Page 75 of Kiss of Seduction (Court of Chains #1)

Evie stared at the spot of soot where Natalya had just been standing. At the tendrils of smoke in the air, curling like grasping fingers. At the black smear on the floor that was the only sign Natalya had ever been there.

She kept staring even as Aleksander started saying something to her. When he tried to touch her, Drago let Evie go to push the King of Chains back a few feet.

They’d taken Natalya. Dominic had sent Vex not to kill Evie but to get Natalya’s marks.

She’d torn Natalya’s clothes to pieces, and under the guise of fighting, it had just seemed like a natural consequence of the violence.

But it had been planned. It was a trick.

And now Natalya was gone, a prisoner at Varro’s.

Evie knew exactly what that was like. She knew exactly what awaited someone trapped in that dreadful estate. Pain, terror, and enslavement. They’d keep Natalya trapped for decades, using her as Evie had been used. As Natalya had been used before.

Lily pulled on her arms, trying to get her to move, but Evie was frozen in place.

The all-encompassing fear that surged through her meant she was stuck staring at the space where the woman she loved had just been forcibly taken out of her life.

Taken away to serve and slave for cruel masters who wanted nothing more than to use her as a toy until she broke or they got tired of playing with her.

She couldn’t let that happen. She wouldn’t . Though fear could make her freeze, fear wasn’t the most filling emotion in her body right then. Fury rushed through her. Fury that they’d dared, anger at their cruelties, anger that Varro was still trying to ruin everything good in her life.

“Varro took her,” she said hatefully, turning to Lily, who frowned. She wasn’t used to hearing that tone from Evie.

When Lily stayed quiet, Evie turned to Drago, who was still staring down an angry Aleksander.

“How does the summoning work?” she snapped, forgetting entirely that Drago could rip her to pieces if he fancied. Drago seemed to forget that too, looking at Evie in surprise.

“A fiend’s name is outlined in an unbroken chalk circle,” Drago said. “The witch or warlock conducting the ritual then sheds their blood on the circle, connecting them to whichever fiend they’re summoning. Natalya is wherever her summoner chose to make her circle.”

Natalya said a warlock who moved locations always made a new circle for their fiend. It was obvious where Natalya had been taken.

“We can’t move on Varro now,” Hasan said.

“It was one thing when he knew we were coming. That was bad enough. Now he has not one but two greater fiends under his command. Even if we fall on him with every daywalker among the Chains, we wouldn’t have a chance.

Two greater fiends and an army of silver-wielding humans would tear them apart. ”

“That assumes we can even get to the estate,” Aleksander said. “Varro knows we’re trying to lure out his vampires. He’ll keep them close. The dark will be riddled with fangs, so any success we have in the day hours won’t last beyond the light.”

Aleksander looked enraged, but the sorrow on his face was evident too. It was distressing to see a man as powerful as the King of Chains look so hopeless. He pulled Lily close, and she put her arms around him.

“Natalya knows everything about the Chains,” he continued.

“She’ll share it with Varro. Whether she wants to or not.

He’ll know all our secrets, all our tactics.

Our names and types. With that sort of information and the forces he has at hand, we won’t be able to resist him. The Chains could be broken.”

“You have to save her then,” Evie said. Everyone turned to look at her, surprised that she was talking at all. Aleksander and Hasan both looked frustrated, while Drago just looked stern. His stoic face twisted in anger.

“We can’t. If she’s at Varro’s estate, there’s no way for us to get inside. A direct attack is impossible, and we cannot hope to sneak up on a greater Envy fiend. She’ll steal the breath out of anyone who tries.”

Drago looked back to Aleksander, shaking his head in a way that seemed almost apologetic. “Even if we could get inside, only a human can break a summoning circle. And humans are useless in an estate full of Night vampires.”

Each word was like a dagger. Each of them painful and cold. Each of them hopeless. Natalya was trapped behind rows of monsters, some with fangs and others wielding cruel binding magic. And even if the Chains could somehow tear through them, it would be useless. Natalya would still be a slave.

That was the truth from Drago’s perspective. From Aleksander’s and Hasan’s. They were all beings more than the mortal men whose visage they’d adopted. They could be stopped by something as simple as invitations and lines of salt. By chalk drawn on the floor.

Evie couldn’t.

It wasn’t reason that made Evie’s mind conjure up a plan so risky it was borderline mad. A plan Natalya would have dismissed immediately if she had heard it. It wasn’t reason that made Evie brave. It was desperation and that dangerous hope Natalya woke in her all those months ago.

“I can get inside.”

There was quiet again as all of them stared at her. These monsters who ruled night and Sin were stunned into silence by her words. Evie took a deep breath.

“Varro still wants me back. Probably to torture me for betraying him. He made a deal with a human here in Chicago to ensure he’d get me back alive.

” The words came out quick and stumbling.

If they didn’t come fast, she might not dare say them at all.

“If I’m given to him, he’ll let me back into the estate. I can find Natalya and break her free.”

“They’ll enthrall you,” Aleksander said. “You won’t be permitted to do anything other than obey.”

Evie looked from Aleksander to Hasan. Seeing his black eyes locked on hers started a surge of fear she only just managed to suppress. Shaking all over, she stepped closer to him.

“Enthrall me.”

Hasan frowned. “Why?”

His handsome dark features, inspecting her with suspicious interest, summoned a memory. Evie stood up straighter.

“I’ve seen you before. You were at Varro’s estate once.”

He’d been there when Queen Zahra met with Varro. He’d stared daggers at Stefano during the entire meeting. Remembering what had happened after, Evie looked at the floor.

“Varro offered me to you. You refused.”

Hasan seemed to consider a moment, then he nodded in acknowledgment.

“I remember you. You had redder hair then.”

“Varro preferred it like that.”

“I see.” Hasan’s expression softened. He glanced at the spot on her ribs where her tattoo was. “You are resistant to enthrallment, as I recall.”

“I am. But Natalya thinks I’m more than just resistant. So please. Enthrall me.”

Hasan looked at her oddly. Like he didn’t understand exactly what she was asking. Hesitating, he looked to Aleksander, who gave him a small nod.

“May I touch you? Enthrallment goes easier that way,” Hasan said.

Fear rose in her again, bright and fast. She’d been enthralled at Varro’s estate many times, though only by Varro and Stefano. They were the only ones powerful enough to do it.

She forced down the terror and nodded, stepping closer to Hasan.

Hasan raised his hand, cupping her cheek. His black eyes found hers, piercing and hard, and they became her entire focus. Her entire world.

It’s not real .

She focused on that. Just that. There was nothing true about this. It was all fake. It was all just conjured in her mind.

There was a pressure in her head. Like she was deep underwater and the weight of it was pushing down on her from above. An influence that wanted to get in. Wanted to seize her. She wouldn’t let it.

“Obey me,” Hasan said. “Go sit on the couch.”

There was a pull to the words, nudging her body to follow the order. It was faint. Easily ignored.

“No,” she said. Hasan narrowed his eyes, and his grip tensed.

“Go sit on the couch.”

The nudging feeling was still there. It was the pressure of an elastic band pulling her rather than a leash. It tried to make her obey, but it was only a light pressure. One she could stand against.

“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. Stronger than 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. Varro wants me 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 of talking to 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.”