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"Yes, it would," he huffed.
His grandmother continued to snore away as Shelby grabbed a thick green quilt. He held it up between them while Ace undressed even going as far as peeling off her pants and socks. She took her time laying them out around the fireplace. She even checked to make sure Shelby wasn't peeking; for some reason she was kind of hoping he would, but of course, when she stood on her tiptoes and pulled the blanket down to wrap around her, not only with his head turned to the side but his eyes were pressed closed.
"I'm covered in my blanket dress," she said. The warmth of the fire next to her made her feel like she was being washed in a warm bath. Now that she was wrapped up in the dry blanket she could feel it finally working to fight the chill that had settled into her bones. Shuffling over to the couch, Ace crawled up on it and rested her head on the armrest.
Shelby looked at her clothes for a minute before he went to unbuckle his pants. He caught her staring. Again.
"Turn away," he demanded.
"You're awfully modest.”
"Yeah sure," he agreed. When he’d successfully gotten down to just his undershorts he began layering blankets into a pallet on the floor, mumbling to himself.
Ace looked down at him as he settled with a blanket pulled all the way up to his chin. He looked like a child and that made her laugh a little bit too. "Shelby?"
“Hmm?” he hummed.
"If your mom's not dead then where is she?"
He cleared his throat. “Most of our women are trapped in Glatton. There is a magic that won't allow them to leave nor will it let anyone inside. I'm pretty sure she's there."
"And does she have magic?"
He looked up at her. “We really should get some rest."
“I'm not gonna be able to sleep and I'll just keep talking until I get answers so you might as well tell me."
Shelby dragged a hand down his face. "She has magic. We just tell people that the women don't have magic to protect them. That's how we've kept them from being enslaved. Though they are in a different kind of prison."
“They can’t get themselves out?” Her eyelids felt heavy, but not as heavy as the questions that weighed on her chest like a brick.
"No, their magic isn’t enough to break them out. That requires a lot of blood. Warlock blood."
Ace was quiet for a minute, long enough for Shelby to close his eyes. "I think we should go to the party tomorrow." His eyes flew open.
"Excuse me?"
"I think we should go to the next event. Only this time I think we should gather more information on the queen because obviously I wasn't very well prepared. And then we can make a plan for the next event and we can make an attempt to take her life. No. I don't even like to talk like that. Let's be more positive. We'regoingto kill the queen."
"And you are so sure?"
"Well, I'm notsureof anything, but what's the worst that could happen? I die? Like your grandma said, been there, done that."
Shelby let out a loud breath. "You are a very interesting creature."
"I'm not sure if you mean that in a nice way or not."
"And I have no interest in clarifying," Shelby said. "Is that enough questions for tonight?"
"Not hardly." But she was done asking questions, she just enjoyed teasing Shelby. Exhaustion from the day was wearing her down and tugging her toward her dreams. As Ace started to close her eyes all she could do was picture Sienna’s face as Ace ran from the ballroom. That eye contact.
There had been a glimmer of recognition, for the slightest second Queen Sienna had felt remorse. Or looked as though she did. Ace highly doubted it. These four queens, they were heartless. And Ace wanted to show them exactly what betrayal felt like. She wanted them to hurt the way she had been hurt. She wanted balanceandshe wanted peace. Even if Shelby suddenly decided not to help her, Ace would find a way to take down the queens.
No matter how bloody.
No matter how conflicted she felt.
Ace
