Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
Alice
Bunny's kids ran around the harpies like they were characters from Disney. I smiled despite everything—a small moment of innocence in the middle of chaos.
I took a step to join them, but my bracelet jangled and the medallion warmed against my wrist. It was trying to tell me something.
The hair on my arms stood straight up. There was magic nearby, but it didn't feel evil. It felt... familiar.
I looked at Darius then scanned the Forgotten Forest, but nothing seemed off. Just twisted trees and lengthening shadows.
So why was my magic reacting?
“Alice?” Darius slipped his hand around my waist and pulled me against him. I felt like I belonged there. Safe. Home.
“What?”
“Do you recognize this place?”
I shook my head slowly. “No. Should I?”
He brushed his lips over mine. “This is where you fell into the Elder Dimension.”
“It is?”
I looked around, trying to match this place to my memory. I'd been terrified that day. Alone. Falling through the sky into a world I didn't understand. I never could have imagined it would lead me here—to him.
He nodded and looked up at the sky. “This is where I caught you.” He gestured with his hand toward a tree that had a broken branch. “And that’s where we landed against the tree.”
But then he looked up, and I followed his gaze. Clouds swirled slowly in a circle—a lazy spin that seemed centered directly above us.
“I never noticed the clouds doing that.”
“They don’t move like that.” Darius’ arms tightened around me. “They’re reacting to something.” His silver eyes locked with mine. “You.”
"Me?"
"Alice, I believe in you. You can open the portal."
"But, Darius, I freeze time. I don't open portals."
I wanted to do it—god, I wanted to get us all out of here. Alanna would be hunting us by now. Every second we stayed was another second closer to being captured. But wanting something and being able to do it were two different things.
"Yes, you can," a voice said behind me.
I turned around. Grump stood a few feet away, his massive shoulders slumped. My chest tightened. He seemed so…broken. There was sadness in his eyes—the kind that comes from old wounds reopened. Something beyond the battle and the escape.
I clasped his hand. "What's wrong?"
He tightened his grip, his jaw working. "The portal opens through love." He opened his mouth then shut it again, as if the words were caught in his throat. "That's how I got Corina out of here. I closed it with a spell to protect her."
My mother. He was talking about my mother. I had a thousand questions—but the pain on his face stopped me. Whatever this memory was, it was tearing him apart.
Darius tensed beside me. "How do we open it? We have to get Alice out of here."
"I know." Grump reached beneath his tunic and pulled out a medallion hanging from a leather cord around his neck. His fingers trembled as he opened it.
Inside was a lock of blonde hair. Soft. Bright. Preserved perfectly after all these years.
The dream slammed into me. Fire. Screams. My mother's face as she pushed me to safety. She'd died in those flames—died so I could live. And this small golden lock was all that remained of her. "That's my mother's, isn't it?"
"Yes." A tear slid down his weathered cheek. He swallowed hard, his throat working. "The spell calls for something from the person you love to open it. Your mother gave me a lock of her hair before she left."
A tear rolled down my cheek. The dream came back to me again. Her scream. Her determination to protect me. The woman I never knew who risked her life to save me.
Darius hugged me. I pulled in Grump and we stood there, the three of us holding each other. Father, daughter, and the man I loved.
For the first time in my life, I had a family. A real family. And now I would do anything to protect it. Alanna would destroy all of them if they were captured. The thought carved a hole in my chest.
“How quaint,” a sarcastic voice said. “But I suggest we stop all this emotion and figure out how to get out of here.”
I stiffened. Ari. He always showed up at the worst possible times.
But he was right. Alanna's soldiers could be tracking us already. Every second we spent here was another second closer to capture.
I untangled myself from Darius and Grump.
Darius narrowed his eyes. “If I didn’t know better, Ari, I would suspect you were afraid.”
Ari shrugged, not even bothering with a denial. “As you should be. What do you think the queen will do to you for leaving her at the altar? Forgiveness isn’t in her nature.”
He should know. The queen reduced him to being a pet. Her Boy Friday. I didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. The queen would still want Darius, but she’d torture him first—something much, much worse than what she did to Ari. I couldn’t allow that.
“You’re not coming back to our world, Ari,” Darius said, his voice cold as steel.
Ari laughed—a cruel, mocking sound. “Then how do you get your merry band out of here, Hatter?” His red eyes shifted to me.
“Or have you forgotten, witch? The web bracelet binds us. You promised to help me escape.” He held up his wrist, the black web pulsing faintly. “Break that promise, and you die.”
I clenched my jaw. Of course. I'd sold a piece of my soul to escape that dungeon. The binding I’d agreed to in desperation. Now it was a noose around my neck.
Darius’ hand flew to his sword. “You bastard—”
“Darius.” I grabbed his arm. “You know I made the deal.”
“He doesn’t have to fucking gloat.”
Ari rolled his eyes.
I sighed as I looked at all the people I cared for—Darius, Bunny and her children, Caterpillar, Chester, the twins, and the Uncrowned.
Even with the harpies, we couldn’t get everyone out of here.
And I couldn’t leave anyone behind. “But he’s right about one thing.
We need him. Even with you and the two harpies, we couldn’t get all of us out of here. ”
Grump gave me a faint smile. “Alice, we’re not going with you.”
My heart stopped. “What?”
No. No, no, no. I’d just found him. I’d just found my father—and now he was telling me he wasn’t coming?
“My brothers and I have taken a vow to overthrow Alanna and free Brynn. You saw what Alanna’s capable of. Many of my people are suffering under her rule.”
This was my family. This was the first time I felt I belonged. Alanna was a monster. How could I walk away?
