Page 93 of Diamonds

Even now, I don’t know with a hundred percent certainty that what I experienced was real.

But if it was… If Rouge truly handed me a cup of blood and told me to drink it…

If she’s the one behind May’s decapitated head in the park by the airport…

Then she’s into some really dark shit.

I’m going to figure out her part in all of this.

And then I’m going to do everything in my power to stop her.

28

ALISSA

Isqueeze Maddox’s shoulder.“Are you okay?”

We’ve played a few rounds of Blackjack since Rouge’s proclamation.She’s moved on to somewhere else in the club, but Maddox has had a vacant look on his face since she first walked into the Diamonds section.

He blinks a few times.“Yes.Sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for.”I gesture to his cards.“But it’s your call.”

He swallows, glances at his cards.“I’ll stay.”

Shellby reveals his hand.A twenty to Maddox’s nineteen.I already busted.

“And that’s the house.”Shellby grins to Maddox.“Another hand, Mr.Hathaway?”

Maddox shakes his head.“I think I’ll call it there, Shellby.Thanks for a great game.”He gathers his chips, tips Shellby, and looks to me.“Let’s cash these in.”

We take them to the cashier station, which is manned by the Ace of Diamonds, a young man with sand-colored skin, thick eyebrows, and medium-length wavy hair.He silently processes our chips and hands a few hundred-dollar bills to Maddox.

Maddox counts them.“Four hundred even.Not a bad pull overall.”

“Not bad at all.”I turn my own chips in and receive a single hundred from the Ace.“I didn’t do nearly as well, but it was my first time.”

“You’ll get the hang of it.”Maddox places his bills in his wallet.

“Do you still want to check things out?”I ask.

He nods.“I do.But let’s step outside for a moment.I could use a breath of fresh air.”

Maddox seems rattled.Did Rouge startle him so much in the Diamonds section?

We know she’s capable of doing terrible things, but it’s not like she was going to off us right then and there, in front of hundreds of witnesses.

She doesn’t even know that we’re aware of what she may be doing.

At least, I hope she isn’t.

“Did you find it odd that she called us the King and Queen of Diamonds?”I ask.“Isn’t the King of Diamonds one of her muscles?I didn’t see him in the section.”

He buttons his tuxedo jacket.“They tend to do their best to blend in.Rouge’s little announcement, or whatever, was just a means to shake my game.She does that sort of thing now and then when people are on a hot streak.Tries to get in their heads so the house doesn’t lose as much money.”

I touch his arm.“Did it work?”

He frowns.“A little.I just was thinking about…” He shakes his head.“No.It’s not important.Let’s step outside so we can regroup, and then we’ll return to look for clues.Find this damned raven once and for all.”