Page 75 of Queen of Diamonds

And they had been, but maybe that was a closer call than even I knew.

“And when I… I left?” It was a question I didn’t want to ask, and yet… I had to know.

“When you rejected us,” Knight corrected coldly. “I’ll tell you, not because you deserve to know, but because I hope you have some fucking decency left, and you’ll stop screwing with his brain.”

I stared at him, throat suddenly dry.

It was bad. I knew from Knight’s fury.

There was a long, long silence before he spoke. “Found him on the roof of his dad’s house, gun to his head.”

What?

It felt like the very earth came to a halt as I stared up into Knight’s eyes. I didn’t know what I’d expected, but that wasn’t it.

Somehow, I’d imagined that if things had become difficult, they would have got ahead of it.

But that…

Bile rose in my throat.

That wasn’t just a close call. It sounded like there had been seconds between… Between a world with and without him in it.

The world spun. I didn’t know when I’d reached the door to the outer warehouse, but I was staggering through it. I needed air.

I needed to be as far from their scents as I could get.

26

ZED

Ifound her out back of the warehouse.

There was a little collection of chairs and a table that subbed in like a pseudo patio, even if it was on rough concrete and half the chairs were rusted.

The parameters of the collar reached just a bit beyond, since fresh air wasn’t a bad idea on the tail end of a rut.

Glade was seated on the concrete, back against the wall, eyes red as she hugged her knees to her chest. She got to her feet when she saw me, wringing her hands and wiping tears from her eyes like it might mean I didn’t notice.

“You… all right?” I asked awkwardly.

She stared at me, chewing on her lip like she wasn’t sure what to say.

“You don’t have to stay out here,” I said. “Kyan’s out.” He’d panicked when Knight told us what he’d said, and fucked right off. “Probably won’t be back until early tomorrow morning.”

He’d be… well, doing whatever he did when he needed to destress. For me, that looked like the training fields across town, turning anxiety into corded muscle, but Kyan was all over the map when it came to coping.

I closed the distance between us, cocking my head and folding my arms. “You… care.” It wasn’t a question. I wish it was, but it wasn’t.

She didn’t meet my eyes, tucking a lock of her long dark hair behind her ear. Her scent was so fucking distracting. We really needed to get her on scent blockers while she was around.

“I’m not a total bitch,” she muttered, at last.

I could see that.

Was I surprised?

I wasn’t sure.

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