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Her gaze followed the hand that held hers, up the fingers to the hand and the rounded muscles of the arm…then shoulders…of a very male body. With a very deep voice.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Ace
Without thinking, Ace brought her eyes up to meet the man that held her arm within his solid grasp. Her attention traveled from his broad chest and up further to his scowling face so high above her, which meant he was truly very tall. A fucking mammoth of a man who now had a death grip on her arm. Frustration flared behind her eyes.
Ace struggled to catch her breath as she took in the sight of him. His complexion was a rich brown several shades darker than her own. The width of his face was an odd contrast to the sharpness of his cheekbones. His full lips arched down in a disapproving scowl and his thick black brows pulled low over large hazel eyes. For lack of better words, he was gorgeous. Her pulse quickened at the rare physical contact.
What a shame that he was the one thing standing between her and a new grimoire.
Cursing herself for getting caught—how could she not have seen this colossal man?!—she forced herself to stand to her full height, which put her roughly at his armpits. To his credit, the man did not balk at the sight of her, the orange eyes, the white scar…all of itwrong.
He was the first person to truly look at her since she'd first awoken and scared the people in the first home she'd come across. After she'd seen herself in the mirror, she hadn't let anyone get a good look at her.
She was unnatural. And that bothered her.
But it didn’t seem to bother him.
"Are you trying to steal from us?" He lowered his voice so only she could hear him. "From the queens?"
He wore the same faded brown trousers and oversized white tunic as the other warlocks. A purple strip of fabric draped over his shoulders marking him as a warlock in service to the crowns. Ace admired the broadness of his shoulders and the way his body got leaner toward his waist. The lack of weapons on his hips was disheartening since she couldn't use them against him. Not that she was sure she really had the heart to hurt him.
"I'd like to give you a chance to give that back," the man continued, narrowing his eyes.
Ace flicked her gaze back up, holding eye contact with him. The grimoire was still in the hand farthest from him. Her first instinct was to run, but his tight grip prevented her. She'd have to outrun the guards too because they'd surely be back to their posts by now. She gave her wrist one good tug just to see if he'd let her go. A foolish attempt. He held firm and his scowl only deepened.
It was no use. Next time she'd have to be faster, find a better way to distract the warlocks.
Holding her chin high, she lifted her arm and offered him the notebook. Their fingers brushed for only the briefest moment as he yanked the journal from her grasp. Ace noted how surprisingly soft his hands were compared to her own calloused ones. His frown curled into a sneer of disgust as if being faced with a thief might be the worst thing to ever happen to him, but he let her wrist go.
"This won't be the last time you see me," Ace said, taking a small step away.
The man stared for a moment before he answered. "That's really unfortunate."
If her pulse hadn't been racing inside her ears like the drums of war then she might have laughed at that statement. Instead, she took another step away as the other two warlocks turned back to their booth and locked eyes on her. Confusion tainted their expressions.
"Shelby, who are you talking to?" the older man called. Gray sprinkled his black curls.
Her stomach practically lurched into her throat as they started toward her.Run. She needed to run.
"Caught a thief," the man,Shelby,answered before shouting, "Call for the guard!" Though his voice rose he didn't move or reach out to Ace. He gripped the notebook, white knuckled, like his life depended on it. There was something undoubtedlydarkin that stupid little book and Ace wanted it.
Backpedaling, Ace threw herself toward her escape route. The wind caught the fabric of her cloak lifting it off her back. She didn't give them another look as she heard someone cry out for the queens’ guard.
If she was caught then she'd face the gallows. Somehow dying a second time was both amusing and terrifying all at once. She hadn't tested the limits of the gods’ ‘blessings’ yet. Could she evenbekilled?
No magic nipped at her heels as she grabbed the rickety staircase that led up the side of the building, giving her a few short seconds of relief. She glanced over her shoulder as the shouts of the guards echoed off the walls. Men pushed through the sea of people, the sound of their boots loud in her ears.
"Stop her!"
"Thief!"
She could be faster than the guards, she knew this,andshe was smarter. Finding the best place to hide was her priority. Even if she was tall and lanky, she was flexible and thin enough she could curl herself into even the smallest alcove to hide in. Usually.
The railing at the top of the stairs rattled, the first guard hitting the bottom step as Ace was already leaving the stairwell behind to pull herself up to the roof. Clay tiles met her fingertips with the fiery heat of the sun, searing her skin in an annoyingly familiar way. Heat didn't bother Ace anymore. Not after the holy fire.
Air hissed out over her lips, tiles digging into her stomach. When she stood, the tiles shifted, threatening to send her falling multiple stories to the ground. Nevertheless, she pushed off and clambered her way toward the edge that butted up with the next building. There was only a two-foot gap between the extended roof and the next building, with her height she could easily jump that distance.
