Page 88 of Spades

“Oh!” I jerk at the knock on my door.

I look at my phone. It’s pretty late for visitors. And I didn’t buzz anyone up.

My heart was already thrumming, but now it speeds up even more.

I grab a knife from the kitchen counter, hold it between my fingers.

It’s Rouge. It has to be her. She knows that I know something. And she’s here to?—

“Alissa, it’s me.”

My heart slows down. It’s the rich, low voice of Maddox.

I look through the peephole to confirm it is indeed him and then open the door, throwing my arms around him.

“Hey there,” he says.

“I’m sorry I ran out on you again.” I kiss his lips. “I… I just couldn’t stand to be in that club for one more second. I felt like my very life was at stake.”

The melodrama isn’t lost on me, but I’m freaked.

“Baby, you’re never in danger when I’m around,” Maddox says gently into my ear.

“God, I hope that’s the case.”

“It is.” He looks over his shoulder. “But let’s go inside. I found something strange in my pocket. Someone at the club must have slipped it into my jacket while I was at the bar or something.”

I cock my head. “What?” My nerves skitter under my skin. It’s the same… Like May… Her message.

He nods. “I think it might have something to do with Sev—with May.”

“Let me see it.”

He pulls a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. We walk inside, locking the door behind us, and sit down on my leather sofa. Maddox lays the note on the coffee table.

I read it.

A figure of black, with points to its rank

Was lost near a henge of cascading wet banks.

In fields where the grasses grow wild and unkempt,

Its crown was interred—placed perhaps with contempt.

Search not for the heart, nor the diamond or club,

For their sister lies still beneath flower and shrub.

Where wings take to sky, and landings draw nearly,

You’ll find what was hidden, its fate mirrored clearly.

“What the hell?” I ask.

“Precisely my thoughts,” Maddox says. “But read the first line.A figure of black, with points to its rank.”

“What does that mean. Like someone shrouded in a black cloak? Who maybe has some large amount of social credit?Points to its rank?”

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