SIXTEEN
Ace
Sleep never came. Between knowing that Fae were all around her and the worry that was eating away at her, Ace tossed and turned on the cot King Osiris had offered her. Rehan had slept on the other side of their shared tent, softly snoring until the sun rose and he stirred awake.
Rehan was putting his boots on outside the tent now. Ace watched him from where she was sitting curled up on a log that surrounded a small firepit. Her arms were wrapped around her legs, keeping her propped up as her eyes ached to close. Fae moved around them, their conversations either becoming whispers as they passed or stopping altogether.
"Have you stayed here with them before?" Ace asked quietly.
Rehan looked up, finally finished with his laces. Two strands of brown hair dangled in his face, the rest pulled back into low bun behind his head. "I have. Does that bother you?"
"No." She sighed and laid her head against her arms, staring at the ashes in the firepit.
Twigs and dying leaves crunched under his boots as he stepped over the log across from Ace and came to sit next to her. "You know I'm glad that I have someone like me to talk to now. Someone who can be as overwhelmed by prayers, gods, and the too much rumbling inside my head."
Ace pursed her lips, unsure of what to say. It was nice having someone who related to what she'd gone through but she couldn't shake the way he didn't feel…well, he didn't feel like how she expected someone who had been destined for her to feel.
"I'm very lucky." Rehan continued. "I don't know much about you but I'm sure we'll make a fine pair." His eyes searched her face, probably for something Ace could never give him. "You'll be a stunning bride and more so a queen." He lifted his hand slowly, brushing back her dark hair and tracing her jaw. "You're beautiful. Do you know that, Ace?"
Her teeth sunk into her lip as she tried not to grimace. This was nothing like the way she teased Shelby or how his compliments were always laced with insults.
"My looks are not what I'm worried about," she whispered.
"You're worried about your friend." His hand dropped from her face as he straightened. Ace dipped her chin in agreement. "Yet, you are not together?"
She laughed at that. "No. He practically hates me." A smile formed on her lips as she thought about what she and Shelby had been through so far. That smile fell when she recounted the look on his face as Rehan had taken her away leaving him alone in the back of that damn wagon.
"And you still care for him?"
"I do."
His lips twitched as if he might frown but his expression remained neutral. "Do you love him?"
"Love is a big word for someone you've only known a short while." She hugged her legs a little harder.
Rehan shrugged and finally gave her a brief grin. "I've only known you for less than a day and I already know that if you'd let me I'd love you fiercely." Ace immediately met his gaze. He extended his hand. "Before we head off to kill a wicked queen, would you like to learn a little bit about your powers?"
That was it. One second, he was confessing his possible love for her and the next the subject was dropped. She set her hand in his. His hands were rough in the way that Shelby's had been surprisingly soft. Ace wasn't sure but she thought it wasn't likely that weapons created from holy fire could give someone calluses but maybe she was wrong.
Rehan helped pull her up to standing. He let go of her hand the minute she was up and had stepped away to give her space.
"Did you kill Queen Sienna?" Ace asked.
"Yes." He picked at his nails.
"Why didn't you take me then?"
The wind blew, bringing with it the smell of meat being cooked somewhere in the camp. Ace's stomach growled loudly.
"Well, you seemed busy mourning your friend—who isn't dead as I saw yesterday. I didn't think you would much like me if I took you then. But yesterday, me saving you…that's much more heroic."
"I would have probably killed you if you made an attempt to take me right then."
"You would have attempted to kill me. There's a difference." Rehan winked.
Ace rolled her eyes but gave him a small smile. "Teach me something and stop flirting with me."
"Never," he teased, giving Ace a smile that stretched across his face.
"Don't we need to leave soon? The sooner the better, honestly."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We have to leave soon. Just one quick lesson, I suppose," Rehan said. "Come here."
Ace allowed herself the few steps it took to close the space between them. As soon as she was in arms reach, he was holding her shoulders spinning her around so her back was to him. His hands rubbed up and down her arms, warming her skin.
