Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Darius
Alice came out of the bathroom, and my breath caught.
Her damp blonde hair curled at the ends. Her cheeks were flushed from the shower. And the dress—it would have been ordinary on anyone else. On her, it was anything but.
I remembered the way those lips had felt against mine in that alley. The softness. The heat. The way she'd melted into me like she belonged there.
I held up a glass of Muchness Wine. “Feel better?”
She took the glass and settled onto the couch. “Much better. Thank you.” She sipped the wine. “Now what do we do?”
I shrugged. “We wait. See if my men arrive.”
“And if they don’t?”
I stared out the window at the empty street below. “Then I assume the worst.”
“Which is?”
“Captured.” I met her eyes. “Or dead.”
She went still. “Would your men tell the queen where we are?"
"No.” The word came out fierce. “Not even if she tortured them. They've all lost loved ones to the queen. Mothers. Fathers. Sisters.”
I turned back to the window, my jaw tight. Every one of them had followed me into this rebellion. Every one of them had trusted me to lead them out of the darkness.
And now they might be dying because of me.
She set her wine glass down and looked at me. Her expression had shifted—gentler now, almost concerned. I didn't know what to do with that. "Have you?"
Faces I couldn't save. Screams I still heard in my sleep.
"We all have."
"I'm sorry. It's always hard to lose people you love."
Her voice was soft. No pity—just understanding.
She knew loss. I could see it in her eyes, hear it in the way she spoke. A woman fighting to belong somewhere, just like me.
I peered through the shutters again. Maddenvale was quiet. Lanterns flickered along empty streets. Shutters drawn. Doors locked.
Too quiet.
The queen's soldiers were hunters. They'd let you think you were safe, let you breathe easy, then drag you into the dark before you could scream.
I refused to lose anyone again. It was time to meet with Rabbit. He was our ace with the queen. I had to get my men out of this dimension. It was the only way to make all of us safe.
My mind kept circling back to the mirror. Alice had fallen through the sky—but from where?
I'd flown above the forest, searching for any crack in the dimension, any shimmer of a portal. Nothing. Just empty sky and the weight of this prison pressing down.
But maybe I'd been looking at it wrong.
Maybe Alice was the answer. Her magic was unstable, unpredictable, but it was powerful enough to pull her through dimensions? What if she learned to control it? Then she could open that portal.
The only person I knew who could help her was Caterpillar. But he was the queen’s prisoner now.
I looked over at Alice. She’d rested her head against the back of the couch, eyes half closed. “Do you think you could open the portal again?”
She shot up and blinked her eyes. “What? I’m sorry. I missed that.”
I leaned against the wall beside the shutters, arms crossed. Close enough to check the street if I needed to. “You came through a portal. Maybe you had something to do with that.”
"If I did, it was an accident.” She glared at me, color rising in her cheeks. “I didn't utter a spell. The mirror just... appeared."
"You said you heard a voice."
Supposedly someone that sounded like me. Still unnerving.
She rubbed her forehead. "Hatter, you've seen my magic. It's unpredictable."
"I have someone who could help train you."
She lowered her arm. "I had the best."
"And how did that work out for you?"
Something flickered across her face—hurt, then anger. She shot to her feet and stormed toward the door. "That wasn't her fault. It was mine. I'm not a good pupil."
I beat her there, blocking the exit. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Away from you." Her voice shook. "You don't get to kidnap me, rip through my mind, and then insult the only person who ever gave a damn about me."
The words hit harder than I expected.
“You want to wander around the Elder Dimension alone?”
Her face paled. “No, I was looking for a bedroom.”
I gestured toward a bedroom. “It’s over there.”
"So I'm still your prisoner?" Her chin lifted, but her eyes were glassy. She was fighting not to cry.
I should have felt nothing. I'd held dozens of prisoners. But looking at her—defiant, exhausted, barely holding herself together—something twisted in my chest.
"For now," I said quietly.
She held my gaze. "Then get out of my way and lock me in properly. Or let me go."
“If I did let you go, where would you go?”
“I… I don’t know.”
I didn't move.
Neither did she.
The silence stretched between us. Up close, I could see the shadows under her eyes, the slight tremor in her hands. She was running on nothing.
"You're exhausted."
"I just want to go home." Her voice cracked on the last word. She looked away quickly, blinking hard. "I want to see Tinker Bell. I want to sleep in my own bed. I want to wake up and have this all be a nightmare. I want my magic to work.”
Something in my chest tightened. I knew that feeling. I'd felt it every day for longer than I could remember.
“Caterpillar can help you."
She swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "How? Is he a wizard?"
"No. But he has a power—a power that helps people believe in themselves. Unlock what's hidden."
She let out a wet laugh. "You mean like a therapist?"
Therapist.
