Page 113 of Queen of Diamonds

“What happened?” he demanded.

I saw the way her body loosened at his touch.

That… that was what she needed.

Not me.

But she was fighting his grip, trying to reach for me, a vicious growl tearing from her throat as Knight tried to stop her.

I backed toward the door as Kyan arrived.

“No!” She was fighting Knight, eyes wild, dark cardamom, a feral haze in the air.

I all but scrambled into the hallway, colliding with a balcony railing. Terror closed like a fist around my heart, making it hard to breathe, but the moment I was gone, I heard her screams, each sound a vibration to my very bones.

KYAN

Glade was burning up. Feral, fractured scent clouding the air and threatening to turn my mind to mush.

“Her heat—!” Knight growled.

Knight didn’t have to tell me. I was already tearing open the bag of supplies he’d grabbed when he was out.

Every fucking hormone drug you could get was in there, thank fuck. I found the shot I needed.

“Shh, shh, Princess, I got you.”

Knight had trapped her in a bear hug. She was bundled amidst thick, muscled arms and loose, chaotic locs. His unnerved purr rumbled, barely doing a thing to settle her. She was still trying to fight him, and the cracked whimper escaping her chest with every breath sent splinters through my heart.

When I touched her arm, she flinched, chestnut eyes finding me, lips drawn back in a snarl, panic etched into each line of her face. Knight had his fist in her hair too, using his strength to keep her steady against his chest.

“I’m here, Oasis,” I breathed. Something softened in her eyes as I cupped her cheek. I felt the static between us, and she stopped writhing against Knight, unable to take her eyes from me.

I dropped my hand slowly, finding her arm and holding it steady.

She frowned, head cocking slightly, eyes darting between mine as if she wasn’t sure what I was doing.

Her whine broke my heart as I pressed the needle into her flesh. She flung her weight against Knight to no avail as I injected the drug.

“I’m sorry.” My voice quaked at the betrayal in her gaze before her eyelids fluttered shut and she went limp in Knight’s arms.

“What was it?” he asked.

“Suppressant.” I swallowed. “Strongest kind. Should push it off for a while.” They weren't like regular suppressants, they were much stronger, and terrible for hormone balance, but I couldn’t risk it going any further. She’d also have to take it on a schedule. But if we gave her something lighter and her heat broke through, it would be too late for anything safe.

“He was waking up—coming in and out.” Knight’s doubt was flooding the bond. “I thought he’d need food. I didn’t know he would let her go.”

We’d realised she needed our touch. Without it, she was getting feverish. The stress of what she’d gone through was throwing her into heat. Between the hormones and the trauma, it wasn’t surprising at all she was going feral before our eyes. The only thing that had settled her was our touch, and Zed had been impossible to pry from her until now.

“Kyan.”

I swallowed, not taking my gaze from her, guilt swallowing me whole.

It was my fault.

Knight and Zed had both been here, and I couldn’t sleep. I thought… It was so stupid. She needed me here, and I was… fuck… Now I’d given her drugs that could make everything worse. What if I wasn’t thinking straight? What if there were better options?—?

My thoughts cut off as Knight reached out, grip firm on my chin as he forced me to look at him.

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