"Now close your eyes," he prompted.
"Is this necessary?"
"Is what necessary?"
"The touching," she said even as she closed her eyes.
"Obviously. Who's the teacher, you or me?" His fingers tapped gently against her.
"You." She sighed.
"Right. Now close your eyes. Tell me what you feel."
She tried to focus on her body, to drown out the sound of the Fae camp all around them. "I feel your hands on my arms. I feel my heart beating. My chest rising."
"No deeper than that."
Deeper? There was a flutter in her stomach, a nervousness that she would fail this. She ignored all those things that she certainly could feel and tried to search for something else. Instinct drove her toward that lifeline inside her, the rope she was only able to grasp when she was the most desperate.
"I feel…" She swallowed, trying to come up with the words, but nothing made sense to say out loud. After a moment she settled on, "There's a humming. A humming that leads me to a chord. I've used it before to gain access to my holy fire."
"Yes!" He cheered. "Right, now take hold of it."
"I can't." She opened her eyes, twisting to look at Rehan.
"Yes, you can." He shook her a little and forced her to turn around. This time he stepped up even closer so that his chest aligned with her back. "Close your eyes and try."
"I don't know how I'm supposed to do that with you trying to fondle me."
"Are you saying that my touch is distracting? That I stand a chance at gaining your affections?"
Ace couldn't help but smile at his hopeful wonder. He sounded like a child who might earn a chance to get dessert or a prize at the fair. "That's not what I'm saying."
"Well, if it isn't an issue then by all means continue." The heat of his breath blew across her ear. "I'm only this close so it might be easier to feel the holy fire within me."
"That sounds like some kind of innuendo." She closed her eyes with a chuckle. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."
Rehan stayed quiet and still as she tried to grasp for that rope. Every time she mentally reached for it, it either pulled away or was too slick to hold. She huffed a breath and tipped her head back in frustration, smacking the crown of her head against Rehan.
"Um, ow." He leaned away from her, one of his hands leaving where he'd been touching her arm as he rubbed at the bridge of his nose.
"Sorry."
"Try this again, but I'll help you." He held her arms again but there was a noticeable distance between her back and his chest now.
Where his palms rested against her bare skin tingled as warmth seeped into Ace and when she tried to jump for that chord that somehow connected her to the gods it was like bouncing off a trampoline, an extra push so she could get a good grip. Mentally, she clung to it as holy fire rippled through her.
Ace's hand filled with the reassuring heaviness of her holy fire blade as it expanded to its full length. She cracked an eye, scared that if she let herself get even slightly distracted, she’d lose her hold.
"Your sword comes easily. Which is good, also unsurprising since you were born for battle." The tingling sensation ran down to her wrist before Rehan was placing his hand over hers to twist and turn the sword in the daylight. White sparks danced off its edge falling to the dirt under them where the embers died.
"Born for battle," Ace repeated mostly to herself. She sighed. Battles killed innocent people and she didn't want to do that. The vengeance inside of her was reserved for the queens.
"You've killed before, haven't you?"
Ace nodded slowly. "I killed the Fae who tried to take me."
"I'm sorry about that. They knew you were like me. They knew we were working as a team even if you didn't know it yet."
The blood running through her veins turned icy and the sword flared with light. "One killed Shelby."
"I'm sorry. My power over them is very little."
Her eyes were fully open now as she let her gaze meet with any Fae who dared. "This is all I can do."
"This is a good start. For the shield, like I had, you need to concentrate on the holy fire that you know how to wield—the sword—and draw from that. You need to cover yourself with it."
She stared at the sword, willing the glow of it to travel over her. The light didn't move. Her stare narrowed to a glare, pressure in her jaw ground her teeth together. Ace imagined invisible hands that stole the light from the sword and slathered the light across her skin.
