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Nova’s heart soared when she cried out Jace’s name.
She waited for him to reply, acknowledge, or say anything, but he stared at her in confusion.
It was Jace. She was sure of it. He wore a strange leather uniform, and a tiny blue glow sparkled beneath his left eye. But everything else was damn near identical to the handsome ex-lover she’d thought she’d lost. Right down to his long, blond hair and surfer-tanned skin. She’d always teased him that the tan was ingrained into his DNA. Even when he moved to the east coast, it never faded.
Wait… that glowing mark beneath his eye. Why was that familiar?
Dread sank in her stomach like a stone.
He was a Guardian. One of those magic police-type warrior fae. The ones everyone hated for… what was it for again? Oh yes, for killing monsters and—her heart stilled—enforcing the forbidden substances rule.
Her earrings.
But it was Jace. He wouldn’t execute her. Surely, he would save her.
“Jace!” she cried, trying to step from the log. Soldiers snarled and pushed her back. Panic constricted her chest. Her wild eyes darted to Jace. “Help.”
He glanced over his shoulder as if he thought she spoke to someone else.
“Be quiet,” the female elf hissed. “You’re going to get us killed.”
But Nova couldn’t stop.
“What’s wrong with you?” Her voice croaked. “It’s me, Nova Morales. You lived next door until you were seventeen. You shared meals with my family every Sunday. We spent our vacations at your beach house. Come on, Jace. It’s me!” Still nothing. Taking a risk, she pointed at her earrings. “You gave me these!”
He bought them when Nova had gushed over them in a store window. Solid gold hoops. These earrings tipped Nova’s brother off to their brief, secret relationship.
Irritation swam in his blue eyes. Tendons flashed in his square jaw. He approached, pushing past the soldiers blocking him. They snarled and snapped like animals but, upon seeing his face, backed off with a hasty hand sign of apology.
“Stupid woman,” he growled when he arrived at her feet. “You could have saved yourself a world of pain but had to point to your contraband.”
Nova’s blood ran cold. “Jace?”
It was the same smooth, cultured voice she remembered. It even held the posh note he’d adopted since his Ivy League education. But the anger—the fury in his eyes was so foreign. The last time she’d seen him, those eyes had been full of love and… her throat clogged up.
“My name is D’arn Leaf. I’m—”
“Shut the fuck up,” she choked out. This isn’t fun anymore.“Yo no estoy pasándolo bien.”
“Excuse me?” he blinked.
“If this is some kind of¡estúpido!prank, I will murder you where you sleep,mi amigo.” She searched the crowd over his head. “If my twin is laughing at my humiliation, just tell me. I’m not having fun, so let’s be done with this.”
“Woman,” he growled. “I don’t know you. I don’t know your twin.”
“Sure you do. His name is Niles. We three used to be tight. And then you moved away, and he went back to Mexico and messed with the wrong people and—gah!¡Nunca escuchas lo que yo dice!I told you all this!”
Maybe if she’d spent more time with Niles instead of traveling the world, saving a planet that couldn’t be saved, her brother wouldn’t have said those scary things the last time they spoke.
The world would be better off if it was smaller.
Rallying her composure, Nova looked at her friend. Her heart leaped as his tanned face paled, and understanding dawned in his eyes.
“Finally. You recognize me.”
“It doesn’t take a genius to recognize you’re from the old world.”
His gaze darted around, assessing the soldiers as though he weighed opponents. When he turned, she noticed his pointed elf ears.
