Page 19 of Marked
Ace pressed his lips together and nodded in a short jerk. “Of course.”
“Why is he here?” I jabbed the air with my finger and pointed at the man who’d broken my heart.
My brother sighed. “He’s your new partner.”
My brain misfired and I sat in silence while I tried to process that statement.
“My new partner?” I rocked back on my heels and stared at Ace, taking in his eerie silence, and deep brown eyes that almost appeared black. He was taller than my brother, which put him around six foot five, and he had a strong build and centred way of moving.
He was nice to look at.
He’d always been nice to look at. But the years that he had been gone had turned him from a young man to something much more devastating.
His attitude still sucked, though.
“I don’t need a partner,” I snapped. From what I remembered of Ace’s hunting skills, he was average at best anyway. “I have Nala.”
“The queen disagrees.” Amusement pulled at Paul’s lips. He always found humour in situations where all I ever found was irritation.
“For better or worse, Ace is your new partner.” Paul’s grin grew and I seriously debated reaching for my bow and arrows. They were sadly out of reach. Without a doubt, whatever came out of his mouth next would?—
“Try not to sleep with this one,” Paul said.
I sputtered.
“Besides…” Paul continued, unfazed by the murder in my gaze. “Is this anyway to greet an old friend of ours?” My brother obviously woke up this morning and chose violence. He was determined to put his life in danger today.
I ignored his question and stuck to his statement about Queen Titania. “When did the queen make this decision and why didn’t she say anything to me during our meeting yesterday morning or when she gave me my order last night?”
“She assigned Ace as your partner this morning,” Paul said. “But it was after Blake left with the queen’s other letters. She felt you’d receive this information better in person anyway.”
I glared at my brother. I normally loved him so much but right now he was being a jerk. I wish he hadn’t said that part about sleeping with my last partner in front of Ace. I didn’t want Ace knowing anything about me besides the bare minimum.
Orion and I had always worked well together, and it had made sense to team up to go after larger poaching groups in the past, but he’d never been assigned as my partner. The queen had never dictated how I got the job done as long as I got it done. At least not until now. “Queen Titania can’t have a problem with my work.”
I was the best, dammit. I was the only one with a familiar who was allowed in the sacred forest and my shooting accuracy surpassed even Paul’s. He might be her favorite, but I was her best.
My brother shrugged. “Ace is new. The queen wants you to show him around.”
I narrowed my eyes. Ace was new? He grew up in Perga with us. He might not have been a hunter for the queen, but he wasn’t exactly unfamiliar with this area or the town.
“Still going by Ace, huh?” I asked. His full name was Actaeon, but he always claimed it was a mouthful and that he preferred his nickname.
He shrugged. “Normally, the ladies love it.”
His expression didn’t change. He said those words with a serious deadpan, and a flat tone.
“First time for everything, I guess,” I said before turning back to Paul. “If Queen Titania wants a tour guide, why aren’t you doing it?”
“I don’t make the rules,” my twin said.
“I’m not any more pleased about this than you, Mouse,” Ace said.
I always hated his nickname for me. “I have a name.”
“Would you prefer princess? You’re certainly acting like one. And I certainly don’t need an immature spit of a girl leading me around the forest. I will do well enough on my own without your…” He waved his hand in the air. “Drama.”
“My drama?”