Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 79253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I smile. “Really?”
He nods. “Really.” Then he chuckles. “You’re a good person, Harry. Only a truly good person would have thrown himself into the ravine to save a kid he barely knew.”
I don’t think.
I just leap. Throw myself over Lou’s body.
Rouge’s dagger buries itself into my right shoulder. The pain is searing, but I don’t care right now.
Rouge gasps. “The good doctor fancies himself a hero, does he?”
She brings the dagger down again, this time into my left shoulder. I cry out in pain, but I’m not going to stop protecting Lou and Carol. They may not have gotten their organs by the book, but they’re innocent. I know they would have refused the transplants if they had known where their donations came from.
Twin trickles of blood pour down my back, and the pain melts away temporarily as time seems to freeze for a moment.
It’s the adrenaline.
Rouge will surely bring her knife down on me a third time. If she hits my spinal column, I’m toast.
She’ll summon her remaining Kings from there, and they’ll take the rest of us out. Maybe she’ll let Bianca live, but I have my doubts. Vanya will certainly die. His head was on the chopping block already. He’s just delayed the inevitable.
It’s impossible.
There is no way out of this.
But then I remember Rouge’s own words from just a moment ago.
Always let your enemies think they’re in control. The more vividly the mirage of power gleams, the tighter your grasp upon their fate.
They echo words that Chet said when he recounted his story to us.
Always let them think they’re in control.
Rouge claims Chet is loyal to her and only her.
That isn’t true.
Chet is loyal to one entity alone.
Chaos.
Rouge can kill all of us right now, tie her whole mess up with a neat little bow.
And Chet won’t like that.
Before Rouge can bring her dagger down again, I glance over toward Chet. “That’s it, then. Congratulations, Chet. You and your Queen have won.”
Rouge cocks her head. “Dr. O’Rourke?”
I ignore her. “Everything will go back to normal now. You guys can run things the way you want at Aces. You’ll return to your job as a bouncer. Checking driver’s licenses. Never letting anyone in unless Her Majesty commands.”
“Silence!” Rouge commands.
“Because it will always be what Rouge wants, won’t it?” I continue. “Rouge, who killed your friend in cold blood after you let me into the club.”
“I think we’ve heard enough.” Rouge raises the dagger once more and—
Chet soars across the room, knocking the dagger out of Rouge’s hands and tackling her to the floor. I stand up and roll Lou and Carol off to the other side of the bed. They grunt as they hit the floor on top of one another—they’re old, so they might have fractured a few bones from the short fall—but they’re at least out of harm’s way for now.
“Kreuzer, now!” Rouge cries out.
The door to the bedchamber’s en suite bathroom bursts open, and a man I recognize as the King of Clubs barrels out toward Chet. But I stop him in his tracks, throwing a right hook to his jaw. He responds with an uppercut of his own to my chin, but I’m feeling no pain right now, and I land a side kick to his chest, knocking him back a few feet.
Another man walks into the room—the King of Diamonds—but Vanya leaps onto his back and gets a chokehold around his neck. Meanwhile, the King of Spades tries to sneak up behind Chet, but he quickly rams a knife into his throat, sending his body to the floor.
Chet then turns on the King of Diamonds, grabs him by the shoulders, and shakes him hard to get Vanya off him. Vanya tumbles to the floor and Chet takes the sides of the King’s head in his hands before snapping his neck. He crumples to the floor.
Now it’s the three of us against the King of Clubs, the burliest in the bunch. As Chet approaches, I sweep my feet under his legs, bringing him down to his knees. Vanya kicks him in the face, breaking his nose. Chet steps in and slits his throat in one fluid motion before leaping across the room and pressing the knife—still dripping with the blood of her fallen Kings—against Rouge’s fair-skinned throat.
Her lip quivers. “Et tu, Chet?”
“Et me, regina mea.” He presses the knife against Rouge’s throat. “But perhaps there is an agreement to be made here.”
My heart starts beating again. Fuck. Did I misread this?
Three Kings lie dead at our feet. Chet had no problem killing them. Why is he hesitating now?
“What are your terms?” Rouge hisses.
“I take the reins at Aces,” Chet returns. “I recreate it in my image, and someone else takes on the monotonous duties I performed.”
Rouge rolls her eyes. “No one can run Aces like I do.”