense, and I need you to make them make sense. I’ve never seen you in this section of the forest, at least not growing up, and certainly not after you left. If hunting night bunnies was any indication, you have a little more than the basic skills of living off the land and yet here you are, leading me into a remote, unpopulated area of the forest I know nothing about.”
He sighed, his shoulders dropping, his grip on Nala relaxing.
“Do you need a break?” I asked, abandoning my interrogation.
He scowled before lifting his chin. “Maybe.”
