Page 34 of Chess

“If…” He swallowed hard. The fucking organ beating in his chest would be the ruin of him. “If my actions have hurt you, Iamsorry for that. But I can’t say I won’t try again.”

Ever stiffened and stepped back. “I’m sorry to hear that. Wait here while I talk to the others.”

Chess tugged at his chains with a rueful smirk. As if he had a choice…

Chapter Sixteen

Ever

“What in all of Wonderland is going on here?” Maddie waved her hand in the air as she took a step toward Ever after the queen came out of Chess’s room. “When you were here last, you said the time had come to reclaim Ivory and that Rav’s heart would be intimately acquainted with a stake. I had assumed Chess would come next—I never thought you wouldprotectthe prince if you encountered him. He tried tomurderyou.”

Ever hadn’t expected any of this either—in her past, she’d thought of every single way she could kill Chess, viciously and slowly. She peered at the table where Noah pretended to observe his hands, Ferris watched her like a hawk, and Mouse played with her caterpillar.

“A lot has happened…” She pressed a palm to her forehead, not wanting to deal with this conversation. The way Maddie needed her hats when she was nervous was the way Ever yearned for her viola, but there wasn’t one around and there wasn’t time to think about music or symphonies to distract.

“I would say so.” Maddie arched a brow. “When you left, you hated Chess, and now? Now…” She covered her mouth with her hand as though coming to some sort of realization. “Youlikehim? He’s becoming yourfriend?”

Ever thought about earlier, how he’d run his tongue slowly, expertly, up her center, how he’d kissed her mouth with delicious hunger, how she’d wanted to do more than stroke his alluring cock. “It’s a long story.” She sighed, wanting to keep those moments that she should’ve regretted, but didn’t, locked away for now. Forever.

“I’m pretty sure we have time for it,” Ferris piped up, studying her as though he could read her thoughts, the way she had seen his history in his blood.

“Then afterward, I’m pretty sure he’ll need to die,” Noah added, running a hand through his thick blond hair, no longer able to hold his tongue. “When we were on our way to get the cure for my sister, we ran into Chess in Ivory. He tied Maddie and me together and was going to haul us back to Scarlet.”

Ever blinked, her gaze locked on Noah’s bright blue eyes. “To have youkilled?”

“Well, no,” Maddie sang. “Only because I wasn’t ‘allowed’ in Ivory.” She air-quoted, then adjusted her dark hat on the side of her head. “But we escaped and tied him to a tree after I knocked him out.”

Ever would’ve done the same thing. She had also only learned that Maddie and Mouse hadn’t been allowed in Ivory when she’d first arrived at the safe house after being gone for so long. Another reason why she wanted to hurt her brother, for keeping them away from their home and holding Mouse in a cage like an animal.

“Tell her,” Mouse said, glancing up at Maddie, her voice barely audible. A mortal would not have been able to hear her soft words.

Maddie wrinkled her nose, staring at her sister in confusion. “Tell her what?”

Mouse stayed silent, letting Des crawl from one hand to the other before she spoke again. “Tell her how you were able to get me out from the Ruby Heart Palace.”

“Oh, I already told her how I created this miraculous hat and—”

“No,” Mouse drawled. “About the prince stopping by your cottage before you and Noah came to the palace.”

“Oh yes, I did forget to tell you that part. The weeks have been a blur.” Maddie shrugged. “So, Chess came to my cottage, somehow piecing together a part of my plan with Noah to get Mouse back. Instead of killing me or reporting it to his mother, he allowed me to hatch the plan...” The Hatter frowned as though she were uncomfortable admitting this.

“And?” Ever prodded when her friend stopped talking.

Maddie rolled her eyes. “He agreed to keep quiet in exchange for your hideout’s location. I, of course, led him on a wild goose chase to Red.” She cocked her head. “I suppose I can see why he’s a teensy bit angry.”

Chess was more than angry—he’d been livid when he’d stormed toward them, causing them to take a vexing tumble down the stairs. He could have been less brash and dramatic about it. Ferris had moved fast, and if she hadn’t spoken up in time, Chess would’ve been like the damn Headless Horseman, except dead. Even thoughhe’dattacked them, the thought sent a sinking feeling to the pit of her stomach.

As much as she loathed Imogen, Maddie had killed his mother. Although the bitch deserved it, she could see why Chess would be upset. By allowing Maddie to go through with her plan, he was part of the reason his mother was dead, and guilt had to be filling him.

Ever glanced to Ferris, who had been around him for two years,livedwith him. “How was the prince at the palace?”

He groaned, glancing up at the ceiling. “A spoiled prince who fucked and fed constantly.”

That wasn’t surprising, but then her heart lodged in her throat at a thought. “Was he like Rav and Imogen? Dabbled in their disgusting hobby with mortals?” She’d discussed the turning of humans with Chess, yet this was a dire situation and there could be no more lies.

“No.” Ferris shook his head. “He did the tasks Imogen assigned him, but the unwilling turning of mortals was a sick game between her and Rav only, as was your brother’s experiments with them.”

Rav had always enjoyed being some sort of deranged scientist. She didn’t know what he had done with the unfortunate souls and preferred not to imagine the cruel things he concocted. Before Ever could ask another question, Mouse interrupted, “Chess would visit me at my cell.”

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