Page 3 of Chess

“Rav may be an arse,” Chess said as he tucked Ever’s knife into his belt, “but he has an equal claim to your throne.” The bastard hadn’t wanted it before, choosing Imogen over the crown, but now the couple felt no need to choose between territories. Why would they when they could have it all? “I guess you didn’t know that he still has friends in Ivory.”

A flash of panic crossed Ever’s face and she whirled, fleeing back into the castle. Chess held up his hand to stop the guards from following her. “I never turn down a game of cat-and-mouse,” he said, pulling his feline mask away from his face. She wouldn’t get far and it would—dare he say it—befunto chase down the proud queen.Run, mouse. Run.

Chapter Two

Ever

Present Day

A queen didn’t always wear a crown because she wanted to. Sometimes the world required it.

Ever never asked to be the White Queen of Wonderland. Never chose it. But she fulfilled the duty nonetheless because she wanted to keep humans safe. Not from her bite, or her kill, but from becoming immortal if they didn’t choose it. Being a vampire wasn’t a natural sort of thing, so forethought was necessary, the decision conscious, just as both she and her twin brother, Rav, had chosen. Before the Red Queen murdered the former White King and White Queen, the royals had waited until the siblings were ready to turn them. But karma came to the Red Queen when she met her own demise from a murderous beastie.Thank you, Jabberwocky, for that glorious and vicious kill.

Ever peered around one of Ivory’s rather ridiculously large tree trunks, her gaze settling onhim. Chess.Surprise, surprise, Princeling. I do believe I owe you your death. He was hiding from the Kingdom of Scarlet after being accused of murdering his mother, Imogen, the Queen of Hearts—who’d ripped the bloody organ out of so many.

She watched as he stood in front of the glistening silver lake, the gray of the world growing darker as night descended, and peeled his black vest from his broad shoulders. He shook his head, his chestnut hair framing his chin and neck. She rolled her eyes. Who was he trying to impress with no one else around? The water? Apparently, he assumed the lake that would be running its liquid hands up his chiseled body needed to be impressed by his presence. Conceited prick.

Time to die.

Ever tiptoed in his direction until she was close, so close that her digits could easily brush his bare back before digging her fingernails in to tear off his flesh.

The wind blew past them and Chess tilted his head back, inhaling the air without turning around. “You found me.”

“That I did, Princeling. I won’t ask for a kiss as you did with me, I’ll just get on with it instead.” This time she didn’t use a dagger to stab him in the chest. She thrust her hand forward, breaking through his rib cage, gripping his still-beating heart, and ripped the warm organ from its home.

Ever spun him around to face her. His lips were parted, his eyes wide as he stared at the thick crimson sliding down her arm and dripping to the ground.

“I didn’t miss your heart this time,” she cooed. Chess’s knees buckled and his body collapsed to the dirt with athump.

A rustling stirred at the edge of the forest. Ever dropped the heart and darted away from the prince’s still body to duck behind a tree. Out from the tall silver and white bushes came a male, shoving his long white hair with red tips behind his shoulder.This is the perfect day.

Rav—her twin—stopped, hovering over Chess’s dead body, but she couldn’t focus on the fact that he was her brother…

He was now her enemy, especially after turning her own guards against her in the past. Before she could surrender to her thoughts of thinking of him as family, Ever leapt out from her hiding place and slammed her feet into his back while her hands gripped the sides of his head. She used him for balance as he shouted curses at her, but his words ceased, became trapped in his mouth, after tearing his head from his body in one easy motion. Rav fell to the ground beside Chess.Glorious.

“Dear, deceitful brother.” She grinned as blood leaked from Rav’s neck wound, pooling at her feet. “Goodbye.”

“You did it, Ever, but you weren’t the one to rip out my heart as you’d dreamt about, were you, darling?” Imogen purred, appearing out of thin air in front of her. The dead Scarlet queen’s crimson curls hung down her back, and she wore a silky red dress with a low v-cut that went past her navel, exposing her milky skin.

“Bloody hell,” Ever growled, pushing away what had been a wonderful fantasy until Imogen had rudely invaded it. Couldn’t she remain dead in someone else’s daydreams?

Ever lifted the white queen chess piece that she always carried in her pocket for luck. She’d been toying with it for what had to have been hours while lying in bed, unable to sleep, only thinking of things she wished would come to fruition. It had been a while since she’d rested in a proper bed, not since she lived in the Ivory Palace.

Nearly four years had passed since Ever had stepped foot inside Wonderland. She had spent most of her time tucked away in the mortal world, hidden inside a safe house like a coward. Until recently, when she reconnected with an old friend and discovered the Queen of Hearts had been murdered. Come to find out, it had been Maddie who had done the marvelous deed.

There was so much Ever had missed, and if she’d known her friend Mouse had been taken, that Maddie had been banished to a cottage in Scarlet, she would’ve returned sooner.Should’ve checked in on them. But there was still the part of her that didn’t want to face her brother because that blasted piece of her still loved the fool. Wonderland hadn’t changed him. He’d changed himself. He’d never cared about ruling before, but from her old friend, she learned he was planning on joining all of Wonderland’s territories since he was the only ruler left.

Ever squeezed the chess piece, to the point that if she pressed any harder, her strength would break it. She wanted revenge against Rav, but she also wanted Chess.

In the past, the prince had never once approached her. He’d always watched her when they’d been at parties, just as she’d watched him. She’d waited for him to slink up and attempt to woo her, and on the night of her masquerade ball—when he tried to retrieve her heart—was the moment she’d taken matters into her own hands. Because she’d expected betrayal from him, she was prepared to stab the prince, but then she’d been caught off guard when her staff had taken her brother’s side. She should’ve ripped off Chess’s head or tore out his heart before escaping.

Releasing a huff, Ever sat up and pressed her back against the ornate headboard. She was safe once again, and she was tired of it, tired of not doing anything. Lingering in her Wonderland safe house wasn’t the answer. Her friends were safe, and she wouldn’t risk them.

Ever shoved the silky sheets aside and pushed up from the bed. Most of the safe houses only had the necessities, some more, but this one was like a small palace underground.

Grasping the edges of her lacy white nightgown, Ever drew it over her head, knowing she couldn’t parade across Wonderland wearing anything ivory in color. She tugged on the blue jeans from the floor, followed by herDraculaT-shirt—that made her smirk—and a pair of checkered Vans.

She scooped up the black wig and shoved her hair into its bothersome depths. The thing was itchy and hot and, eventually, she would set fire to it.

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