Page 33 of Chess

Noah—Alice’s damned brother—hurried forward, leaping over Maddie and Ever. Chess brought his legs back and kicked him square in the chest the moment he was close enough. Noah sailed into a glittering, white marble room with an ornate dining table. The force of the kick sent Ferris backward where he stumbled on the stairs, loosening his grip just enough for Chess to twist free.

His gaze went back to his prey. Maddie helped Ever off the ground, trusting the males to keep Chess away from her.Foolish murderess.Nothing would stop him from avenging his mother, no matter what she’d done to him as a child.Nothing.“You willdiefor what you’ve done!”

“No!” Ever shouted, and shoved Maddie behind her. Chess met her steely gaze, feeling irrationally betrayed that she would stop him. “You will not harm her.”

“I will make it quick,” Chess spat. It was all he could compromise on. Maddie deserved hours—no, days—of torture before she met her end, but for Ever, he would make it fast. There was no other option given the circumstances.

A figure moved in the open doorway behind the two females and Mouse stepped out, grabbing her sister’s arm. The next moment Maddie was gone—inside the room, the door slammed shut. That was fine—there were no windows underground. He would simply need to finish off the vampires out here first, then rip off the fucking door and end the fucking she-devil. No problem. His eyes flickered to Ever. Perhaps aslightproblem. But the males were completely dispensable.

He whirled around to face the Knave. Noah had joined him again and nervously bounced on the balls of his feet as if he was justwaitingfor the signal to attack. “You’re aninfant,” Chess warned the new vampire. “Come at me and I will tear you apart.”

“Maybe,” Noah conceded. “But I like our odds.”

Chess snarled. Noah was likely remembering the time he and Maddie managed to tie him to a tree on the edge of Ivory. But he failed to realize that Chess wasn’t allowed to kill them at the time—or at least Maddie. His mother needed her to lead the way to Ever, and killing Maddie’s boy-toy seemed detrimental to earning her cooperation. Now? He would see them both dead.

“There should be some reinforced handcuffs in the trunk at the foot of my bed,” Ever said, her voice low. “Noah, if you wouldn’t mind…”

He nodded and stepped out of the room, leaving only the Knave in front of him. “Your Highness,” Chess said without turning around. “You never mentioned being so kinky. I would’ve happily obliged when we were together earlier … naked. My tongue—”

“Shut up,” she growled in warning. The Knave’s brows shot up as he looked from Chess to the queen. Ever kicked at the back of his knees and Chess buckled, catching himself. Ever huffed. “Incapacitate him and put him in one of the rooms. I don’t want to see his face right now.”

“With pleasure,” Ferris said, his lips curling into a vengeful grin.

He leapt forward, but Chess sidestepped him. The Knave leapt again with the same result. Chess let out a small laugh as they seemed to dance with one another. Circling, ducking, sliding his feet against the marble floor to avoid the attacks. It was too easy. And he quickly grew bored of it. Maddie was right on the other side of that door. His revenge was so close and he wouldn’t be denied.

“Enough,” Chess snapped. “There is no quarrel with you, despite how you betrayed my mother. I just want the Hatter.”

“She did all of Wonderland a favor by ripping out her heart,” Ferris said spitefully.

Well,nowthere was a quarrel… His upper lip curled and he tensed for his first counter attack. The jangle of metal was his only warning before something heavy slammed into the back of his head. Chess’s vision blurred and he stumbled.

Ferris took the opportunity to attack. He grabbed the sides of Chess’s head and snapped his neck.

Chess jerked awake. Pain sliced up the back of his neck and his temples throbbed with a headache. He tried to raise a hand to his forehead but found them tightly bound behind his back. Cold metal dug into skin. And not only his wrists, but his ankles too. One side of each handcuff was attached to him, the others locked around the legs and back rungs of a steel chair.Fucking bastards.

He blinked the drowsiness away and scanned the room. A bed with messy, wrinkled sheets took up a majority of the space with two narrow tables on either side and a pile of clothes on the floor. The black wood of the furniture was carved with dainty lilies, and an empty vase sat on a long, thin table against one wall. Everything else was as white as the forest outside. Chess gave a sniff. It smelled stale, but a light scent of lilies lingered. How long ago had this space been used?

The door creaked open and Ever stepped inside, kicking the door shut. Strands of her hair stuck up at all angles. The pins were gone from around her face and her messy braids now hung over each shoulder. “You’re awake,” she drawled.

“This place seems a step up from the one in the mortal world,” he said, purposefully glancing around. “You should’ve stayed here instead.”

“You followed me,” she accused matter-of-factly, ignoring his comments. But Chess didn’t miss the hint of pain in her voice. “But this was where I stayed the night you tried to murder me in my own gardens. I gathered what I could and formulated my plan to stay in the human world right in this very room.” She stalked around him, trailing her hand across the footboard as she passed the bed. “And now I get to come up with a new plan.”

“You knew, didn’t you? You knew she killed my mother all along and played me like a fool.” His chest heaved.

“I knew, all right.” Her nostrils flared. “What do you want me to say? She’s my best friend. Of course, I would protect her.”

“If you’re trying to figure out how to let me kill your friend without shouldering the blame, I assure you, it will beallmy fault. So, if you could just undo these cuffs…”

Ever whirled on him, eyes blazing. Her hand soared toward his face, cracking against his cheek. “How dare you do this? After everything? I don’t know how, but something … something along the way changed between us.”

“Betweenus, they have,” he admitted. Though he wasn’t sure what that meant exactly. He was fond of her, lusted for her, and for whatever forsaken reason, wanted to keep her safe. If it was anyone but himself, he would sayfeelingshad developed. The type he’d never felt before and had no desire to experience now. Nevertheless, it was true. Murdering Maddie had nothing to do with how he felt about the White Queen though. “This has nothing to do with you. She killedmymother.”

Ever leaned closer until her face was a breath from his. “Maddie took out the greatest threat to Wonderland and we should bethankingher for it.”

Chess inhaled sharply. His mother was a vicious bitch with more problems than he could count but… “She. Was. My. Mother.”

“That’s all you have to say for yourself? You defend your actions even now that the moment of passion has passed?” She searched his face, perhaps hoping to find some sliver of remorse.

---