Page 146 of Queen of Diamonds

This time, though. This was the last time. And the last fear my Oasis would ever have to face when it came to Ace.

“And you gave up your own location tonight?”

Yes.

The true nature of how far Ace would go—not just make her an enemy of the Brotherhood, but target her himself, or of how much pain she had caused—I’d known that for a week.

A week, to find a way to face him, once and for all—while keeping my promise to her. As arrogant and unattached as Ace might act, he believed he had a claim on her, and sure enough, with her heat approaching, he turned his efforts to ten.

Of course, she was the final piece. The bait that would make him trip up.

It was only a matter of time before he found us. So I’d given us up and waited, knowing Ace was nothing, if not predictable. Even more so, since Zed had killed his pack. I could see the instability in his eyes right now, in the slight edge to his scent.

And sure enough, he’d sent someone in to leave her a note. I’d found it and written a new location for her. One Zed would be at right now, ready to take her to safety, while I dealt with Ace.

My only regret was that he hadn’t come to take her himself today, like he had in the warehouse, so Glade had to go through one more day of terror.

But this wouldn’t take long.

“She’s mine, Ace,” I said. “She was never yours.”

“You think it matters? I’ll take you tonight, and when I catch up to her and those pathetic packmates, I’ll make her put a bullet in your skull.”

The men behind him shifted, on high alert for an order as they kept their weapons trained on me. But they were waiting for a reaction that wouldn’t come.

“Every letter I sent to you was laced with poison,” I told him. “A poison deadly even to the strongest Alpha without a trace.”

Ace’s lips curved in a smile. “Poison?” he asked. “The same you used to kill my father, I’m sure?”

“The only mistake I made that night was not realising you’d found out.” I didn’t know it at the time, but Glade paid the price.

That last piece of the puzzle was the greatest mistake I’d ever made: believing her rejection of us was her choice.

“Pathetic.” Ace snorted.

“It’s the Brotherhood’s greatest weakness—your greatest weakness. You only see a threat if it’s the barrel of a gun pointing in your face.”

I got to my feet slowly, watching the way the guns shifted with the movement.

“If you poisoned the letters,” Ace sneered, spreading his arms. “You did a shit job.” He glanced around with a wild grin. “I’m still here.”

At Ace’s side, his guard coughed, one hand withdrawing from his gun to clutch his throat.

Scentless and odourless, the poison was already beginning to seep into the room. It had been for a while now. Ace’s eyes flicked to the side for a moment, not quite leaving me entirely.

On his other side, there was an awful choking sound and the other guard also seized his throat, weapon clattering to the floor. It didn’t take more than a few seconds before both men were on their knees, wheezing for breath they would never find again.

“I wasn’t trying to kill you,” I said quietly as Ace turned back to me, and I saw the first flicker of something unsure shadow his features. Ace was paranoid, keeping his locations secret, with constant guards. No alpha that paranoid would allow himself to be killed the same way as his father. So no letter I’d sent had a traceable amount of the toxin filling the air. “I wanted to make sure you have the same thing I have.”

I stepped toward him and he reached for his gun at last.

His hand trembled at the movement and he swayed. I’d dosed him for years, never needing more than a traceable amount. Not enough for full immunity—not like I’d built. But enough that, with the flood of odourless, scentless gas that was spilling by the gallon into the room, he would survive.

He coughed, staggering a step back, eyes suddenly wide. “Why?”

I caught him easily, disarming him and tossing his gun away as I took his chin and forced him to look at me. “I knew, if I ever came for you, revenge wouldn’t be for me…” He tried to fight my grip, shaking to the bone, the faintest drop of blood beading his eyes. “And death,” I said, as his eyes rolled back and he went limp. “Would be far too kind for what you did to her.”

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