Fire blazed through my temples. I grabbed the doorframe to steady myself.
A room. A leather couch. Someone asking questions. How does that make you feel?
"Hatter?" Alice's voice cut through the fog. "Are you okay?"
I shook my head, forcing the memory back. "I'm fine."
"You don't look fine. You look like you're about to pass out."
Another word from her world. Another crack in the wall I'd built.
What was she doing to me?
I downed another glass of Muchness Wine, willing the pain to fade. "I said I'm fine."
She flinched. Looked down at her hands.
The silence between us turned cold.
Damn it. She'd done nothing wrong. She'd just said a word—a word that meant nothing to her and everything to me.
I softened my voice. "Are you tired?"
She looked up at me. Wariness filled her eyes. "A little."
I held out my hand. "Why don't you go to bed?"
"I'm not sleeping with you."
A smile tugged at my mouth. I shouldn’t have found the idea as appealing as I did. "Didn't say you were. I was just going to show you to your room."
"Oh." Her cheeks flushed, making her blue eyes even brighter. She took my hand.
A jolt ran through me at the contact. The same heat that had flooded her face in that alley. Right before I kissed her.
I needed to stop thinking about that kiss.
I led her to the larger bedroom—the one I usually took. A double bed, a dresser, a small closet. Simple, but more comfortable than the other rooms with their narrow twin beds.
I'd take one of those tonight. Not that I expected to sleep. Something felt off and rest was the last thing on my mind.
I glanced at her dress. "Do you need help getting out of that?"
"No." She gave me a small smile then yawned. "Thank you."
“Very well.” I bowed slightly. “I’ll leave you alone.”
I quietly closed the door and returned to my post at the window. I shut off the lights and waited.
But my mind kept drifting back to her—the flush on her cheeks, her hand in mine. I forced myself to focus on the street below. I had bigger problems than a blue-eyed witch who made my pulse race.
The street below stayed empty. Silent.
Then a figure emerged from the shadows.
My blood went cold.
Long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. An immaculate suit that had no business in a place like Maddenvale. Even from up here, I knew exactly who it was.
Ari. The Dark Demon.
My stomach turned. When had he slithered back into the Elder Dimension? I'd heard nothing—not a whisper, not a rumor.
And what had happened to Joy DuPont? She'd been imprisoned with me in the queen's dungeon. It was because of her that I'd escaped. Ari had wanted to use her shadow magic to open a portal, to bring the queen's army into another world.
His plans must have failed. She must have stopped him somehow. But at what cost? Had she died trying?
Damn it, I should have found a way to rescue her from the queen’s dungeon.
But Ari’s failed plans only made him more dangerous. More desperate.
A demon with nothing left to lose.
If he knew about Alice and her magic, the bastard would try to use her to fuel his plans again. He'd done it before—used people, twisted them into whatever he needed, forced them to obey. Alice would be no different.
I couldn’t let him near her.
The thought surprised me. A few hours ago, she'd become my prisoner. Now I was ready to kill to protect her.
What the hell was happening to me?
I pressed myself back into the darkness, barely breathing. He didn't look up—but that meant nothing. A demon like him didn't need to look. He could feel fear the way a shark smelled blood.
Then the queen's soldiers dragged two struggling figures into the street.
No.
Steel and Flint. The twins fought against their captors, but there were too many. A soldier forced Steel to his knees. Another cracked Flint across the face.
My hands clenched into fists. Every instinct screamed at me to go down there, to fight, to do something.
But I'd be dead before I reached the street. And then Alice would be alone. Defenseless. With a demon who would smell her magic like blood in the water.
Ari circled the twins slowly, savoring their fear. He said something I couldn't hear and motioned with his fingers. Steel spat at his feet.
Two harpies swooped down, their long black hair streaming behind them like dark banners, their human faces twisted into sneers that made my stomach clench. Before I could move—before I could do anything—they sank their talons into Flint and Steel's shoulders and launched skyward.
"No!" The word ripped from my throat, useless.
Their massive wings beat the air, each powerful stroke carrying them higher, and I could only watch as Flint struggled against the grip, his legs kicking at nothing. Steel had gone rigid, his face pale even from here.
Damn it. Damn it.
They were heading toward the queen's Still Court.
My chest ached. Those men had followed me. Trusted me.
And now, one by one, the queen was taking them.
All because of her obsession with me. With my hat.
My gaze flickered to the bedroom door. Alice was asleep in there. Unaware that the most dangerous demon stood just below us. If Ari looked up—if he sensed her…
I forced my breathing to slow. Panic would get us both killed.
I couldn't save the twins. Not tonight.
But I could keep her safe. I had to.
I couldn't let him near her.
Since when did I care that much?
Was it the kiss? That moment in the alley when everything shifted?
Had she cast a spell on me without knowing it?