“Did Odabeth have the Eye on her?” Addison grunted when Xelon touched a particularly tender area.
“Sorry.” Xelon nodded. “And yes.”
By the time Xelon finished dressing the wound with the clay, he was a bit dizzy but otherwise fine. “That may buy us some time, if he searches the pub first.”
“You have a plan?” Xelon straightened from where she’d finished tending to him.
“The beginnings of one. What’s the damage?”
“Bruising, possible breaks among your right ribs. You’ve got a nice knot here,” she pointed to somewhere behind his right ear. “Possible concussion—be careful while moving. I did what I can, but I’m no Made…” She trailed off.
Addison set a hand to her shoulder. “You got me on my feet.”
“Almost.” Xelon stood and offered her hand. Courtney hurried in to help. His side twinged when he moved, and it hurt to breathe, but he was in one piece and upright. “There. Now you’re on your feet, and if you want to stay that way, you’ll take it easy. So, this plan of yours?”
“You were supposed to go to Findest. We go to Findest.”
Xelon scoffed. “We were supposed to go to Findest with supplies, my armor, my weapons.” She ticked these things off on her fingers. “With none of the above, how long do you expect we’ll last? Especially with this Chance—”
“Chess,” Courtney corrected.
“Sorry. Especially with Chess and his Fiends hunting us?”
Addison didn’t suspect Chess would be after them; he’d most likely go after Odabeth and the Eye, but that was if he knew she had it.
“Won’t he go after the princess?” Courtney voiced his musings, hugging herself, a couple of bruises purpling along her arms and legs.
“Not necessarily. He doesn’t know the princess has it, and he’s suspected me of having it this entire time.”
“You did,” Courtney murmured.
“I had one sixth of it. Technically.”
Xelon shook her head.
“My point being, if he thought I had it before, there’s no reason he wouldn’t think I have it now.”
“Unless he learned otherwise from a reliable source,” Xelon said, her voice lowering. She meant Madeline, of course. There was no way to know if she’d been compromised, so they would have to assume she had.
“Even if he did, it doesn’t change anything. We need to get to Findest as soon as possible. Anastasia will feel the same and likely encourage the princess to do likewise.”
“So we’re going to hike through Wonderland like this?” Courtney asked, looking more than a little pale.
“We don’t really have a choice.”
Courtney glanced out over the river, as if she could somehow go back the way she came. That wasn’t an option for any of them.
“Okay, so which way?” Courtney sniffed and wiped at her face.
Xelon stepped off a short ways, shielding her eyes from the daylight with one hand against her brow as she surveyed the area. This was the Rangwarid River, meaning they were somewhere far south of the Glow. That could be a good thing, considering they needed to head that direction, but whether they were farther east or west could prove problematic.
“Findest is at least two weeks that direction.” Xelon pointed.
“We won’t make it two weeks,” Addison pointed out. Little food and water aside, half that long out here unarmed would not end well.
“I won’t make it two days,” Courtney said. “Just being honest,” she added when Xelon glanced her direction.
“If you two will let me finish. Findest is at least two weeks that direction, but the nearest town, if I recall correctly, is about a day that way.” She pointed southwest. “Maybe two, at a slower pace.”
Courtney groaned softly. “She died as she lived: Young and Beautiful.”
“What?” Xelon asked.
“That’s what I want them to put on my gravestone.” Courtney nodded. “My legacy.”
Addison chuckled, then regretted it when his ribs throbbed. “We should get moving. Lead the way.”
They started the direction Xelon had indicated, with her in the lead. She set a slow, testing pace, likely to see if he and Courtney could keep up.
Addison took stock of his condition. A dull ache had settled between his ears, but it was nothing compared to the hurt in his torso. He was light-headed, a little nauseous, but nothing severe. He could hold a steady pace, for now, but who knew how long it would keep up.
Courtney fell into step between them, glancing around once more, still taking it all in. Xelon looked around similarly, though her gaze was hard and direct, surveying the area for very different reasons.
