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“Don’t move,” Blakely snapped. She pointed a small pistol at me.

I put my hands up. What the hell had I gotten myself into?

I’m sorry, Steph,I thought desperately. Part of me wished he actuallyhadbitten me. Then he’d feel the pain and the fear through the bond and come rescue me.

Fuck. I really fucked this up.

The man, tall and bulky with thinning black hair, marched my mother into the living room and pushed her roughly into an armchair.

“I’m sorry,” Mom said. “They forced me to call you, Harley, and they said they just wanted to talk. I didn’t mean?—”

“It’s okay, Mom,” I said as I glared at Blakely. “This isn’t your fault. She’s always been a filthy liar.”

“Why are you doing this, Blakely?” Mom asked in a weak, wet voice. “You used to be such a sweet girl…”

“Shut her up,” Blakely snarled to the man.

“No!” I took a step forward, but the click of Blakely’s gun as she turned the safety off had me stopping short.

The man pulled a thick bandanna from his back pocket and wrapped it around Mom’s face, gagging her. Mom choked out a pained sound, and tears ran down her face.

“Nothing personal,” Blakely said. “I just need Harley out of the way.”

“You’re going to regret this, Blakely.” My mother and I might have been on bad terms, but she didn’t deserve to be hurt like this. Not because of me.

Then Blakely and the man were both pointing guns right at my face. “Come quietly, and I won’t shoot out your knees,” Blakely said.

I swallowed hard. Her expression was so enraged, I didn’t doubt she would actually shoot me right here in front of my own mother.

I was trapped.

51

ACE

“I’m supposed to be meeting someone,” I said.

“Ohhh kay,” the teenage barista said with an unimpressed look. “You still have to buy something if you’re going to loiter in here.”

“I’m not loitering,” I said as I loitered. “Let me make a call.”

The café was empty in the mid-afternoon, and it was ten minutes past the time Blakely had agreed to meet. My dragon’s hackles were up. Something was seriously wrong here. I called Blakely. No answer. I called again. No answer.

Blakely wasn’t going to show up. I was a fucking fool.

I grabbed a five-dollar bill from my wallet and stuffed it in the tip jar as I left. Outside, I called Striker, who picked up on the first ring. “Did she show?”

“No,” I said. “Have you seen her?”

Striker had been scouting from the sky, in his dragon form, and then waiting near the café in his car. “Not a trace. Are you thinking…”

“I’m thinking this was a fucking setup,” I snarled.

A beep in my ear indicated a call waiting, and I pulled the phone away from my ear. Sean’s name appeared on the screen.

“Striker, call the house and make sure everything is okay there.” I ended my call with my enforcer and answered Sean’s. “What do you want?” I hissed.

“Ace.” Sean’s voice dripped with condescension and glee. “Good to hear from you. I believe I’ve got something that belongs to you.”