But we were being hunted. What if Alanna captured Darius again? She’d force him to marry her again or maybe do something even worse. I had to get him where he’d be safe, where Alanna would never find him again.
But these were my people. A place where I belonged. I never belonged in New Orleans with Tinker Bell.
I was a stranger.
“Then I should stay too.” I stepped toward him. “I can help. My magic—”
He shook his head and put his hands on my shoulders. “No, daughter. I can’t lose you like I did your mother.” He glanced at Darius. “Go with Hatter. He’ll protect you.”
I turned to look at Darius. After everything we'd been through, he knew what I was capable of. I flashed him a sly smile. "And I can protect him."
Grump released my shoulders. “I know, but this is more for me than you, daughter.”
I didn’t want to leave them. Go back where I didn’t belong.
Darius turned me gently toward him then lifted my chin, his silver eyes searching mine. “Alice, we have to get out of here. If Alanna catches us, I can’t…” His voice trailed off. Anguish spread across his face. “I can’t watch her hurt you again.”
Two men wanting to keep me safe. I looked between Darius and Grump—the man I loved and the father I’d just found.
And then there was Ari, lurking in the shadows. He wanted to keep me safe too—but only to save his own hide.
I looked up at Grump. “But she’ll find you.”
“Perhaps. But we’ve outwitted her for years and her father before that. Don’t worry. We have allies.”
I wasn’t sure I believed him. Alanna wasn't going to let this go. We'd humiliated her. Stolen her groom. Crashed her wedding. She'd burn down the entire Forgotten Forest to find us.
“If I were to open the portal, how would I open it?”
Grump looked at Darius, then back at me. “You need something from the person you love—a lock of hair. Place it over his heart, and your love will open the way. His desire will take you where you need to go.”
Where we needed to go. I wasn't sure where that was anymore. New Orleans had never felt like home. But here—with Grump, with my people—I'd finally found where I belonged. And now I was about to leave it behind.
“No magic words?” Ari looked intrigued.
“There are,” Grump said.
“And?” Ari drawled.
“I’ll tell Alice when the time is right and we have a plan to get everyone out.” Grump turned his back on Ari and headed for the others that were still gathered around the harpies.
Darius and I held hands and followed him. Ari clicked his tongue. I didn’t look to see if he was coming, but he would want to be in the know.
I squeezed Darius' hand. This was the right choice. Get him to safety. Heal. Come back stronger. But it didn't stop the ache in my chest—the feeling I was leaving a piece of myself behind.
Caterpillar blew a ring of smoke as we approached. “Secrets…whispered in corners.” His dark eyes drifted toward Ari. “Some ears…listen too closely.”
Bunny held her youngest child in her arms, the little one fast asleep against her chest. "Have you made a decision?"
"We're making a plan to leave the Elder Dimension."
The words felt heavy on my tongue. Right and wrong at the same time.
Her face paled. "What about Rabbit? I can't leave him."
Grump clutched her shoulder. "We will watch over Rabbit. As soon as we can, we'll send him to you."
Tears glistened in her eyes. She nodded, pulling her child closer.
Chester's golden eyes appeared first, then his body shimmered into view. His usual grin was gone.
"Bad news." His voice was sharp. Urgent. "She comes."
Doc and Archer emerged from the trees behind him, both out of breath.
"It's true," Doc said. "She's unleashed her army. Whatever we're going to do, we have to do it now."
My heart seized. No more time for plans. No more time for goodbyes.
I looked over at the harpies who were watching us closely. "Will you come with us?"
They both nodded. I had a feeling they couldn't wait to get out of here—away from Alanna, away from the collars, away from the memories of captivity.
I studied them. They were strong, with powerful wings and sharp talons. "The harpies could carry a couple of people on their backs and possibly clutch someone in their talons."
"I will carry you," Darius said, clutching my hand. His tone left no room for argument.
Not that I had one. I couldn't exactly fly myself up there.
"Ari could carry one person," I added.
Ari scoffed. "I'm not a taxi."
"You are if you want to get out of here," Darius growled.
Bunny stepped forward, her sleeping child still cradled against her chest. "I'll stay behind." Her voice trembled, but her eyes were steady. "Just take my children."
"Bunny, no—" I started.
"Please." Tears spilled down her cheeks. "I can't leave without Rabbit. But my babies... they need to be safe."
I clutched both her arms. “Bunny, listen to me. I know what it’s like to grow up without a mother, without a father. Don’t do this. You must go.”
Her resistance crumbled. She nodded, tears streaming down her face. "Okay. Okay, I'll come."
Grump seized Ari by his shirt. "You will carry someone or I'll kill you."
Ari laughed—a cold, mocking sound. "You could try." But he didn't pull away. Even he knew better than to start a fight right now.
"If you don't help us," I added, "then you'll die anyway. You made the same oath."
Ari hissed. "Fine. But not a fucking twin."
Flint and Steel exchanged amused glances.
Grump released Ari and leaned closer to me, his voice dropping to a whisper only I could hear. "The words to open the portal: Per amorem, porta aperi. Say them while holding the lock of hair over his heart."
I nodded, committing the words to memory.
He looked at Darius. "You need to think—not say—where you want Alice to go. Picture it clearly in your mind."
Darius nodded. "I understand."
Grump turned back to me. "Once he has the destination fixed, say Amore duce, via aperta est. The portal will open." His eyes grew serious. "Don't look back. Just go through. I'll close it behind you."
Another one of the Uncrowned—Shade—came running through the trees. "Her army is entering the forest. We need to move. Now."
Time had run out.