And so they loped along, three sopping wet, hobbling humps roving the hills, a trio of perfect targets.
Fifteen
MESS
“Addison!” Alice shouted again, even though the phone had returned to Romi’s home screen, which was a picture of cat holding an umbrella.
A cold feeling bubbled in her stomach, then spread down her arms and legs as she hit redial. Her body iced over completely when a woman’s robotic voice told her the number had been disconnected. She tried again. And again. No change.
“What is it?” Romi asked, her pipe held as if she’d been about to take a puff. Instead she gazed at Alice, her eyes narrowed.
“I—I don’t know.” Her hands shook as she tapped in Court’s number, screwing it up twice. “It sounded like an explosion or something! And…” The growl.
The phone rang. And rang. And rang. Court’s voice mail picked up. “Hey! It’s Alice. Something’s wrong at the pub. I need you to check it out. Don’t get out of your car, though, unless you know for sure it’s safe. I think … I think a Nightmare might be there. Be careful. Call me back at this number.”
She hung up and started to dial Chess, but her fingers froze. He wouldn’t answer. His phone was still in his car, parked somewhere near the school, unmoved. This was day two or three of him missing? His family would probably call the police soon if they hadn’t already …
Tears stung her eyes, and her throat closed up. No, she couldn’t think about that right now. The twins were handling—
A pair of fingers thrust into her field of vision and snapped. Blinking rapidly, her heart jumping, Alice looked up to find an annoyed looking Romi glaring at her.
“There you are.” Romi snatched her phone. “What is going on, Alice? What’s this about a Nightmare at Addison’s place?”
Alice swallowed thickly. “I … I definitely heard an explosion, but I think I heard a Nightmare, too. Something growling before the phone died. Now it’s disconnected.” Alice shook her head. “I have to get back there, now.”
“To the possibly exploded place full of Nightmares.” Romi took a draw and released red smoke.
“It was just the one. Maybe. At least, I only heard one.”
“Believe me when I tell you that Addison Hatta is more than capable of dealing with a single Nightmare. The explosion thing might be cause for concern, though.” Romi stuck the pipe into the corner of her mouth. “I heard him say something about you and Haruka meeting someone?”
Alice stared for a second before shaking her head. “That doesn’t matter right now! I need to get back there and—”
“And what? Get caught up in whatever may be going on?” Romi narrowed her eyes. “Anastasia has kept the rest of us mostly informed on what’s happening, and it sounds like the focus needs to be on finding the Heart.”
“Yes, but—”
“Then that’s what you do. When shit hits the fan, you follow through and do your job.”
“They could be in trouble!”
“They’ll be in worse trouble if that Black Knight bastard gets what he wants. What would running in half-cocked do but make it worse?”
Frustration bubbled up inside Alice, along with this helpless feeling in the face of the fact that Romi was probably right. She didn’t know what the situation was at the pub, a
nd even if it was … the worst … that meant the Black Knight had the Eye, and they couldn’t let him have the Heart. Whether she liked it or not, she’d have to leave Hatta and the others to whatever fate befell them and finish her part of the mission.
Her throat tight, her eyes burning, Alice nodded.
A smile pulled at the corners of Romi’s lips. It wasn’t amused, more … impressed? “Good. So, what was Addison’s grand scheme? He always had one of those.”
After a couple of deep breaths to keep the trembling in her gut from shaking her voice, Alice laid out the plan, at least as well as she could with what Hatta had told her. They were supposed to meet up with Xelon and Odabeth. “In some village near … He was cut off. Sounded like it started with Ap or Ab.”
“Ap, Ab, Ap, Ab.” Romi went back and forth repeatedly as she stroked her chin with her free hand. “He could’ve meant Abdicur Pass. That’s the only place between here and the Western Gateway with a village nearby.”
“We have to go there,” Alice insisted.
