43. 43 – Hatter – one year later
43 – Hatter – one year later
I ’m coming back for you.
Those words burn brightly in my chest as I stare out over the dancefloor.
Every night, the crowd looks the same. A pulsing, frothing group, desperate for more . More alcohol, more drugs, more sex.
I hear a scream behind me. The investors are starting early tonight.
Sharp nails trail across my shoulder. “Still searching, I see.”
“Do you never get bored?” The question slips from my mouth. “The same thing, night after night. Does it make you happy?”
Red settles in beside me, leaning her elbows on the railing. Her gown is sleek and black tonight, crystals snaking up the side to show a dragon unfurling its wings.
A gown to make people notice her. “How could I ever be unhappy? I have everything I want, right here.”
I shrug her off when she tries to lean her head against my shoulder. She sighs. “Nearly everything.”
Another scream. I turn to look over my shoulder. Red twists my chin back toward the dance floor. “It’s rude to stare, you know.”
“Are they new?” The investors behind us look vaguely familiar. In fact, most of this place looks familiar. The first night in a new city, but everywhere I look, things stand out.
My pulse begins to race. “Are we—.”
Red laughs. A delighted laugh. “I told you I was considering settling here permanently.”
My stomach swoops.
We’re back.
Back in the city where I met Alyss Lidell.
Red brushes lint off my shoulder, her face pitying. “She’s not coming back for you, you know. You sacrificed your freedom for her, and she left you here to rot.”
“I’m not talking about her with you.” And I wouldn’t blame her if she did. Not after Adam.
She sighs. “Everything I have given you. You have free roam of Wonder. Feared by the staff. Loved by the investors. A space in my bed. You could have everything you ever wanted with me, Hatter. Why do you insist on tormenting me?”
I grab the fingers heading toward my cock, throwing them back at her. “You and I both know that my presence in your bed is a smokescreen and nothing else. Was it you?”
Another question. Red pauses, her head tilting to the side. “Was what me?”
I turn, looking her straight in her lying green eyes. “Did you kill them?”
Myra.
Erin.
The timing.
The timing.
Red snorts, but she doesn’t meet my eyes. “So melodramatic.”
“Tell me,” I say quietly. “I deserve to know the truth.”
Something flickers, there and then gone, too fast to see. “I will never tell you. You will spend the rest of your life wondering, Hatter, and you will never know, either way. I far prefer you a little tormented.”
“Do you?” I don’t look away. “Did you kill my daughter to make sure I would be?”
She pales beneath her make-up. “ Enough .”
“If you’re not going to answer, then leave me the fuck alone ,” I snarl at her. “Go and sit on your throne and rot, Red. Because if I am rotting away in this fucking god-forsaken place, then so are you . Smile for your investors, gloat about your power, and know that all of it – every single part of your life – is built on lies. Because none of them would be here if it wasn’t for Wonder. None of them would want you .”
She flinches. But the movement is hidden beneath her smile as she straightens. Her voice is a purr. “Look at you, finally finding a voice. How fine you look, when dressed in rage. It only makes me want you more.”
“Fuck off,” I say shortly. I turn away from her, staring out into the crowd. “One day, I will learn the truth. And if you had anything to do with it, no power on this earth will fucking save you.”
I wait.
Her voice is icy. “We have potential new investors in tonight for assessment. Key power players in the city. I expect to see you up there shortly.”
Assessment… corruption and blackmail, most likely. Those who decline to join Red’s investor programme will find themselves involved sooner or later, whether they like it or not.
Then she’s gone.
I’m tired.
I’m so fucking tired of it all.
I glance at the doors, expecting to see the locks firmly in place. But there’s nothing there.
My brows crease as I glance down into the crowd. One masked figure catches my eye.
He’s not dancing, and that alone would mark him as unusual, if it wasn’t for his walk . The man is swaggering through the crowd, his eyes sharp beneath the hooked mask he wears.
It can’t be—
He turns. Glances up at me.
And even from here, I can tell. Even if it wasn’t for the cocky grin stretching across his lower face, I would know that it’s Buck.
He tips an invisible hat toward me before the crowd swallows him up.
I stretch over the railing, searching, but he’s gone.
Another patron catches my eye. Two, in fact.
