Page 24 of Queen of Diamonds

I tried to take a step away, but Zed snarled, grabbing me and shoving me against the wall by my neck. “You set us against our own fucking family?”

I flipped my knife in one easy motion, meaning to deter him, but Knight reacted in an instant, grabbing my wrist and pinning it to the wall.

“No more games.” Knight snarled.

“What the fuck have you just brought down on our heads?” Zed sounded more angry than I’d heard him yet.

Me?

What the hell had they been doing at the High Roller on the same night Ace had found me?

I opened my mouth, about to lash back, to accuse them of bringing Ace here.

But that was a lie.

It had to be a lie.

This feeling of being watched, it had been lingering for weeks now. The paranoia that wasn’t paranoia.

Unless this was a test. Ace played games upon games. What if he’d known they were coming tonight? What if it was all a plan to see?—

“You’re done, Glade,” Zed growled, ripping me from my panic. “You needed our help. Now it’s on our terms.”

“What the fuck does that mean—?” I cut off as he shoved me to my front, trapping my arms behind my back and easily dragging me down the alley in stumbling steps. “Zed—wait!” I began, but he ignored me.

“Cuffs. Knight. Now,” he snarled.

“Cuffs?” Knight sounded as dumbfounded as I felt as he followed us.

“What?” I tried to pull from Zed’s grip, but he renewed it with both arms, hauling me closer.

“You wanted our help, sweetheart,” he hissed. “This is what it looks like.” He turned from me as we reached a beat up truck. “Get me the fucking cuffs.”

“Zed.” Knight caught us up. “Think about?—”

“Before she takes my eye out.”

I twisted in his grip enough to see it was a rather delighted looking Kyan who reached into the truck and tugged out a pair of police cuffs that looked strong enough to hold an Alpha.

“They want me!” I snarled. “Take me, and it just means?—”

“In-fucking-surance. That’s what it means,” Zed growled as he tugged my arm behind my back and I felt the cuffs close around them.

“No.” They couldn’t do this. This was too dangerous. “You don’t understand?—”

“Oh, now you know what’s going on?” he demanded.

I heard the clink of keys. “Knight, you’re driving, unless you think you’re going into a rut?—”

“I won’t if we don’t bring the literal goddamned siren in the car.”

“Does Kyan seriously need to drive?” Zed asked.

“I can fucking drive.” Knight sounded furious as the front door was ripped open.

Then Zed was dragging me back by my arms. My mind was spinning. Everything was changing too fast.

They were actually taking me?

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