The Blood Bracelets #3: Soul Scarred

Chapter Fifteen

Ace hadn't really had any errands to run, but he hadn't been able to think of a better excuse to leave Zed's so early.

This time, though, he hadn't left just to avoid Eljae's cold shoulder. She actually hadn't seemed that bad, but still Ace decided he couldn't face her – not when he hadn't found anything that would help her escape imprisonment. Tonight was the last night of viewings at the Limbus Club, and then tomorrow the auctions would begin; Ace just had to hope that if no Immortals showed up tonight, then they would tomorrow.

Otherwise...

Otherwise Ace would convince Eljae to run. Somehow he'd convince her, even if the thought of Eljae leaving Zed's and heading off on her own didn't sit well with him.

Since the last viewing at the Limbus Club didn't start until nightfall, Ace had spent the last few hours of daylight wandering the city centre. When he had first stepped out of Zed's he had intended to drown some of his more troublesome thoughts in a few glasses of overly priced alcohol, but he had lost that temptation on his way to the first bar. So he had simply walked, like a ghost untouched by the groups of people raring to begin their night of drinking and dancing and whatever else people not burdened by supernatural problems did with their free time.

Eventually he found his way to Flagstaff Gardens, moving deeper into the gardens where the traffic noise didn't quite penetrate. He took a seat beneath one of the few trees not already occupied by other patrons of the gardens and leaned back, his arms folded behind his head like a pillow.

While he waited for nightfall, Ace considered where Eljae might be able to flee to. What did he know about feraiis? They preferred warm climates, preferably canyons or dessert ravines... so maybe Arizona? Ace had heard the Sonoran Desert was a popular place for demons like the feraii. But maybe that was too obvious a hiding place then; perhaps somewhere more remote, like the Valley of the Moon in Chile.

The farther the better.

The farther the better... Ace thought again, and his nose crinkled in sudden distaste.

Realising this, Ace gave a frustrated groan and pressed his hands to his face as if he could wipe away his expression. He was not at all used to feeling so conflicted, to having his own priorities, his own wants and needs, so hazy and undefined. He didn't know what he wanted right now, but he knew that almost every thought he had was related to Eljae.

It was driving him crazy.

The reason for that, at least, was growing clearer. Ace knew he couldn't deny it anymore, couldn't keep pushing aside what was so obviously – and persistently – right in front of his eyes.

That didn't mean he had to admit it.

Round and round Ace's thoughts went, and he gave up fighting them. With his eyes closed, Ace didn't realise how much time had passed until he noticed how quiet the gardens had become. He opened his eyes, finding the sky on the verge of nightfall with the nearby street lamps lighting the edges of Ace's vision.

'Enjoying yourself?'

Ace jolted upright, his eyes falling on a man who stood just two paces ahead of him. For a moment Ace was bemused by the stranger, until he realised it was no stranger at all; it was Lucius, the owner of the Limbus Club.

Dressed in a black ankle-length coat closed by a double row of gold buttons, the collar lifted high around a white scarf, Lucius regarded Ace with a faint smile of amusement.

Ace leaned forward, slinging his arms over his bent knees in a display of nonchalance. 'I was, as you said, enjoying myself. To what do I owe this pleasure, or is this just a happy coincidence?' he asked, flashing his most charming smile.