They stand across the dancefloor from where Buck vanished. Both of them wearing masks. One, broad shouldered and heavily muscled. The other, still muscular, but sleeker.
They’re not facing me. They’re murmuring to another man, one I don’t recognise at all. The three of them vanish into the crowd.
“Hatter.” Knave’s voice sounds behind me. “You’ve been summoned, dog.”
He shoves his shoulder into mine as I pass. “Your time is coming to an end.”
I stop, staring at him. “All things must end eventually. Remember that when you’re in my place.”
He sneers, but his eyes tighten. “We’ll see.”
Turning my back on him, I take the steps two at a time.
What if—
No.
Fear battles with hope inside my chest.
I’m coming back for you.
She screamed that at me before they put her under. Despite her response to Red’s riddle. But time can be a cruel mistress.
All things fade in time.
I pray she hasn’t come, as much as I wish she would.
She escaped once. It’s enough. It has to be enough.
But as I duck through the curtain into the palace, my eyes go to Red. She grips the arms of her throne tightly, her lips white with anger as her gaze lands on me.
My eyes scatter across the others sat there, dismissing them.
But across from Red—
Chess meets my gaze, a smile curling his upper lip that looks more like a sneer. The amber rim of his eyes glints in the light of the lamps strung above our heads as he raises the glass in his hand with a mocking expression. “Evening, Hatter.”
My heart simultaneously sinks and leaps at the same time, twisting savagely inside my chest as I glance around.
“She’s not here,” Red says coolly. She inclines her head. “Meet the representative sent by the Hearts gang. Although I believe you’ve already met .”
She clicks her fingers and I move to stand beside her. My heart thunders as I offer Chess a nod of greeting, my eyes questioning.
“If I had known,” Red’s voice turns glacial. “Things would have been rather different, of course.”
Chess takes a sip of his drink. One leg is crossed over his knee. He looks perfectly at ease, smartly dressed in a navy-blue shirt and dark trousers. “I won’t hold it against you, Red. You can hardly blame us for scoping out Wonder after hearing so many rumors. We wished to form an unbiased opinion.”
“Indeed,” she says coolly. “Although I understood one Robert Lidell to be the president. You’ll excuse my surprise.”
My back stiffens. Robert Lidell ?
I took over his job at the club , Adam Lidell had told me. Alyss would have been better.
I assumed they were lower levels based on that one conversation. My brow creases as I think back, trying to remember if Alyss ever told me exactly what her role with the Hearts was.
I grew up in a gang.
That’s all she gave me. A brief explanation for the silvery scars in her skin.
Chess whistles, his eyes sliding to the other three men sat stiffly in their chairs. “Somebody has been feeding you out of date information, Red. Rob Lidell died three years ago.”
My eyes flick between them like a tennis match.
“Clearly.” Red pins a glare on one of the three others.
He only smirks at her in return. “We can all enjoy our games, sweetheart. And I did mention that the Hearts have been very reclusive in recent years.”
Gryphon, prez of the Spades. He runs his eyes over Chess, assessing him. “I don’t believe any of us were informed exactly who the new prez was , of course. Not once Adam Lidell was gone. Not very polite of you, Chess.”
The smile slips from Chess’s face almost as easily as it falls from Red’s. She purses her lips. “Adam Lidell?”
Gryphon waves a hand. “You know. The one I asked you to take care of for me. A good… oh, eighteen months ago. Thanks, by the way. Incredibly helpful.”
A smirk to Chess, who looks like he’s barely restraining himself from lunging from his seat and going for Gryphon’s throat. “No hard feelings, Chess. Adam was a liability – everyone knew it. Couldn’t keep himself out of trouble, and an example had to be made. Nobody wants a junkie for their prez, am I right?”
Silence.
Chess slowly inclines his head. But it’s not quite a nod.
“So, then.” Red sounds as though she’s on the verge of a temper tantrum, unused to having conversations slip away from her. “You’re the new president of the Hearts, Chess.”
He leans back in his chair, eyebrows raising up. “Did I say that? I don’t remember saying that. It seems like something I’d remember agreeing to.”
All expression wipes from Red’s face.
I glance around. There are five guards in the room with us. Outside, the screaming from the investor games provides a cover for the tension rising in the room.
