Page 52 of Chess

“I picked it up, arsehole.” He lifted his head and let it slam back to the table. “She was the only one who gave a shit about me—why would I rip out her heart?”

“Because I’ve always known you to be an ungrateful bastard. And your mother? She said you reminded her too much of your father.” He scoffed. “We should’ve ripped out your heart like we did him, but I’ll remedy that soon enough.”

Chess released an exaggerated sigh. “Yes, by all means. Use your toys. Break me apart. I still won’t be guilty. Ask your sister—she knows the truth.”

“My sister has agreed to align with me and believes you’re guilty.” Rav spun the wheel a few more clicks until Chess’s joints were stretched,burning, then he circled the table in quick, predatory steps. When Rav stopped near the prince’s head, he leaned down and whispered, “She’s turned on you, it seems.”

But she had claimed to believe him innocent.No, she knewI was.Maddie had done the deed… Which was why it made perfect sense for her to proclaim Chess guilty to Rav. Ever had betrayed Chess. Taken his heart and stomped on it. Perhaps it would’ve been better if he had remained alone and miserable. Whatever physical torture Rav planned to inflict was nothing compared to the invisible stake in his chest.

“Always the liar, you are,” Chess quipped. “Given your exceptional skill, I would think you’d be able to tell when other people were being truthful or not.”

A blade sliced Chess’s cheek before he could even register one rested in Rav’s hand. He hissed at the sudden sting, yet it didn’t matter—he’d been through worse and it would heal in moments. The blade cut again, this time his neck.

“Before the fun begins, we need to bleed you a bit,” Rav explained as if he were bored. “Can’t have you healing too fast.”

Starving while being wounded would be physiological torture. Each new cut or break would drive him closer to the brink of madness. Chess had seen a few torture sessions in the past and found them rather unnecessary. The repeated stabbings, acid baths, fang extractions… There was no reason not to kill them and be done with it. Though, he supposed, some did deserve it. The mortals who had mistreated him after his mother left for Wonderland would have earned themselves some time in this dungeon.

Rav began humming “Waltz Of The Flowers,” starting the melody low then higher, a deadly edge to it as he cut and cutand cutagain. Warm blood trickled from the slices, gliding over the skin on his face, neck, and arms. He fought against the bindings, struggling to break free, despite knowing there was no escape.

He would die there.

Perhaps not on the rack or even in the dungeon if Rav decided to make his execution public, but what did it matter? Ever betrayed him. His mother was gone. All of Scarlet thought he was a traitor and everyone in Ivory loathed him. He was alone for the third time in his life, and he wasn’t sure if he had the same strength he’d summoned as a child. The same will to survive.

Fucking hell.

What was he thinking? Chess wasnotgoing to accept his own death. That was the heartbreak talking and that was not like him. A smirk tugged at his lips. All he had to do was wait until Rav thought he was weak enough to remove him from the rack. Once he was transferred to the next torture device, he would make his move. Kill Rav, find Ever… Deal with her somehow. He wasn’t sure what he would do when he saw her again, if anything, but he would fight his way out of this damned place, fang and nail.

“You won’t find this amusing for long,” Rav warned. He stared down at Chess with a malicious glint in his eyes. Then he slit Chess’s throat.

Chess tried to drag in a breath. Blood filled his mouth instead of air and it sprayed outward when he coughed, splattering across his face. The room spun, but not for long as he succumbed to his second death that day.

When he woke again, his throat was drier than chalk. Chess shifted on the table only to, once again, find himself strapped to the rack. How had he forgotten that bit? His shoulders ached from being stretched upward, while the metal dug into his ankles. The dried blood from Rav’s cuts itched his skin. He let out a sharp breath and tried to focus on the stone ceiling, but the details were fuzzy.

Hunger consumed him, ravenous, as his head throbbed, his veins pulsing. “Fuck,” he rasped.

The door opened as if someone had heard him speak. He rolled his head to the side expecting to see Rav returning for another bloody round. Instead, a female with vibrant red hair, spilling down her shoulders over a lacy black gown, approached. His heart leapt in his chest.

“Mother?” he croaked.

As she inched closer and leaned over him, her face took shape. It didn’t have the familiar angles of his mother but was round, soft… Of course. Because his mother was dead. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook away the delusion.

When he opened them again, the female gave him a lopsided smile full of pity. “Sorry, Prince. It’s just me.”

“A—Anna?” he asked, barely remembering her name. She had been one of his mother’s friends who lived outside of the inner city and only came to the palace for the parties. “What are you doing here?”

“Rav asked me to come,” she said in a soft voice. “He wanted vampires he could trust around him after Imogen’s death.”

“Oh, right.” Ari had mentioned that before he killed her. Chess tried to clear his throat, but the motion only made it worse. “I suppose you’re here to exact a bit of revenge for yourself then? Should I be expecting all of my mother’s friends to stop by?” Wouldn’t that be just like Rav? To let everyone have a piece of the murderous prince.

“I hold no ill-will for what you did. We are what we are.” She brandished a large ice pick. “However, I did come here to help Rav and I’ve been instructed to kill you again.”

“Of course, though for the record, I didn’t murder her.” He grunted. “Before you carry out your orders, how long has it been?”

“Since they brought you here? Two days. Most of it, you’ve spent dead and bleeding.” She patted the top of his head. “This should be the last false death for you. Next time you wake, I imagine you’ll be weak enough for Rav to do what he wishes.”

Torture him. Ruin him. Kill him.

“And Ever?” He swallowed deeply.