Anonymous

Chapter 1

She liked her Acemark. It was a nice, easy design. Not too glamorous and all over the place.

Not that it mattered much. Showing an Acemark before one found their mate was like bearing one's soul. Unless an Ace had the misfortune of having it on their face, no one but their mate or family saw it. Some families didn't even reveal theirs. Chloe'd never seen Danika's or her father's. She didn't remember much about her mom—not enough to remember seeing it—and her stepmom left, so that ruled her out too.

Chloe pulled her sleeve back down and went back to her room to start her homework.

***

Prince Ethan Alexander's foot tapped to the steady beat pumping through his headphones. His voice sounded smooth and easy, perfectly in tune with the music.

It was a nice song, snappy with pop undertones and a lot of bass. The only thing that could make it better would be to add another voice to the tune.

Only one voice could make it perfect.

His fingers drummed the table to the beat until they shook uncontrollably. He clasped his fingers tight in his lap to stop the tremors.

The music continued to blast through the headphones. And then all at once, he couldn't take it. He slammed a few buttons on the studio's master control board, yanked the ear set off, and raked a sweaty hand through his black hair.

If she was here right now... If she was here he'd not get these random out-of-control withdrawal attacks. What if he never saw her again? What if—?

The door to the control room clicked open. A dark-skinned individual waltzed in and stopped right in front of Ethan, but for the life of him, he couldn't get his gaze to focus.

"Whoa, you okay?" a familiar voice questioned.

Ethan muttered something incoherent.

"It's one of those things again?" Unable to do anything else, Ethan nodded.

The figure set something down on the table and grabbed at whatever was set down.

Ethan flinched as freezing cold water splashed him in the face. The liquid seeped through his sweater and the tank top he had underneath. He clutched a fist of the material and pulled it away from his body. "What the hell?"

His friend Jason grinned down at him. "Didn't think that would actually work."

"Did you have to do that?" he asked angrily.

"You yelled at me last time when I slapped you."

"Because it hurt!"

Jason rolled his eyes.

"Next time, how about a gentle shaking?"

Jason scrunched his eyebrows and rubbed his chin in mock concentration. "Gentle? What's that?"

"You're an ass," Ethan declared.

"A sexy ass."

"Whatever," Ethan grumbled. "Got any napkins to go with that water?"

His friend shrugged. "Forgot to ask. Sorry." He held up his pointer finger. "But I do have a warm cup of black coffee with your name on it."

Ethan stared at him flatly. "Thanks."

"No, it seriously has your name on it." Jason went to the table and pulled a to-go cup out of the cardboard holder. He squinted at the side and cleared his throat. "Prince Ethan Alexander," he said in a high squeaky voice, "call me—"

Ethan jerked the cup out of his hand, spilling a bit of hot coffee onto his finger which he lapped up. "Thanks," he said. "You're the best."

"I've heard that once or twice."

Ethan turned the control board on again, picked up the headphones, and placed them on his ears. The song blasted through the speakers, though he didn't hear any of the words. His mind was busy conjuring a set of lyrics to the next song he'd write.

The leather-covered notebook he always used sat at the edge of the table. He scrambled for the pen and then sat down to write. His hand struggled to keep up with his brain as it spit out the words.

Jason put on the other set of earbuds and snapped his fingers to the beat. "It's pretty good, Eth."

Ethan stared hard at the words he'd written down on the paper. Slow, emotional lyrics. They weren't his style. Too much feeling put behind them. He turned off the music. "It could be better."

"So could my relationship history." Jason still snapped his fingers even though the song was long gone.

"It needs another tone of voice."

"I could try a couple of bars if you want," he offered.

Ethan chuckled down at his paper. "I'd rather keep my listeners alive, thanks."

Jason gaped. "I'm all the way up to five!"

He shrugged. "That's by popularity, not talent."

"Just because you're number one here, doesn't mean—"

"What if she's still alive?" he whispered at his written words. He looked up at his best friend hopefully. "She has to be, right?"

The question sobered Jason. "I don't know," he said.

His fist clenched around the pen he held in his left hand. "She is. I know she is," Ethan said. "You don't have a connection like that without feeling if something happens."

For once, Jason stayed quiet.

"Maybe I'm not trying hard enough." Ethan stepped up and out of his chair, moving about the room.

"You already have the Guard watching out for anything."

Ethan rubbed his chin. "But that's all Jack's contribution."

"Because she's his sister," Jason stated as if it was supposed to be obvious.

Something itched at the back of his mind. His brain clicked ideas together. "We need something different." He stood in front of Jason and rested his hands on his shoulders. "We've been spending all our time looking at photos, staring at databases. What if we've been going about it all wrong? What if...what if we make her come to us?"

"Um," Jason said slowly, confused. "How do we do that?"