“Enough of this,” Red snarls. “Who exactly is the president, if not you? I don’t deal with underdogs, boy. If your prez is feeling nervous, tell him—.”
“ Her ,” Chess says softly. Dangerously. A smirk plays around his lips. “Why don’t you tell her yourself?”
The screaming—
The curtain slips open. “Good evening, everyone.”
Chess is already standing. Red sits in her throne, frozen, as Alyss Lidell strolls into the Palace. She takes Chess’s vacated seat.
And as her eyes sweep over me, she winks.
My lips twitch.
“So, then,” Alyss says coolly. “Here we are. Perhaps we should reintroduce ourselves, Red.”
“Alyss Lidell .” Red almost shakes with anger. “ You’re the president of the Hearts gang?”
“I am.” Alyss examines her nails. “It used to be my brother, but then you murdered him, of course. Left him dying in a filthy alleyway.”
Gryphon sits very still in his seat. Alyss glances at him.
Dismisses him, as she turns back to Red. There’s anger in her eyes, even as she smiles, low and dangerous. “Feel free to use my road name. My real name seems to be stuck in your throat.”
Red takes a sip of her drink. Her eyes flicker to her guards. “And what is your road name?”
Alyss’s eyes gleam. “Queen. Appropriate, don’t you think? The Queen of Hearts. Feel free to curtsey while you’re thinking of something to say.”
Chess hands her a drink. Alyss holds it loosely in her hands, surveying Red.
Red doesn’t say anything at all. A dull flush crawls over her collarbones. It deepens as Alyss looks past her, to the silent two gang leaders watching. “Jenson. Keenan.”
They both murmur a greeting. Gryphon’s face darkens.
“Oh,” Alyss murmurs slowly. “And then there’s you, Gryphon. One of my men would like to have a little word with you. And so would I. What the fuck did you just say about my brother?”
He goes for his gun.
I lunge, but Alyss is faster. She pulls out her own, pressing it against his forehead. “Put your fucking hands up.”
Slowly, Gryphon’s hands raise. “Just business. Something you’d appreciate if you were a true leader.”
I glance down. Red’s hand is inching toward the button hidden in her throne, the emergency button.
She tries to rip her hand away when I tangle it in mine. I squeeze it until she winces. Her eyes land on the guards, mouth opening—
“I wouldn’t,” Alyss says pleasantly. “Your other guards are dead. If you want to live, gentlemen, I suggest you leave now. Your employment has been terminated, effective immediately.”
The screams.
“How dare you,” Red snaps. “My men—,”
“Are dead.” Buck whistles as he steps into the room. He pauses in front of Alyss, dropping into a flourishing bow. “My queen.”
He flips the knife in his hands once, twice. It still has blood on it.
The guards around us glance at each other. And then they rush for the exit.
Chess rolls his eyes, but a smile still pulls at his mouth. A savage, expectant smile. A smile that spells danger for Red.
She sees it, too. Her skin pales, eyes blinking rapidly as she stands. Alyss nods to Chess, and he pulls out his own gun, keeping Gryphon pinned in place.
She holds out her hand to the other two as I move to intercept Red. She shoves at my chest. “Let me go.”
“I don’t think so,” my voice is soft. “This is your moment of reckoning, Red.”
She stares at me as if genuinely hurt, even as Alyss speaks to the gang leaders behind us. “Many thanks for your help, both. I look forward to a successful working relationship.”
I turn, holding Red’s arm. Just in time to see one – Jenson – smile. There’s an invitation there, his eyes sweeping over Alyss with appreciation. “Anytime.”
“Apologies,” Buck cuts in. “But we have no vacancies at the moment.”
After a moment, Jenson laughs. “Fair enough. Can’t blame a man for trying.”
He ducks out, followed by Keenan. Neither of them look back at Red.
Gryphon almost vibrates with fury. “You backstabbing cunt —,”
Chess whips Gryphon across the face, his skin opening up in a scarlet line as he stumbles back. “Talk about my Queen like that again, and I’ll cut out your tongue.”
The twins slide in behind Buck as the two gang leaders slip out. Kayden nods to Alyss. “It’s done. We’ve cleared house.”
“The patrons?” Alyss is watching Red.
“Evacuated. Emergency situation. Toxic gas leak.”
