"What does she want?" Ace muttered under his breath, glancing at his ringing phone as he waited for his cab at the bus stand. The Truecaller ID displayed "Ava Martin."
Ace considered ignoring it but hesitated. She had gone as far as threatening the sheriff for his sake—he couldn't just brush her off entirely. With a sigh, he answered and waited silently for her to speak.
"Hello, Ace?" Ava's voice carried a mix of nerves and worry. Only she knew how much she feared he might decline the call after seeing her name on the screen.
"Yes. How did you get my number?" Ace didn't bother with small talk and cut straight to the point.
"Danny gave it to me—" Ava began, but Ace interrupted before she could explain.
"You didn't hurt him, did you?"
Ava bit her lower lip, her frustration simmering as she clenched her fist. "And what if I did? What would you do? Hit me? Go ahead, I dare you."
In the background, Ace heard Danny's voice shout, "Ace! I'm fine!"
"Shut up!" Ava snapped at Danny, her tone sharp before turning her attention back to Ace. "Why aren't you at school? Don't tell me the sheriff is giving you a hard time."
The exchange between Ava and Danny confirmed Ace's suspicion: his cousin had betrayed him by giving his number to Ava. Worse, they might even be friends now—or, knowing Ava, she had probably roped Danny into becoming one of her underlings.
Not that Danny's betrayal surprised him. Since last night, Ace had a nagging feeling both Danny and his mother were subtly pushing him to date Ava. It was an awkward situation, especially considering he'd just rejected her. Even more so because his mom had been right next to him.
"No," Ace replied flatly. "I'm taking the day off. Is that all?" He was ready to hang up.
"Do you have somewhere to be? Can't you talk to me for a few minutes?" Ava asked, her tone carrying a hint of entitlement. "After all, I went through the trouble of checking on you."
"I thought you didn't want to be friends with me," Ace shot back, his voice steady. After all, Ava had made it painfully clear she didn't want his friendship after he rejected her.
"Yes, I don't want to be your friend. And what's wrong with your voice? Why does it sound deeper and more appealing to listen to? Are you using a voice filter? I didn't know you were so insecure about your voice," Ava teased, her tone light, though it was obvious she was trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. She didn't want this to escalate into a fight—despite openly daring him to hit her earlier. Truthfully, she had no clue what she wanted from this call, only that she wasn't ready to end it.
"No, I'm not using a filter. I just have a little sore throat," Ace lied, aware that his Apex persona had not only altered his appearance but also deepened his voice. Then, he shot back with a smirk, "Why? Is my regular voice not appealing enough for you?"
"It is," Ava replied, a playful lilt in her voice, "but this one's even more appealing. Does that mean a cold makes you hotter?" Her tone grew flirtatious as her imagination wandered, picturing herself nursing a sexy but sick Ace back to health.
"What kind of question is that?" Ace deadpanned, pouring cold water on her attempt to flirt. "Doesn't everyone get a slight fever when they catch a cold?" he added as he climbed into the cab that had just pulled up.
"Wait, where are you? You're not at home?" Ava asked, catching the sound of the cab's honking in the background.
"No, I'm heading out to visit a friend. Let's meet tomorrow, okay?" Ace lied smoothly, his tone casual. He'd noticed the cab driver was eavesdropping—not just catching fragments of the conversation because they were in the same car, but actively trying to listen to Ava's voice on the other end of the line. That was reason enough for him to cut the call short.
Though the driver didn't display any trace of curse energy, Ace knew better than to drop his guard. After all, curse users could partner with mortals, just as the C.I.B. worked with agents like Layla.
"A friend, huh? Is it a she or a he?" Ava probed, her voice tinged with suspicion.
Before Ace could answer, Danny's voice chimed in mischievously, "It must be a she. Apart from me, he doesn't have any friends in town."
"Does it matter? A friend is a friend," Ace said, deciding to indulge Ava. He didn't dare abruptly hang up—it might alert the driver. Then again, he could just be overthinking it; maybe this was one of those cab drivers who didn't care about passenger privacy and just happened to be nosy.
"I suppose it doesn't. Let's meet tomorrow at school," Ava replied, her voice carrying a hint of reluctance. Before Ace could respond, she hung up, leaving him with a heavy feeling.
Ava couldn't shake her hope that the "friend" Ace was visiting really was just a friend. She wasn't someone who bottled up her emotions. She faced them head-on because, in her experience, being honest hurt less in the long run than hiding how she felt.
"Sir, this isn't the route to the winery," Ace pointed out, noticing the driver had gone off course. His concern deepened when he suddenly sensed curse energy saturating the air around him. It was as if the entire car had been imbued with it. Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, the curse energy vanished, leaving no trace.
"Don't worry. This is a shortcut—you can see it on the map," the cab driver replied, his tone unnervingly calm, almost eerie.
'Master, it's not the cab,' Dame Wasp's voice echoed in Ace's mind, her tone grave. 'I believe we've entered a massive cursed array formation. It seems to cover the entire winery.'
Ace stiffened at her words. He hadn't expected this.
'And he's right—this route is technically a shortcut to the winery,' Dame Wasp added, though the revelation did little to ease his tension.
'Rose, how did you miss such a huge cursed array formation when we were scouting the winery from the cliff?' Ace asked her mentally, his shock evident.
AN: Sorry for the mixup.