Charley had always dreamed of kicking down Rudy’s door, and for the first time in her life, she finally had the balls—and the vampire strength—to do it.
No, it wasn’t his doorexactly—the building belonged to House Duchanes—but that was just a technicality. Rudy was on the other side, and right now, that’s all she needed to know.
“On three,” Dorian whispered, and they both began the count.
Charley got to two before she kicked that motherfucker down.
“Chuck?” Sasha jumped up from the couch, a wide smile stretching across her face as if her big sister hadn’t just kicked down a door. “You came! Yay!”
“What the fuck?” Rudy bellowed, but before he or any of his goon squad could make a move, Charley was at her sister’s side. As the other vampires filed into the small apartment behind her, she grabbed Sasha and blurred her to the back room.
Sasha swayed on her feet, a giggle escaping her lips. “What wasthat?”
Charley pulled her in for a tight hug, barely holding back the flood of tears. Back the second the chaos erupted in the main room of the apartment, Sasha started freaking out.
“Charley?” She looked at her sister with wide, terrified eyes, then clutched her head, shaking it back and forth as if she were trying to shake loose some terrible nightmare trapped inside. “What the fuck is… Oh my God. Vampires! They’re vampires! And Rudy is… He’s a demon! They took me and… Charley!” She was hyperventilating now, huge tears spilling from her eyes.
“Aiden!” Charley shouted. “I need your—”
Aiden was at their side in a blink.
“Sasha? Do you remember me?” He took her hands and gazed into her eyes.
For a moment, Sasha fell silent, blinking up at him in confusion.
“It’s me,” he said. “Aiden Donovan. Dorian’s friend.”
“Aiden?” A smile broke across her face, and Charley blew out a breath of relief.
“Listen to me, love,” he said gently. “Before all this terrible business with the vampires happened, I made you a promise. Do you remember what it was?”
Outside, something crashed in the kitchen, and Charley heard her uncle grunt in pain.
Good. Fucking serves you right, asshole.
Sasha took a deep, shuddering breath, then said to Aiden, “You said you’d teach me to play chess.”
Aiden retrieved something from his pocket and handed it over—the ivory king piece, Charley realized, from the chess set Dorian’s mother had given him.
“This is a king,” Sasha said.
“Precisely. The first lesson in chess is that we mustalwaysprotect the king. Now, I’ve got it all set up for us back at Ravenswood, but right now, I just need you to keep him safe for me. Can you do that?”
“I… yes. I think so.” She sniffed back the last of her tears, her eyes filling with determination for her new mission. “Protect the king. Got it.”
“Your sister and I need to take care of some things in the other room, but you can stay here and keep the king safe. We’ll be right back. Okay?”
Sasha nodded and sat down on the bed, and Charley pulled Aiden aside, dropping her voice to a whisper.
“What’s going on with her?”
“Either Silas or Dominic compelled her,” Aiden explained, “And they’re both dead now. The compulsion broke, and everything flooded back at once. It’s too much for her mind to process—she just needed something to focus on.”
“But… How did you know to bring the king piece?”
“I’ve been carrying it since the night I showed you the set. It reminded me of her. I thought… I don’t know.” He gave her a shy smile, his cheeks darkening. “I thought maybe it would help, somehow.”
“You thoughtperfectly, Aiden, and I love you for it.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek, then turned back to her sister. “Sasha? Listen to me, baby. I know shit is crazy right now, and we’ve got alotto catch up on, but I need you to stay calm and trust that we’re going to get you out of here.”