Alyss’s head tilts. “The staff?”
“Rab has them rounded up. They’re working through the back areas too, but it’s easy with there being one entrance.”
She clicks her tongue. “Investors?”
Aiden snorts. “Strongly advised to leave. Amazing how quickly people can run with their dicks hanging out.”
She grimaces. “I don’t like the idea of leaving them to go and fuck around somewhere else.”
I clear my throat. “There are tapes. Many of them. Red stores them in her bed, uses them for blackmail.”
And her lips spread into a smile. I don’t look down as Red screams in outrage, her nails scraping at me.
Alyss walks over to us.
The slap that she delivers to Red’s face rings out. “Shut the fuck up until I am finished .”
Red’s voice cuts out into stunned silence.
“Casualties?” Alyss doesn’t look away from Red, even as Buck chuckles.
“A few. Knave. Rook. A few more guards.”
Alyss blows into Red’s face, a quick puff of air. “Do you feel that, Red? That’s the sound of your house of cards crumbling into dust around you.”
She stutters. “I’m going to—.”
“Nothing,” Alyss says shortly. “You’ll do nothing.”
“Hatter.” She grabs at my sleeve, yanking on it. “You can’t do this to me.”
“You’re nothing without Wonder, Red.” I peel her fingers off my skin. “I told you that earlier. And how right I was. Touch me again and I’ll break your fucking fingers.”
Her face falls. “I—,”
“You’ll come with us. Don’t worry. It’s not a long walk.” Alyss turns to Buck. He’s watching a shaking Gryphon, his face filled with anticipation and rage. “Do you want me to stay and help?”
“No,” Buck says quietly. He flips the knife. “Gryphon and I are well overdue for a discussion.”
She nods, her hand trailing down his back. “Leave a little for me.”
“Yes, boss.”
Gryphon backs away, stumbling into a seat. His skin looks distinctly green. “This is fucking bullshit. My men—,”
“Don’t know you’re here,” Buck grins. “Do they? Poetic justice, Gryphon. I sold my soul to this place for my father, but you killed him anyway.”
Chess steps up beside him. “And now you’ll die in the same space where you sold out Adam Lidell. I hope the thirty pieces of silver were worth it.”
He splutters. “King was a fucking mess—,”
“And so will you be,” Alyss says. Her voice rings through the room like steel. “When we’re done with you.”
She ducks through the curtain, her voice floating back to me. “Bring her.”
Kayden moves up beside me. His hand grasps my shoulder “You good?”
Aiden moves up on Red’s other side, gripping her arm. “We’ve got this. Take a minute.”
“I…,” Red glances over her shoulder at me as he hauls her out. “I wasn’t expecting this.”
“You really thought she’d leave you behind?” Kayden sounds curious. “It took us a while to find you. We were on your trail at the last place and Buck caught wind that you were coming back here, so we held off for familiar ground. Sorry it took so long.”
I laugh. Low and shocked. “I’m just glad you came at all.”
He offers me a small smile. “It’s been her sole focus for the last year. But she was adamant that the whole thing had to come down.”
“Justice,” I say.
Kayden nods. “Justice.”
He ducks out after them. Slowly, I follow.
Alyss is waiting by the railings. There’s a question in her eyes as she extends her hand to me.
I cross to her without hesitation, But I don’t take her hand.
I wrap my arms around her, breathing her in.
Cherries.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’m so fucking sorry, Alyss.”
She sinks against me, her fingers gripping my back. “It ends today.”
It ends today.
None of them rush us. We turn finally, to face Red. And this time, I take Alyss’s hand.
She glares at us. At me. Her shoulders shake. “Shoot me, then. Get it over with.”
Alyss shakes her head. She glances at me. “Did you ever get an answer?”
It takes me a moment. “No.”
She nods. “Hang her over the side.”
Red starts to scream, pulling herself away. But the twins grab her easily, walking her back as Aiden lifts her and Kayden grabs her arms.
It’s easily a thirty-foot drop. Below us, Alyss’s men look up.
All of them are wearing what I assume is the Heart emblem on their jackets.
Her cry stutters as they toss her over, taking an arm each. “Pull me up.”
We walk over to the railing. Alyss leans her elbows on it. “We have some questions for you first.”