Romi shook her head slowly. “That’s just a guess. He could’ve been about to say several things, there’s no way to tell. Was there anything concrete?”
Frustration pounded at Alice’s temples, but she took a slow breath and thought over their conversation. “Findest. They’re going to Findest.”
“Findest?” Romi took another puff, blowing the blue smoke to the side. “We searched that place from top to bottom.” A smoky pink butterfly curled free from her lips.
“S’what he said. But when the princess used the Eye to look for the Heart, it showed her Findest. Everyone figured going there and having Odabeth try again might reveal something more. Maybe.”
“This is a lot of movement and planning to hang on a maybe.” Romi clacked her teeth together slightly. “It’ll take nearly as long to reach Findest as it would the Western Gateway, maybe longer.”
“Not with Chou.” Haruka had set the table and was removing the apron tied around her waist. “Remember?”
Romi grunted, then said something in irritated Japanese. Haruka answered easily. The two of them went back and forth a handful of times, the conversation not necessarily heated but energetic. It ended with Romi heaving a sigh.
“Thrice damned Addison Hatta, pulling me back into the field.” Romi shook her head and flicked a bit of ash from the smoking end of her pipe. The ash didn’t fall so much as vanish from thin air.
“You … you two didn’t get along?” Alice asked.
The look Romi gave her could’ve fried her edges. But then the woman’s expression softened and she heaved a sigh. “No. We got along better than most, the four of us.”
“Four?”
Romi nodded. “Addison, Anastasia, Humphrey, and myself. The Royal Guard.”
“Humphrey?” That was a new name. “Not Theo?”
“Mmm? No. I didn’t meet Theo until after the war started.”
“And Xelon?”
“Never heard of her.”
Alice blinked, taken aback. “She … she’s the White Knight.”
Romi snorted. “Oh, really? Well, guess they couldn’t leave the position vacant after I left.”
“Wayment.” Alice shook her head and lifted her hands. “You used to be the White Knight?”
“Mmm. It didn’t mean what it means now, it was just how people who didn’t know my name referred to me, because of the armor and all. Mine was white, Humphrey’s was red, Addison’s was boring silver so people just called him the knight. And Anastasia didn’t wear armor, unless flowing gowns, body drapes, and sometimes poofy dresses count as armor.”
“I know a few cases where it might.” Alice grinned.
Romi returned it. There was a genuineness to it that wasn’t there the other times she smiled. But it was gone as quickly as it appeared. “So we called her the Duchess.”
Alice laughed. “That sounds about right.”
“That was us. And Addison was our leader.” The whimsical look on Romi’s face shifted, darkened. “Until he betrayed us. Sure, he got his head out of his ass just in time to defect to our ranks and help mount one last attack against the Black Queen, but he’d only spent years pounding our forces into dust at her behest beforehand, so, yeah. I’m a little bitter.”
“Mmm.” What do you say to that? Alice didn’t think Addison should still be in exile, but that didn’t mean the people he hurt had to forgive him. Paying his debt didn’t come with full and complete absolution. “For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry. I … know what it’s like to have someone you care for betray you.” Chess’s face flashed across her mind.
Romi puffed out a purple flower. “You didn’t do anything. Except end up connected to someone I spend most of my time angry at, and that wasn’t your fault.” After another slow drag, she nodded. “Ahhhhh, fine. We’ll leave for Findest first thing in the morning.”
“Morning?” Panic shot through Alice. She’d almost forgotten what they were discussing at first! “We need to leave now!”
A hand fell to her shoulder. Haruka squeezed. “We have to prepare, food, water. And you will need proper clothes for traveling.”
“And weapons.” Romi got to her feet. “You two, eat. I need to get things ready for Chou.” She lifted a hand when Alice started to protest. “We will leave sooner than the morning, but we can’t rush this. We can’t afford to be caught with our guard down because we are tired and ill-prepared.”
