"Jack! Are you really there?" I questioned more to myself then to him but he nodded reassuringly.
"Yeah but I always thought that you couldn't communicate with your Dove when you're in another dimension," he said thoughtfully and I shrugged.
"It might have something to do with you being an Ace," I suggested and he stared at me shocked.
"What?" He said disbelieving.
"Yeah, Zekan told me himself. He and Shelia," I replied frowning. He really didn't know.
"How long have I been gone?" He interrogated alarmed and my frown turned into a scowl.
"I have no idea. I don't know how long they had me drugged," I admitted and angry imprinted itself on his face.
"Drugged?" He barked and I shrank from the noise. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...
"Yeah because they didn't want me to struggle when they kidnapped me," I voiced and his face turned white.
"Kidnapped?" He whispered and a cold shiver ran up my spine. This really wasn't a good idea.
"Because they wanted you to come back so you could have another limiter put in you so that you don't turn into an Ace," I whimpered and he was in front of me before I even finished.
"Are you telling me, that they drugged and kidnapped you all to make sure that I didn't receive the power that would have made me the most powerful Royal alive?" He said so softly that I could barely hear the question and I backed up. He grabbed my arm in a vice like grip and stopped me from moving.
"Yes and you're hurting me," I whispered and he quickly let go. Running a hand through his suddenly short hair, he muttered something under his breath that I wasn't able to catch.
"Jack...?" I started to say and he looked over at me. His eyes were pupil less again and the hanging hearts on his face were slowly fading. Instead a deep purple bruise was surfacing on the side of his neck and I stared at it. It reminded me of the purple splotches that I had had on my skin. Walking over to him, I gently touched the bruise and he flinched.
"What are you doing?" he hissed at me and I rubbed the purple bruise away. By the time I had finished, the tattoos on his face were gone and his neck was covered in a single tattoo that had a giant heart engulfing half of his neck and the other half was covered by the word "Ace" that was strung out and connected to the heart by the bottom of the first line of the "A" stabbing itself into the side of the heart. That seemed to connect to the end of the "e" that went into the heart on the other side.
Relief filled me. It was odd how I felt relief when I should have been feeling terror and not only that but the feeling of knowing him was overwhelming.
"Ace," I murmured and stroked the tattoo almost possessively and I heard him gasp at the touch.
"What are you doing?" He mumbled and I traced the outline of the heart as I looked into his face.
"I'm looking at your tattoo Jack," I said almost incoherently. The feeling of nostalgia was amazing. I could feel this all day and never want to leave.
"My name is Ace. Ace Victory Heart," a deeper voice said and I blinked. The feeling I had was shattered by the sudden declaration. His eyes had turned to a beautiful blood red and his hair had gone the exact same shade.
"You are my Royal, Jack Victory," I argued and he nodded his head.
"As you wish, my dove," he whispered and turned his head to kiss my palm. A small shiver that had nothing to do with the air conditioner went down my back and I smiled at him.