When she looks at me, my hands tighten on the metal. “Were you involved in arranging the car that hit Myra and… and Erin?”
Red presses her lips together. Even now, her eyes flicker with anger. “Go to hell.”
Aiden drops her arm. Kayden holds her in place as she swings, screaming. “Oops.”
Alyss’s look is wry. “Get her arm back.”
In am impressive feat of strength, Kayden hauls her up for his brother to grab her again. Red is crying, snot running down her face. “I can give you money.”
“I have no need for money,” Alyss says coldly. “And I have more power than I ever wanted – thanks to you and Gryphon. Was anyone else involved in arranging my brother’s death?”
Red shakes her head. “N-no.”
“Good.” Alyss smiles, but there’s no humour in it. “Who dumped him and left him to die in that fucking alley?”
“Knave,” I murmur. “He’s dead.”
Alyss nods. Tilts her head.
Red cries out as she reaches out, grabbing her hair and ripping her head back.
“You will tell him,” Alyss says softly. “You will tell him the truth. For every lie, every refusal, I will remove a body part. Do you understand?”
“Fucking psycho.” Red gasps the words, her eyes smarting from the grip Alyss has on her hair.
That grip only tightens as Alyss snarls in her face. “I’m a product of my goddamned fucking environment. I am what you, and people like you made me. Now answer the questions.”
Aiden shifts to let me slip into the space next to Alyss. “Did you arrange their deaths?”
Red spits at me.
Without blinking, Alyss draws a knife from her trousers and slices it.
She holds up the majority of Red’s hair, clutching it in her fist before she throws the pieces. “Warning enough? I can do a finger instead.”
Red stares as her hair scatters around her. The remainder hangs from her head in a chunk. “P-please. My arms.”
“Answer the question.”
She debates it. I can see it in her eyes.
Alyss holds out the knife. Presses it against her ear.
“Yes,” Red blurts. Her eyes dart to mine. “Yes. I planned it.”
My world shortens. Narrows.
She did this. Planned it.
She took my family away.
She killed my daughter.
I stagger back, my hand reaching for my heart.
My fault.
If I had never come here—
But Alyss follows me. Her hands cup my cheeks, dragging my head down.
“There is only one person to blame here,” she forces out. And her eyes, they shimmer with tears. She blinks them away. “She’s behind us. Not you. You were desperate and scared, and Red took advantage of that. She fucking stole you, and she took them from you.”
Red took Erin from me.
She’s thrashing against the twin’s grip. Her wrists must be screaming in pain by now, but she doesn’t mention them. She only stares at me, her eyes wild.
“I had to,” she pants. “You didn’t want to come. I had to force your hand, Hatter. I knew you’d fit better here than anywhere else.”
“Wrong,” I say hoarsely. “I never fitted here. I hate you. Every part of you. You know where I fit? With my family . And that has never included you.”
The one I lost.
The one I gained.
Red starts to cry. “You don’t mean that. It’s the game. We always play this game.”
And in this moment, she looks nothing like the woman who ran Wonder for so long. She looks weak, and scared.
And I’m glad.
I walk up to her. “I promised you what I would do if I found out the truth.”
She blanches as I nod at the twins. I catch her weight over the railing, pulling her back toward me. Red’s fingers raise, shakily gripping my shirt. “Thank you. Oh, thank you.”
I press my lips against her ear. My hand runs over her shorn head. “Myra? She was worth a thousand of you. And Erin… there are not enough words to express how much more her life was worth than yours. I hope you spend every moment in Hell reliving the pain you put them through.”
Her words cut off. “ Hatter —,”
“I’m throwing you off now.” I pull back, her eyes widening. “Goodbye, Red.”
I push her backwards. Her arms stretch out for me, but I reach for Alyss instead. And I make sure that the sight of us together is the last thing she sees as she topples, her gown billowing around her.
Her head meets the concrete with a crack.
And I sink to my knees.
Erin.
Myra.
Alyss kneels beside me, her own face wet as I bury my face in her neck and she holds onto me as if she can keep me together by sheer force of will. “Thank you. God – Alyss .”
You came. You didn’t leave me.
“Always,” she whispers. “I’ll always come for you.”
My tears soak into her skin, and she takes them all, every single one.
Finally.
Finally, I can breathe.