Okay, so that made sense. Swallowing her retort, Alice followed Haruka to the table. Romi slipped out the door, saying she would be back shortly. The sound of her thumping down the stairs faded as Haruka placed a helping of something that smelled heavenly in front of Alice. She wasn’t in the mood for food, but the eager twist in her stomach said it was.
Alice used the chopsticks offered to shove some into her mouth. Man, it was delicious.
“How did you meet Hatta?” Haruka asked between bites.
“You know him?”
Haruka shook her head. “I know of him. I know what Romi has told me—he is a Gatekeeper, he fought in the war.”
“That they were friends?”
“Yes. They still talk, but not often. Usually about updates on Nightmare activity, and to ask for favors. She likes the smoke he makes.”
Alice frowned. “Smoke?”
Haruka nodded and mimicked Romi’s posture in holding her pipe.
“Oh! Oh.” Hatta made tobacco? Or whatever the Wonderland equivalent was. Go figure. “He saved me,” Alice said, diving into the story of the first time she crossed paths with Addison Hatta. “It was … it was a bad night. I was a mess, and this Nightmare was gonna rip my head clean off. He stopped it. I didn’t believe what I was seeing, I thought I had lost my mind, but … there he was.”
Alice remembered that moment as crystal clear as if it were last night. She remembered the stink of the alley and the Nightmare’s breath. She remembered the gleam of the Vorpal Blade and the way it swallowed the dim light. She remembered the first time she heard his voice, the first time she looked him in the eye.
You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, Addison had said when she asked where he was from. Then he looked her up and down like he was debating whether or not he wanted to supersize his order or something, before saying a handful of words that changed her life. But I think I will.
That night, she explained to Haruka, Hatta had walked her back to Grady. On the way, he asked her what had brought her to the alley. She told him about her father. She didn’t cry then. She didn’t do much of anything but talk and sniff. Her heart was numb, and the tears wouldn’t come. It was a strange, hollow feeling, especially after having felt so many things just minutes before.
Hatta apologized for her loss and explained that was likely what drew the Nightmare to her, her sorrow, her fear. That was the first time she heard that word, Nightmare. Well, heard it as a name for those monsters. She had more questions. He told her the truth. She thought he was bugging, or messing with her, and she told hi
m several times she wasn’t in the mood for any of his mess. But he promised her he was sincere, even proposed that if she didn’t believe his words, she should at least believe her own eyes. She’d seen what had happened, and that in and of itself showed promise.
Then, in the dull light of the EMERGENCY sign, he told her there was something special about her. That she shouldn’t be able to see him with the invisibility Verse he used, shouldn’t be able to talk to him, but she was. She didn’t believe him until he told her to look around at the people coming and going.
She did. They eyed her in passing as she spoke to him, gave her a wide berth. She thought it was because she likely looked a mess, with her ruined wig and costume. He said it was because they thought she was talking to herself. People tended to avoid folk for that, among other, bullshit reasons.
They really can’t see you? Alice had asked.
He shook his head. Nope. At least, not at the moment. If I allow it, they can.
Alice fidgeted. This is really happening.
Yep.
She looked at him. You really killed that monster back there.
Mmm, not for good. People like me? We can’t kill them. Not permanently. That’s why we need people like you.
That made Alice snort, though she looked away when she noticed his eyes on her. What do you mean?
Humans with a strong connection to where I’m from. Where those monsters are from. Humans who can see us when we mean not to be seen. Hatta glanced around before drawing back a step. I need to get back. It was a pleasure, milady. Hatta bowed before starting off the way they’d come.
Will I see you again? Alice called before he’d gotten too far.
He turned and smiled. You’d be the only one who could.
And with that, he was gone. The rest of the night was a whirlwind of emotions and tears, from her mother and grandmother as well. They went home. Nana Kingston spent the night with them. Alice didn’t sleep at all, instead she stayed up, talking to Courtney on the phone, telling her everything.
“That is unusual,” Haruka remarked after Alice finished her story. “Being able to see him like that.”
A Dream So Dark Page 14