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“You aren’t guilty by association if no one knows that this even happened."
"You don't think the cook’s going to notice that you took the best piece of meat?" His voice lost all sense of humor and she could tell his patience was wearing thin.
A rule follower. That's the sort of man she had encountered. Sometimes that was a good thing but the times where they knew they’d caught a criminal, not so much.
"I—"
A hand gripped her shoulder, spinning her around. She reached a hand up to hold her hood against her hair but it did no use as hazel eyes met hers.
"You." The man bit out.
"You!” Ace sneered. Standing before her was not some random servant or just a friend of the cook. It was the man who had stopped her from getting the spell book she had needed the other day at the market! He hadn’t caught her once, he’d caught her twice now!
Shelby, she recalled his name. His attention drifted from her vibrant irises down to the white marble scar on her neck. He stared for a minute, so long that Ace wondered if he was going to finally react to her.
"What are you? And what do you want?"
Ace grinned at his question. He was uncomfortable, dare she saynervous? She liked the way his hands fidgeted at his sides, his fingers opening and closing in his palms as if he was trying to decide whether he should reach for the butcher knife next to them or unleash his magic without sanction from the queen.
"I told you I would see you again. I just didn't realize it would be so soon…or here."
His voice lowered to a dark rasp. "You are evading the question."
"That's a question with an answer I don't have time to give you."
Ace blinked and Shelby lunged for the knife, opening his mouth to yell. The cool wooden handle met Ace’s grip first as she yanked it away from him and shoved her other palm against his mouth to stifle him. Moisture dampened the inside of her hand as a shout vibrated up her arm. She pointed the knife at him knowing that should he choose to break the rules he could have her incapacitated in under a minute. But what she had was a rule follower, and judging by their small interactions she was willing to bet he wouldn’t dare.
Shelby stilled under her touch, his lips closing and his eyes following her outstretched arm to where the point of the knife was aimed for his neck.
"Now I'm going to remove my hand and you are going to remain quiet. Do you understand?"
His brows pulled together tightly creating a series of wrinkles across his forehead, those dark eyes burning so violently they nearly turned black. He didn’t speak, nor did he nod as the knife pressed against the soft skin at the base of his neck. To keep the knife pointed there her arm had to remain stretched and straight, their height difference making her feel like a child next to him. A child with power, seeing as she was the one with the weapon in her hand.
Time ticked away in Ace's mind; she had a very small window of opportunity and this stupid warlock was taking it away from her. All she wanted was peace. Quiet in her mind from the gods. All she wanted was her resting place, the very eternity she had been ripped from to return here to play puppet.
"Come with me," Ace hissed through her teeth, spinning Shelby toward the warlock’s quarters, letting the blade press between his shoulder blades.
"Thieves are such vile creatures," Shelby whispered back to her. "I do not like you."
"I didn't ask you to like me, warlock. I asked you to stay silent and come with me." Pushing the blade a little deeper, Shelby took that step and another until he hovered at the door. "Open the door."
A heavy drawn out sigh lifted and lowered his broad shoulders. The purple of his marking sash around his neck peeked out from under the collar of his white shirt. If she made him bleed with this knife it would easily show on his clothes.
The door swung shut behind them. The noises of the staff moving in and out of the halls were muffled on the other side of the door with the distance they'd just created too. Ace sighed, grunting with effort as her palm met Shelby's back and she shoved him forward. When he stumbled she took a quick glance at the space they'd just entered.
Just as her blueprints had suggested, to her right was a common area. Plain stone walls, an unlit fireplace, worn green couches, and a long dining table with the chairs haphazardly shoved back into place. To their left was the long hallway Ace had anticipated. A few doors down was the room where the warlocks worked away on their spell books.
Shelby caught her gaze as he crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. Muscles rippled across his jawline as he ground his teeth together.
"Listen to me," Ace started quickly, "I know you aren't going to believe a word I say but I'm here because the gods have sent me." This made him crack a small smile. His brows lifted when he snorted in amusement. "I can prove it to you."
She stared straight at him, trying to bare her soul in this single plea with her eyes. The heat of his attention fell to her scar as if that wasn't proof enough.
"Pray," she said forcefully.
"Pray?" Somehow his eyebrows shot up even higher.
"Pray for the thing you want most. The gods—they talk to me. I do their work for them. Should they grant you favor I will be at your side fighting to answer this prayer. I'll be able to tell you what you prayed for as evidence of my honesty.”
