Page 28 of Marked

“That’s all I ask.”

Paul scoffed and turned to walk away, shaking his head.

I didn’t need to hear his thoughts to know what he wanted to say–I was asking a lot. Maybe I was a princess. But I gave as equally as I got.

Ace watched me with that eerie stillness of his—as if his rage coiled like a spring and was ready for release, ready to burst into motion.

Now I just needed to figure out his triggers to get him to go away. I smiled sweetly. This man’s time with me was limited and finite, and he had no idea just how evil I could be.

Things had changed since he left all those years ago.

He thought I was a princess.

He thought I was a sneaky mouse.

Well, I’d show him just how much I could be both.

Ace narrowed his eyes. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re plotting my gruesome murder and taking great joy in the details.”

My smile fell away. “Did it ever occur to you that I was attempting to be nice?”

“And that’s your being nice smile?” He cringed. “That smile would scare a phaaning toddler.”

I pressed my lips together and glared. “Toddlers are easy to scare so that’s not saying a whole lot.”

“Go around scaring a lot of toddlers, do you?” He tilted his head.

“Are you done, now?” I asked.

“Done what?”

“Insulting me?”

“Not quite.”

I waited.

“I know this must be terribly shocking to the almighty Artemis, the sole guardian of the sacred forest of Danu, but I don’t need your help. I stood there and listened to you complain about getting assigned a partner, and you’re so stuck up and self-absorbed you never once considered that this wasn’t exactly what I wanted either. This isn’t the welcome home I’d hoped for, nor the job I wanted.”

Ouch. Every word he said stung, and it shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t care about him or his opinion anymore.

“Well, let’s go then. Let’s get the truth out in the open. What is it you want? To run off unsupervised in our sacred forest? You might have spent your youth in Perga, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to get a free pass.”

“Are you actually arguing to keep me as your partner?”

“No. I think someone else should be your partner, but I’m surprised you wouldn’t want to be with the best.”

He snorted. “You’re so arrogant.”

“It’s not arrogance when it’s true.”

“Is it though?” He cocked his head to the side.

“Is it what?”