Page 10 of Queen of Spades

“Go lay down for a bit, I’ll wake you if something happens,” I told Jesse, and he smirked ruefully, flicking my nose. Of course he wouldn’t, I wouldn’t either. Yawning, I drank a couple of mouthfuls of coffee, hoping it would clear out some of the cobwebs in my brain. I hadn’t used any of my luck yet, I was too nervous.What if something went wrong again?Clearly, my luck had its limits and seemed reluctant to spread itself further than just me. We couldn’t risk a gamble right now, not when Grace’s life was at stake.

I hated feeling so fucking useless.

Jesse tapped my shoulder and sat down on my desk, watching me closely. “Get your head on straight,” he ordered with a smirk, and I rolled my eyes.

“It’s just fine, thanks,” I replied, waving him off and checking my messages.

Levy

Stopping at some Italian restaurant.

Grace can barely walk.

I swore and threw my phone down, taking another deep swig of my coffee, wincing as it burned my throat. “How much longer can we do this? Just sitting and waiting?” I asked Jesse, who shrugged, chewing on the inside of his cheek. Levy and Anders had been sleeping in the SUV for three days; that wouldn’t be sustainable much longer. Levy told me that Anders was fraying around the edges, barely able to remain in the car, and getting no more than an hour of sleep a night. He was going to die if he kept this up.

“One more night,” I told him. “Then we change the plan. We’ll take the mansion and kill them all,” I told Jesse, knowing that plan was basically suicide. At least we’d be finally put out of our misery.

Keeping my phone close, I headed upstairs and took a long overdue shower, popping my head out every two minutes to check if I’d gotten a new message. The hot water did little to alleviate the tension in my shoulders, but at least there were no longer flies buzzing around my head. I hopped out of the shower and noticed three new messages waiting for me. Dripping water all over the bathroom floor, I quickly read the messages, then reread them, swearing under my breath.

Levy

Back at the club.

Anders went inside, couldn’t stop him.

Grace is really sick.

I strode into my room and got dressed robotically, trying to think up a plan that would solve this. I needed…weneeded some luck. I concentrated hard, putting all my focus ongetting Grace away from Douglas. The effort left me dizzy, depleting my energy a lot more than I’d expected. I stumbled out of my room and found Jesse in the kitchen.

“I did something stupid,” I told him, as another wave of dizziness had me pitching down to the floor.

Chapter seven

Anders

“Her heart is barely pumping,” I snarled as Levy grabbed my shoulder, pushing me away from the VIP lounge, where Douglas and two other men had dragged a barely conscious Grace into a private back room nearly an hour ago. “We have to get her, now!” He shoved me back into the wall, pinning me by the throat.

“Not until the others get here,” Levy hissed, fading so much I could see people dancing through his translucent form. “We can’t rush in there and get ourselves killed. That won’t help her!”

“Get the fuck off of me, or I will drop you myself,” I snapped, and he squeezed my throat in warning. I was still holding her pulse in my mind, panicking when the weak pumping began to flutter, the telltale signs of arrhythmia. “She’s dying Levy, I canfeel it!”

Levy’s fingers loosened around me, and I shoved him away, my eyes roving the crowd, spotting two people in uniform weaving their way across the dancefloor. My eyes caught on the stretcher they carried between them, just as the flutterthat was Grace’s pulse ceased altogether. It was like my heart stopped at the same moment, and my knees buckled, forcing Levy to catch me before I hit the floor.

Keep pumping, keep pumping.

I willed Grace’s heart to restart, coaxing her blood to continue circulating, keeping oxygen flowing to her brain.

“Text King,” I muttered, concentrating as hard as I could to keep her functionally alive. “Tell him to meet us at the hospital.” I managed to collect myself, forcing Levy to get the car ready and waiting as I focused on Grace. Someone had started CPR finally, so it wasn’t as hard to get her blood flowing. I stayed at a distance, following the EMTs out the door. Reluctantly, I tore my gaze away from the tiny figure on the stretcher and ran to the car, forcing Levy out of the driver’s seat so I could follow the ambulance.

It was not easy driving one-handed, but I managed it. We did some very illegal moves, but I never lost sight of the ambulance, and Levy kept Erik and Jesse up to date as we chased them into the hospital parking lot. I was out of the car before I realized I’d parked, striding up to the hospital doors as I followed Grace’s faint, but steady, heartbeat. I felt Levy’s hand wrap around my wrist, slowing me as we got within sight of the EMTs, and I noticed Douglas speaking with the nurse at the front desk.

“You can’t let him see you!” Levy hissed in my ear, and I snarled back as his grip tightened.

“Go then! Stay with her,” I snapped, and the pressure on my wrist vanished. I seethed and sat down in the nearby waiting area, listening to Douglas argue with the administrative person for a few minutes before he stormed off down the hall. Once he was gone I resumed my hunt, leaving a good amountof distance between him and me just in case. I found myself in another waiting room deeper inside the building, Douglas choosing to wait inside a private room he must’ve paid extra to reserve for Grace. Levy was closer to the action, giving us the horrible play-by-play.

Levy

They’re saying she overdosed.

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