Page 109 of Queen of Diamonds

“Jesse’ll deal with the truck—owes me a favour. Dropping us off a ride, too. If Kyan gets an address, we won’t be here long.”

37

KYAN

We were safe for now.

I’d been right on the money; Annika’s mob guy had come through.

The empty mansion, owned by the Forbes family, was far beyond Ace’s clutches. Zed still hadn’t let her go, and he was carrying her as we stepped through grand doors into a huge home with beautifully kept gardens that stretched for miles around. It was like something from a movie as Zed stepped in with her still in his arms, like a princess stolen from the jaws of a dragon.

With every rise and fall of her chest, my muscles loosened. Her long, dark waves swayed with each step Zed took, and one arm hung limply. As I watched, one crimson drop of blood slipped from the rag I’d tied around her hands.

There was a haunting serenity to her right now, to the silence from the space she’d carved out in the bond.

She was my storm, and these were her few moments of calm before she woke. She was safe, and it was on the back of her own work and friends, not because of me.

I’d missed things I should never have missed, and Glade had paid the price.

I almost lost her forever…

I shoved the thought back as Knight, who was ahead, led us into a grand room with a four-poster pack-sized bed. Zed set her down as I tugged off my backpack, which held the collections of weapons, including the same poison that was surging through her system.

I’d brought poison, but no antidote?

Arrogant.

Stupid.

It wasn’t my proudest moment, holding a pharmacist at gunpoint, but she had been so close to death.

It was something I’d always believed of the Brotherhood: they weren’t able to conceive of a threat unless it was a gun pointed in their face.

And then I’d done the same.

I shut my eyes, grabbing out what I needed before fetching Zed a drink of water. He was fragments of an Alpha, surfacing here and there, made of nothing but agony. Knight was the same, if not as bad, but Zed had seen the worst of it.

An age passed as I stared at them. The threat had passed, and I was left with them, gun tucked uselessly into my belt as I sat on the edge of the bed.

Knight left at some point.

Jesse had dropped us off a car and a shit ton of cash, and Knight was grabbing us essentials.

Zed was finally out cold, arm curled around Glade’s waist as he slept at her side. I wouldn’t admit to Knight that I’d slipped something into the water I’d given him. He was on the edge of mania, and he needed to rest. We couldn’t afford another rut. Plus, now they were both asleep, I could take care of them properly.

They needed that, and so did I; insanity lurked, and I knew I was only a few moments of silence and inaction from ending up like Zed. Slowly, I got to my feet and went to gather what I needed before settling beside Glade.

I unwrapped the strips of cloth I’d placed on her hands. I couldn’t look at anything but her skin, the scrapes along the edges of her palm and along the joint of her thumb. Skin ripped raw as she’d torn her own hands from the cuffs.

My pulse was erratic as I drew the cloth along those wounds, each one carrying a thousand flashes of her fear. Her desperation.

Her scent was as quiet as she was in the bond—the faintest trace of icy static in a cool storm wind.

Carefully, I wiped her other hand, cleaning the dried blood from the wounds beneath. I made the mistake of glancing up at her. Ashen face flecked with red, lips pale, dark bruising around her mouth and cheeks from the gag.

I hadn’t been there for her.

How close?

---