Page 26 of Kill the Queens

Reed tried to shrug out of her hold but she only tightened her grip and slammed him back against the wall once more. She swore the castle shuttered and stone cracked behind him. Her hand slid up his arm, over his shoulder, and wrapped around the thickness of his throat before she hissed,"You should be."

NINE

Ace

After leaving behind the man who'd let them ride with him they'd seen no signs of the thieves. Ace and Shelby moved in the general direction of Farah's castle. Ace was getting used to traipsing through the woods at this point though the quiet that continued to stretch between her and Shelby made her more uneasy with each passing minute.

How did that feel?Greshta purred.Did you feel all that power?

Ace squinted up into the sky avoiding the goddess and her questions. She didn't want to admit that it felt good. That every step she took felt as if she was holding herself back from sprinting for miles. That small ounce of holy fire inside of her had given her more energy than any good night of sleep Ace had ever gotten.

Then Petu had called her an angel.

And nervous fear had reared its ugly head inside of her. Ace knew she wasn't an angel. If anything she felt more like a demon. She shouldn't exist; this second life had been born from the four queens’ wrongdoings and the gods’ thirst for it to be righted.

She wasn't an angel. She was a puppet and she never knew when the gods would pull on her strings.

Instinct drove her to cling to the feeling that gave her strength when everything went to shit, but afterward, when she wasn't terrified that Shelby would be ripped away from heragain, she wasn't sure how she'd found that sliver of power within her or how she could access it again.

The gods weren't very forthcoming either. They'd been more content to discuss the side effects of whatever Ace had done rather than how she'd been able to do it. Tamar had already told her how beautiful she looked when the holy fire lit her up from the inside out. Fareesh had commented that she looked healthy which caused Nathalian to comment on how holy fire provides the best nourishment. All of them spoke over Ace's own thoughts.

Occasionally, Shelby would look back at her. Maybe she was muttering to herself? She wasn't really sure. The orange streak in his eye caught a glimpse of the sun in it and sparked off the light.

The pair paused as they stopped at a fallen tree. Shelby extended his hand and when she set her palm in his, fire licked up her arm. There was a familiarity in their touch, his soul called to hers. Which made sense to Ace since his grandma had suggested that he now carried part of her soul. Shelby had a piece of her.

As she stepped up onto one of the tree trunks, she asked the question that had burned up her throat for minutes if not hours. "Are you afraid of what I am? Or what you now are?" Her question was softly spoken, caught on the wind and carried away.

Maybe that was what indeed happened, that her question was taken away with the breeze because though Shelby stared up at her, he never answered the question.

***

When they finally reached the next town, the sunset was blocked out by thick black clouds. It hadn't rained yet but moisture filled the air and clung to every part of their bodiesmaking them sticky.

"We need to find a place for the night," Shelby said, breaking the painful silence.

This town, introduced to them with a large engraved sign as Berona, was smaller than the last. Ace wasn't sure if they could call it a town when it appeared more like a village that reminded her of River Bend. The streets were not paved, the sidewalks nothing more than better worn dirt, and only a few lit street lamps were perched outside of select businesses. There was a barbershop, a diner, and an inn that towered over everything else. All of it was shoved between small homes.

The inn itself had a lean to the building that could have been from the construction or perhaps was only an illusion since all the shutters were crooked. Paint was peeling off the door, a sun-bleached blue color giving way to old wood. A vacancy sign hung in the lowest level window. Ace pointed down the street, if you could call it that.

"We don't have any money." His tone was more sad than angry.

Ace's mouth opened into a wide grin. She held up a single finger, and Shelby's eyes narrowed in blatant suspicion. From her pocket, she pulled a small pouch of coin she hadn't been able to avoid the temptation of grabbing. Petu had it so loosely tied to his belt as they'd gotten into the cart that he hadn't noticed when Ace had taken a large stretch and plucked it off of him. He’d probably attribute its loss to the thieves.

Coins clanked together as she shook the small cloth bag. "We havesomemoney."

"Where did you get that?" Shelby sighed, his hands planting on his hips like some sort of disappointed father figure.

"Sticky hands." Ace crinkled her nose. "Let's go."

He must be getting used to my thievery,Ace thought as she set off toward the inn and Shelby followed along behind herwithout further complaint.

There were a few people out and about but they paid no mind to Ace and Shelby. She assumed that was because they were used to travelers coming and going along this road. That income alone was likely one of the few things that kept the small village going.

Ace reached the door first but stopped to allow Shelby in. He held out his hand expectantly as she made sure her face was shadowed and placed the bag of coins in his palm. The first thing Ace noticed about the inn as they entered was the dust that clung to every surface. The fabric of the couches was faded and the cushions sunken in. There was an empty fireplace with cobwebs under the mantle that shined in the light that came through the singular window.

Just before a staircase was a countertop with a young girl whose face was propped up by her fist, eyes closed. Her chest rose and fell slowly before she emitted a small snore. Shelby approached the counter setting the bag of coins down against the stained wood.

The snoring stopped. A single eye cracked open before the girl sat herself upright and fixed her dirty blonde hair. Her cheeks reddened as she cleared her throat and said, "How may I help you?"