Page 160 of Dare To Live

“Did he send you anything else?”

I shake my head. “No…I don’t think so.”

A memory half forms in the back of my mind—something odd caught in my memory, but with everything going on, I’d forgotten about it.

“What is it?” Eli asks.

“There was one thing,” I reply slowly, recalling the package I received the same day the invitation to come to Churchill Bradley arrived. “Someone sent me a chess board in the post. It was expensive and a strange gift as I don’t play the game. One of the pieces was missing.”

“Which one?”

“A white knight.”

Pain ripples over Eli’s expression. “Fuck.”

It’s my turn to grip his face. “No secrets works both ways, Eli.”

“Evan said I should have protected my knight the day I found Kellan dead.”

Dread knots my stomach. “Do you think the chessboard could be from Evan?”

“Or his accomplice.”

“It arrived the same day I got the invitation to attend the reunion here.”

Releasing his hold on me, he steps back and rakes a hand through his hair. “They must have known about it.”

“They wouldn’t have known if I had accepted it or not.” I point out. “Or if you had. Not unless they still have connections here at the school.”

“Or they took a chance on us both being here. After everything that happened, the odds were good that we wouldn’t turn up.”

“Ivan talked me and Miles into coming. He said we needed to face our demons.”

“And he told me you were coming, which made my decision for me.”

“After what Miles told him about our past, I think he planned all this to help him heal.” I wrap my arms around myself and study the man in front of me. “Have you been back to the chapel?”

Eli’s brows rise at my sudden change of conversation. “No.”

“You need to go.”

He takes a step toward me. “Ari—”

“Ivan is right.” I tell him. “We need to face our demons. Mine are in the tomb … I still have nightmares about that place. Yours are in the chapel. You need to go back there. Confront the monsters in the dark.”

Eli’s eyes darken. “I thought I was the only monster in Churchill Bradley Academy.”

“Not anymore.” My voice is a whisper.

“Okay,” He nods and holds out his hand to me. “Let’s go.”

“Right now?”

“You want me to confront my demons, and it’s already dark outside.”

“Wait.” I cross to one of my cases and dig out the two flashlights I’d stashed before leaving my apartment in L.A.

“Someone came prepared.”

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