Dark Obsession (Vampire Royals of New York #3) - Sarah Piper Page 0,83

it?” Charley asked. “That’s the grand plan? Storm the castle, hope for the best?”

“It’s decent,” Gabriel said. “Not stellar, but workable.”

“No more specifics?” she asked.

“We ain’t got time for specifics,” Cole said. “We’ll just improvise like we always do.”

“But what if—”

“Hey.” Cole reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “You’re not the only one with sweet-ass moves this operation, Charles. We got this. All of us.”

Despite his assurances, and Dorian’s calming presence at her side, fear threatened to overtake her. But with another soft touch from Dorian on the back of her neck, Charley reined it in, forcing it down like a piece of hot coal at the bottom of her stomach. There it smoldered, the heat of it fueling her determination.

Sasha was in there. And right now, everyone gathered here wanted the same thing—to save her.

Charley could not afford to get emotional and fuck this up.

She took another deep breath, then looked up at Dorian.

He smiled at her—just once, but it was all she needed.

A wave of emotion crashed into her so hard, she nearly stumbled. She was so beyond in love with him, so fucking gone for him, there was no room in her heart for a life where he didn’t exist. He’d claimed her from their very first meeting at the auction, and though she never could’ve predicted the events that led them here, somehow she’d known, deep down, that she and Dorian were meant to be.

That they were meant to find a way out of this darkness—together.

Charley’s heart nearly shattered in her chest. But instead of breaking, it expanded, filling up with so much love for him, so much awe at his boundless love for her, at his fierce protectiveness, at his bravery, at the risks he’d taken—and would keep on taking, no matter what came their way.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Not just to Dorian, but to all of them.

And with that, they were off, heading back out into the dark night, ready to storm that fucking castle.

Chapter Thirty

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 door exactly—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 was that?”

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 must always protect the king. Now, I’ve got it all set up for us