A splotch of fizzling sparks appeared on her forearm. She gasped and did it again. Invisible hands scooped up the holy fire that never seemed to run out and rubbed it all over her like expensive lotion.
Her skin sparkled with it as she bathed herself in fire, until it covered her, until it was everywhere, but it didn't lift off her skin, it didn't stretch to cover both her and Rehan. Ace stepped out of his reach and the fire flickered, the shield on her skin dissolving. She fought to keep control of the sword but even that collapsed in her grip leaving behind nothing but falling dying embers.
"Damn it," she hissed, stomping her foot.
"I was helping you a little." Rehan gave a meek smile, crimson staining his cheeks. "But you'll get it, keep practicing. I'll be around to help you. Obviously, you're not going to figure it out overnight. You might be a super special angel-human thing but that doesn't mean controlling your powers will come easy."
"I feel like that isn't fair—"
"None of it is fair."
"The least they could do giving me all of this.” She swallowed. “ This to work with is to have me come programmed with the knowledge to wield it." Ace scrubbed at her face. She was going to have to be better if she was going to actually get away with killing the queens. If she was going to save Shelby. Rehan's mouth opened like he might speak again but Ace cut him off before he could. "Can we just go? I can't stay here anymore."
He pursed his lips, letting his attention sweep over the ground before he found himself busy gathering supplies. Ace lowered herself back onto the log and kicked at the leaves around her feet.
This is stupid, Ace complained to the gods.
Listen to our little ray of sunshine, Sylik teased. Did Shelby take the part of your soul that made you cheery?
Sylik she's stressed out, Mina cooed.
You need to focus on the tasks at hand. Greshta gave her input, her accent thick.
Ace groaned burying her face into her palms. She was supposed to be the cheerful one but here she was with Rehan and all she could do was worry about all the negative going on in her life. He made everything look so easy. He could control his power, he was kind, he seemed genuine…
Gods, is this jealousy?
Oh, it's all going to be fine . Syliks' tone had gone from taunting to soothing. Just a little human emotion, I'm sure you're familiar with it.
Most people wouldn't think it was wise to mock a god but at this point, Ace had little room to care. Her face scrunched up with a scowl as she mimicked his words. "Just a little human emotion, I'm sure you're familiar with it."
"It's not jealousy." Rehan appeared, leading a horse around the side of the tent.
Ace reached out to the edge of the stump to catch herself as she sat straight up too quickly at his sudden appearance. "It's not?" She wiped her sweaty palms over the leg of her pants.
"Nah, you don't want what I have. You already have it. I think it's anxiety."
"Anxiety?"
"Yeah, constant worry about things you can't control. I think yours just manifests itself in this state of frustration." He waved it off like it was all unimportant. "Anyway, I brought our ride. Ready to go save the day?"
"I suppose I was born ready."
"Reborn." Rehan winked.
The bark of the stump snagged at her pants as Ace stood and moved away. She adjusted the cloak on her back before she shuffled over to the horse, gave it a good pat, and heaved herself up into the saddle.
"Couldn't we borrow two horses?" she asked while Rehan settled behind her.
"Where would the fun in that be?"
The horse began weaving its way through the outskirts of the camp until they were back amongst the black weeping trees and the sound of the Fae was behind them. Ace tried to get comfortable again on the saddle with Rehan pressed so tightly against her. Every which way she moved it just felt wrong, like their bodies didn't fit together correctly.
"You know I hate the way you can read my mind," Ace finally said after she'd thought back over their conversation and how he could just randomly jump into any conversation she might be having with the gods.
"Well, you're going to have to get used to that, Cupcake." Rehan snapped the reins and the horse broke out into a trot that bounced her against him.
"Don't call me Cupcake."
"Well, it's either that or beautiful, you pick."
"Cupcake is fine."
They rode toward the towering wall, Rehan humming a pleasant tune. It was finally time to kill another queen, save a warlock, and answer the prayers of many. None of that sounded easy.