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The surface she lay on was flat and hard. A thin blanket had been laid over her and was strung out in a tangle around her legs. A woman, thin enough to show every jutting bone of her body, and tall enough to look Shelby square in the eyes, scowled.
Ace recognized that frown.
“We…we’re in?” Ace gasped. She was trying to sit up again only for Shelby to curse and lean over her.
“Lay down.” It was almost a threat and it was mean enough to keep her pinned. Not that she could move anywhere with the ginormous warlock pressing her shoulders into the firm bed. “Don’t make me tie you there.”
“Shelby, be nice,” the woman warned.
“If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were being kinky,” Ace answered. “I bet you’re a missionary man. One position and done.” She was talking awfully confidently for someone who’d only had sex a couple of times.
“Gods.” The pressure of his hands lifted and he stood up straight to look down at her. “She’s clearly fine.”
“You should be thankful—” the woman started again, stepping closer.
“No, you should be thankful,” he growled back. “She nearly gave her life to save this starving civilization, if it wasn’t for her you’d all die. Look at you, Mother.” He waved a hand at her withering stature. “You’re just as close to death as she was.”
Mother.
Ace propped herself up on her elbows, the tangle of her hair falling over her shoulders. The small act earned her a warning glance from Shelby who looked like his head might pop off any minute.
“Did I just make a sex joke in front of yourmother?”
She was never going to live this down. So much for good first impressions.
“I’m Derfla, nice to meet you.” She smiled, almost sweetly. It was more forced than genuine.
“Oh don’t act like—”
The door to the room opened, a small face with green eyes that muddled to brown in the center peeked in. A girl. Tight braids swayed gently all the way down to her hips that were hardly visible through her baggy clothing.
“Mom, can I meet them yet?”
Derfla was already in motion trying to move in front of the door blocking the girl from their view. She whispered harshly, words Ace couldn’t make out.
“Mom?” Shelby’s voice pitched up an octave.
The blanket slipped off her legs as Ace swung her legs off the side of the small cot she’d been laid on. The white walls of the mostly empty room shifted ever so slightly, returning to their rightful places as she steadied herself.
“I’m your sister!” She poked her face out from under her mother’s elbow.
“Margo, did I not just tell you to go back to the house?” Derfla snapped at the child.
“I have a sister?” His hands were hanging loosely at his sides, eyes wide to take in every detail of her face. The girl shared his sharp nose and the arch of her brows were similar. Her skin was the same brown that was so dark it almost blended in with the night sky, a few shades deeper than their mother’s tone.
“Maybe you should sit down.” Ace took his wrist and pulled him toward the bed. His knees buckled and he didn’t fight her as he lowered himself next to her. “Need a blanket?” she offered.
“You’re not funny,” he reminded her rubbing at his temples.
“I was going to wait to tell you but someone couldn’t stay in her room.” Derfla glared at her daughter. “This is Margo—”
“Margo Stroud.” She jutted out her hand to Shelby. “I’m thirteen years old. My favorite color is green. And I’ve always wanted a sibling! I mean, I knew you existed but we didn’t even know if you were alive or if the Fae had turned you into mulch.”
“Margo!”
The girl had only been in the room for a short while and might already be breaking the world records for times a mother could think about grounding her in under two minutes.
“You said it, not me.” Margo looked at Shelby expectantly.
