Page 22 of Queen of Diamonds

The gunshot blew my eardrums, setting every sense on high alert.

I drew to a halt, looking around wildly, all my training kicking in only to see Kyan had spun, gun over forearm, one eye shut as he raised it to the dark metal above us.

There was a creak as a shadow of a body slumped in the metal siding I could only just make out.

“You fucking idiot,” Zed spat.

“Eh.” Kyan shrugged. “They knew the whole time. The old prick through the doors called in our location the moment we left.”

“You saw—?” I was cut off by another gunshot aimed our way followed by a shout.

Knight was covering the front end, but Kyan, grinning like the maniac he was, held out his hand at a clatter of metal on metal over our heads. With barely a flicker of his eyes, he caught a gun that tumbled from the dead man above.

Zed and I both flinched as he almost fumbled the catch with no idea if the safety was on. But then Kyan flipped it in his grip and held it out to me, looking maniacally proud of himself—an image that was bolstered by a huge glob of blood that chose that moment to splatter across his mask from above.

“She wanted a gun.” He shrugged. “Plus, we got the best spot in the alley.”

I snatched the weapon before Zed could, side-stepping him to get a glimpse past the wooden pallets that were giving us cover. Kyan wasn’t wrong. A stack of pallets and a dumpster were the best we were getting. I ducked back at another bang.

“Three there,” I said. “More coming.”

“Two in front,” Knight muttered.

How many more could they pull in?

I checked it and was relieved to find it was loaded. “They want me alive,” I added. That was good information for them to have. Changed everything.

“Pissed ex, then.” Knight grunted, as if that explained everything.

Technically, not untrue.

I tried to find a good angle through the wooden pallets. They were closing in on us, but they were being careful about it. I jumped as I felt a warm hand at my waist and the dry air and rank smell of the dumpster behind vanished for a lightning storm. Kyan rested his free hand with the gun between a gap in pallets with a far more casual motion than he was actually ready for.

My Kyan.

We were going to be fine. I was safe with them. I’d forgotten how easy that was to believe when their scents were so close.

“This is not a date,” Zed ground out from my other side. I could see the edge of fury as his ice-blue gaze jumped between our weapons. He wasn’t the kind of Alpha who dealt well with being the useless one.

“Go fuck yourself,” Kyan sung, drawing me closer and brushing teeth along my neck.

I shivered, trying to focus on the figures ahead.

Through the dimness, I spotted a flicker of light, like a phone screen coming to life. Kyan pulled his trigger before I could move. I heard a grunt and the muffled sound of a dropping body, then silence.

“Sweet Oasis, you’re losing.” His voice was playful.

Fuck that.

I caught the shift of a shadow behind what I thought was a broken wood pallet. An easy squeeze of a lilac nail upon a trigger and another bang.

Then another, but that one I missed.

The world was a blur of action, and adrenaline burned my veins. It was a feeling I hadn’t had in forever. For far too long, enemies had been so much more than villains lurking in alley shadows, ended by the right aim of a gun.

This was simple. Thrilling, even, with my pack at my side.

I shoved that thought away in shock.

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