“No.” Evie stepped back from him, and with distance came realization. She’d actually denied him. She’d stopped him from enthralling her. A vampire who she just then remembered was almost as old as Varro and much older than Stefano.Strongerthan Stefano.
“Oh my God.” The comment came from Lily. She stared at Evie with utter shock on her face. The expression was shared by Aleksander and Drago, but no one showed it more than Hasan. He looked baffled.
Evie turned to Aleksander. “I can get into the estate. Varrowantsme there. And he doesn’t know I can resist him. He’ll just see me as a frightened human to torture. He won’t even consider me a threat.”
The King of Chains said nothing. He looked down at her with a strange, twisted expression—one she only later realized was one of desperate hope.
“Natalya will kill me if I let you do this,” he said.
Evie’s lip trembled a little. “Well… she’s not here, is she?”
A little while ago, just the thought oftalkingto Aleksander was terrifying. She would never have dared. But the fear of Aleksander was a small thing in comparison to the fear of losing Natalya.
Natalya would never have let her do this. She would rather die than allow Evie to be in this type of danger. She was too protective to see Evie take on this kind of risk. And Evie loved her too much to care what she might think of this plan.
“Let me do this,” she said, forcing her voice to sound confident. “Please.”
Aleksander stared at her for a long moment, clutching Lily at his side as though to make sure she wouldn’t vanish. Then he shocked Evie. He smiled.
“You are a brave woman, Evie Atkins. But if you do this, I won’t let you do it alone.”
Chapter 46
The back of the van was filled with blood, though it was blessedly absent of bodies. Evie sat in the corner of the van, hands tied and staring at the floor, doing her best not to panic.
So far, everything was going according to plan.
Only hours after the events in Natalya’s apartment, Evie had contacted Sam. She was relieved to hear from Evie until she learned why Evie had called.
Sam still had the contact information of the would-be kidnappers who recruited her. Even though Sam had disappointed them, they were apparently still looking for Evie. Summoning them was as simple as letting them know Evie had agreed to meet up with Sam again.
Sam hadn’t wanted to go through with it. She refused to contact them at first, thinking Evie had gone mad. It was desperation that had allowed Sam to believe the men’s story in the beginning. Logically, she knew no one would pay the money they promised just totalkto a stripper from New Orleans.
Drago was the only reason Evie didn’t run away from it all. The fiend had volunteered to go with her on this suicide mission. She hadn’t understood why until she remembered he told Natalya he’d keep her safe. Though Evie knew Natalya hadn’t meant for him to keep her safe in this manner.
When the kidnappers arrived, Drago was on them so quickly that the men were dead before they even realized what had happened. Drago let the driver live long enough that he could give the names of the people on the crew and information about their orders before he too was killed. They left the bodies at the Court of Chains.
Drago’s expression never changed throughout the assault, except he looked a little more relaxed when he got behind the wheel and they started the long drive towards Louisiana. They’d paused just before sundown, where Evie did her hair up using a hairpin, let Drago tie her hands together, and got into the back of the van.
She was exhausted and terror was making her breathing shallow. She tried to ignore both, instead rubbing at the scab in the crook of her elbow where a Court of Chains nurse had injected her. One of three methods of defense she’d been given. She tongued the ampoule pocketed in her cheek, knowing she’d probably have to use all of them. She just hoped she wouldn’t have to use them too quickly.
If they weren’t successful in this, it would mean their deaths. Their success hinged on Evie’s ability to push against the monsters who’d enslaved her while at the same time acting like she wasn’t doing so. She’d never been a great actress, but feeling fear around vampires wasn’t really acting for her.
The van turning onto a gravel road told Evie they were getting close. When the vehicle stopped, she readied herself for a sight she’d prayed never to see again.
The back door of the van was thrown open, revealing a grim-looking Drago. He’d put on sunglasses and black leather gloves. Next to him was a being she’d most recently seen in her nightmares.
“I don’t believe it.” Stefano smiled widely, the expression both astonished and cruel. “I don’tbelieveit!”
“She was heavily guarded,” Drago rumbled. “They killed my men. I barely got away.”
“You’ll be compensated,” Stefano said, not looking at Drago. His black eyes were locked on Evie’s. “Come here, slave.”
She almost forgot to push against the enthrallment. It had been months since she’d last seen Stefano. In that time, he’d become a figment. Something that wasn’t real. Something that couldn’t hurt her. Seeing him so close made her shallow breathing turn into panting, and unwelcome tears rose in her eyes.
Her world started to zero in on his black gaze before she remembered that she couldn’t lose herself like this. It would be the death of her.
Evie exited the van, the pressure of his influence tensing dully around her head. She shook as she moved, nearly falling when she stepped onto the gravel driveway in front of Varro’s estate. It masked her tapping her index fingers together—her sign to Drago that she was still in control.
