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I refused to believe it.

“Ace?” I called. “Wake up.”

I tapped his face.

He stirred and looked up from beneath a curtain of messy brown hair. “I love you.”

Tears spilled over my cheeks. “I love you too.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and hung on. “I’ll talk to my dad again, we’ll figure this out. I’ll grab Lily and we can run away with you.”

“From your family? You’d always be in danger with me, Raven, even I know that. Your dad’s trying to protect you, protect Lily.”

I hated that he was right. If it was just me I’d run—but we had a daughter.

“But she needs you. I need you. You just started learning how to braid hair.”

His smile was sad. “I still think the doll I’m practicing on is possessed, how does it move around so much?”

I smirked. “I do that to mess with you.”

“Even knowing my only stupid fear is dolls?”

“Absolutely.”

His smile dropped. “I’ll miss you, but it’s okay.”

“None of this is okay.”

“I had you.” He licked his lips. “For a few brief moments I had what people fight wars over, what they live for and die for. I had it and guess what! I’ll still have it; nobody can take the memory of us away—nobody can take what I’ve stored in my soul of you and Lily. It’s mine to keep.”

“I can’t lose you.” Chest aching I leaned on his shoulder and sobbed. “I love you. I spent too long not touching you, not kissing you, not telling you every day how much!” I kissed his warm neck and found his mouth and broke away. “She needs someone to give her away at her wedding, she needs someone to scare off anyone who wants to date her, she needs someone to teach her how to shoot a bow and arrow?—”

“Because that’s normal.”

“It is. For us that’s normal,” I cried. “Please just—fight with me, fight alongside me for us, please.”

A tear slid down his cheek and onto my hand. “Don’t you see? That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

I kissed him again. “No.” We parted. “No.” I kissed him so hard that his body moved against the bindings holding him there.

Footsteps sounded.

They’d said ten minutes!

They’d lied.

A few men rushed in and started pulling him free from the bindings.

“Wait? He’s going free?” My heart soared. Maybe my dad found a way too?—

“Not enough time,” Mark one of my dad’s higher ups worked on Ace’s feet. “They killed your nanny and left a note with her body on the doorstep. Lily for Ace.”

Two of the most important people in my life. Dizzy, I bent over and had to put my hands on my legs. “What do you mean?”

“They’ll hand over Lily to the family but they want Ace. A life for a life or maybe they just want their soldier back.”

“He was never one of their soldiers!” I screamed. “Do you hear yourself?”