Page 5 of Chess

Mouse nodded, but her lips pulled into a tight line, hesitant, as she laid back down. Des lifted her small head and peered at Mouse, as though checking to make sure she returned to sleep all right. Mouse’s breaths were already even so Ever padded to the next room, then knocked lightly on the door. It only took a moment for Maddie to answer dramatically.

When Ever arrived earlier to the safe house, her friend had appeared just the same as the day the White Queen escaped the palace—purple curls, the tilt of her hat, her attire. They’d been friends for over two hundred years. She’d found her in Wonderland, lost, starving. Ever had pretended to be a normal female since she’d been acclimated to vampires using her because of her title. And when she’d revealed herself to be a queen, Maddie had treated her the same, never differently, always honest. Then she’d brought her sister, Mouse, to the palace, and like that, Ever had found true family again.

“You’re leaving already?” Maddie asked, pressing a hand on her hip, her honey-colored eyes meeting Ever’s. Her usual violet attire was replaced with a long black shirt that must’ve belonged to Noah—the human Maddie had turned immortal due to a wretched incident where he’d almost died at the hands of Imogen’s friend, Osanna. Ever hated that bitch.

“Rav’s heart awaits my stake,” Ever said with a smile.

“That bastard deserves two stakes,” Maddie sang. Her expression turned serious as she cocked her head. “Let me come with you.”

“We discussed this earlier, and you agreed to wait. We can’t show all our cards at once, so it will be only me for now. However, if I don’t return in a month, then that means something’s wrong. You can’t stay in hiding forever or as long as I did … like a coward.” Ever gritted her teeth at how long she’d been gone, how much time had been wasted.

“You’re not a coward. If something does happen to you, we will murder your brother with all the hatpins in Wonderland.” Maddie wrapped her arms around Ever and held her tight, her comforting cherry scent enveloping them. “Now, let me at least walk you to the door.”

“I wouldn’t mind that at all.” Ever released Maddie and headed toward the stairs. Ferris was already gone from the table and must’ve silently slipped back into Mouse’s room to watch over her.

They walked up the glistening white steps together in silence, and when Ever grasped the door handle, she glanced back at Maddie. “You know this, but don’t open the door for anyone unless you hear my knock. Even then, remember to aim your gun at the heart.”

“Or my sewing needles.” Maddie grinned and patted Ever’s shoulder. “Now, go kill that bastard and reclaim your kingdom. But if you need us, we shall be ready.”

They were all wanted. Mouse for escaping, Maddie for hiding her, Ferris for fleeing with Noah’s sister. She assumed Noah might also be since she’d recently learned Rav knew he’d been turned by Maddie. It wouldn’t be hard for Rav to put two and two together. However, Rav didn’t seem to know that it was Noah and Maddie who’d helped Mouse escape.

Ever smiled and gave Maddie a small wave as she ventured out into the night, knowing exactly where her first stop would be.

Chapter Three

Chess

The inside of the London cab smelled like old cigarettes and peppermint, nearly blinding Chess to the scent of the driver’s blood. He was wrinkled, bald, and at his age, probably full of prescription drugs to keep him alive, so he wouldn’t be on the menu anyway. Chess enjoyed the occasional drug-riddled human, but the sort who would give him an enjoyable high—not thin blood or lower cholesterol. They made the blood taste downright atrocious.

Brick buildings flickered by the window. Hedgerows, street lights, and all thecozytrappings of a mortal life. He hated it. All of it. The flower boxes, the warmly lit rooms in the homes. Perfect family cohabitation. It was much better when everyone lived their own lives, did their own thing, and relied on themselves. Like him. Imogen was his mother and he had loved her, but they hadn’t trulyneededeach other. The image of her heart in his hand flashed through his mind, and he shoved it away as he always did before an unwanted emotion could swallow him whole.

“Turn here,” Chess instructed.

“Have a destination yet?” the man asked in a raspy voice, taking the turn.

Chess had flagged him down near a train station and simply told him to drive when he climbed into the backseat an hour ago. There was nowhere to go—at least nowhere he felt safe. Every club he knew in London played host to vampires from Scarlet and they would undoubtedly turn him into Rav. It was bad enough he was slumming in the basement of an abandoned home outside the city, but he needed to feed. There hadn’t been time to gather supplies when he’d fled Wonderland and the bleeding bastard who currently ruled Scarlet, so he’d had no powdered blood to sustain himself. He hadn’t dared return to Wonderland either.

“No,” he replied, weariness settling into his bones. “Just keep going.”

The driver shrugged and continued on while Chess turned his attention to the streets. They passed people in groups of two or more but none alone. How was he to lure someone into an alley for a bite this way? He could compel an entire group, but it took more energy than he had. He could manage two humans at most tonight, and one of them needed to be his driver because shockingly enough, he had no money. He scowled, knowing there were hundreds of pounds sitting in his dresser back at the Ruby Heart Palace in case he wanted to play with mortals without compulsion. Buy their drinks, buy them dinner, play the long con… He sighed. The only ones getting conned now were the vampires and mortals in Scarlet.

Everyone would believe Rav when he claimed Chess murdered their queen. It wouldn’t even be that shocking, given how ruthless Scarlet could be. Yet, as callous as Chess was, she was still his mother. Sure, she had abandoned him when he was eight years old. But his father had left them both when he was only a baby to become Scarlet’s king, meaning his upbringing was less than ideal, sleeping on the streets, pick-pocketing, or worse—whatever he’d needed to do to eat. To survive. But that was in the past. Imogen had killed the father he’d never met and come back to give Chess the best gift of all: eternal life. He’d forgiven her easily after that. She’d loved him enough to come back for him, after all, but he’d had no desire to wear her crown.

Maddie didn’t seem the type to want it either, though, and she’d slaughtered his mother. Granted it was likely to save her sister… If he hadn’t left to track down Ever, he might’ve been there to stop it from happening. He’d trusted the Mad Hatter. Trusted that, in exchange for allowing her to save Mouse from the dungeons, that she would give up Ever’s true location. He’d traveled for days, searching up-and-down the Red Queen’s territory for this elusive safe house, only to return empty handed … to find Imogen dead. He hadn’t told Rav because he was the one who wanted to find Maddie, and he hadn’t wanted the bastard to discover that he was partly the cause by allowing the Hatter to retrieve her sister. Guilt twisted in his chest, and he rubbed the sensation away.

First, he needed to deal with the back-stabbing arse. Then he would take care of that purple-haired twat.

No—first he needed to feed.

Rolling the sleeves of his white dress shirt, Chess sighed a second time. “Take me to the closest club outside of London.”

“You got it,” the driver said, sounding relieved to have an end to this trip.

Chess settled into the backseat and stared at the cab’s roof. What was Rav’s game? Did hereallythink Chess had killed Imogen? After centuries together, even while barely tolerating the other, the accusation felt like a betrayal. Surely, he knew Chess better than that? And if hedidknow the prince hadn’t murdered his own mother, what was his motive? Even if Rav was desperate for a crown, he had one waiting for him in Ivory once Ever ran from her kingdom. Right after she’d stabbed Chess... He rubbed at his chest, thinking about the old wound, that night, her face… Since then, he’d wanted to find herdesperately.

“Like sister, like brother,” he grumbled to himself.

Ever had at least had the decency to stab him in the chest with a real blade. He had to respect her for that anyway. Before he fled, he’d thought she was a coward for hiding, but he understood now. It wasn’t about being a coward, it was about being strategic. There was no path to achieve revenge if one was dead. And, before he met his final end, Chess had every intention of burning Rav alive.

---