Page 73 of Marked

The youth blinked at me. “That old guy? Phaan no.”

Allen couldn’t be more than thirty-five. I was insulted on Allen’s behalf and my own.

“Gabe’s running things?” I guessed. Gabe was a few years older than me and Paul, and always aspired to take over one day. It was all he ever talked about, and he was not only ambitious, but sneaky enough to accomplish anything he put his clever mind to.

The youth’s gaze widened. “He was stabbed last month. Olly’s running things now.”

Huh. I always liked Olly. I never pegged him for taking over a ragtag group of thieves and misfits though. Then again, life had a way of veering off-course.

“Em…” Paul warned.

Right. This wasn’t what we were here for, and we were running out of time.

“You need to stay away from us, okay?” I warned the youth. “I’m going to let you go, and you better run away. Fast. As fast as your little legs can go, okay? If you don’t, you won’t get a second chance. Do you understand?”

The youth swallowed before nodding.

I stepped back and let go at the same time. I didn’t lower my dagger so much as moved it out of the way. I might’ve scared the thief into compliance, might’ve even impressed them, but I wasn’t naive enough to trust they’d listen to me.

The youth caught their balance quickly. With one last look over at our group, they ran into the shadows, blasting past us, just as I had asked.

“That was unnecessary,” Ace said.

“Because you don’t need me to protect your honour or wallet? I’ll tell you what wasn’t necessary—getting robbed by a phaaning five-year-old while we’re on a job.”

Ace pressed his lips together. “They needed the money more than I did.”

I snapped my head up and peered at Ace. The shadows played with the hard angles of his face. “What?”

“I knew I was getting robbed, and I let them do it, okay? If they were going for a weapon, I would’ve done something because I need those, and my weapons are hard to replace. But I don’t need the money as much as they do.”

I blinked at him for a couple of seconds, while my brain scrambled to process his words. “You’re an idiot.”

“I mean, I think it was more empathetic, generous, honorable…” He shrugged.

“No, it was idiotic. You let that poor kid think they got away with robbing you. Now, the next time they see a dangerous warrior in an alleyway, they’ll be more tempted to try their luck again.”

“Aww. You think I’m dangerous,” Ace said, leaning forward and flashing his teeth. “You’re positively gushing about me. Please, continue.”

“You’re giving them a false sense of success along with your gales,” I hissed, ignoring his comment altogether.

“Gales can be replaced.” Ace narrowed his eyes and leaned in. “You’re really fired up about this.”

Crap. I was giving away too much. More than I wanted. “I’m not. I just think there are better ways for you to be empathetic while also teaching the kid a lesson.”

“So, telling you to calm down right now wouldn’t be appropriate?” Ace asked.

“When has it ever been appropriate to tell a woman to calm down?” I snapped back, placing my hands on my hips. “And when has it ever worked?”

Paul grunted an agreement. “She’s got you there.”

“You know, when you and your brother arrived in Perga, there were rumours you came off the streets and you certainly acted that way.” Ace tapped his chin, putting the pieces together. In truth, he probably already had, but instead of coming right out and asking about it, he left his comment to hang in the air as an opportunity to share some personal information.

If a comment was a physical thing, I would’ve smacked it away. I had no interest in offloading childhood trauma.

“Are you two about done?” Paul interjected. “We’re running out of time.”

“Yes,” I said at the same time Ace growled, “No.”

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