Alice Series Box Set

by Maria Dean

  Astrid wasn't going back there anytime soon.

  Luckily, there were other mysteries she had to solve. The first and most pressing issue on her mind was the waiter who'd known what her mother's last name was. With the slow work week getting to Winston and Sally, Astrid recruited them to the cause.

  "And you're positive your name is under Pfeiffer, right?" Winston probed the internet for any mention of an Astrid Gray. He believed it was because the waiter had recognized her from somewhere, though she was sure she used her father's name everywhere she went. "Did you have a MySpace account?"

  "Never," Astrid replied. "Don't you remember how long it took you and Sally to convince me to get a Facebook account for a team Messenger chat?"

  Winston sighed. "I remember too well."

  Their receptionist made herself comfortable in a chair across from Winston. "Astrid what was the waiter's name?" Sally was using her immense resources to track down Astrid's potential stalker.

  "Alex, I think. Or Alan. It started with an 'A'." Astrid bounced between answering questions for her friends and doing her own internet stalking. Though she never called him back, she was looking into James's internet presence to track his role in the Davidson case. The strange healing company had to be a cover for the alchemists. Matilde had said it herself. Astrid knew next to nothing about the world the Russos lived in. If she was going to get swept up in their business, she needed to be prepared.

  Part of that was learning about the enemies of the Dragon shifters. She was already looking into meeting one of the slayers who was arrested during the attack on Lorenzo's house. She spent her downtime before the meeting researching both the slayers and any trace of the alchemists she could find.

  "How does Alexi Spinelli sound?" Sally asked. "Brown hair, has blue eyes, about twenty-four years old?" She beckoned Astrid over to look at the waiter's ID. "He's a Hamline college graduate student studying criminal law. Conveniently, he's also interning at a law firm in downtown Minneapolis."

  Astrid caught the grin on Sally's face. "You're fucking with me," she said.

  Sally Stannis was not fucking with her. "Want me to call Daniella from HR and see if we can get him down here?" Astrid nodded, shocked she was conspiring with the two biggest gossips of the company.

  God bless Daniella from HR, Astrid thought.

  "Hey Astrid," Winston beckoned her over. "So I can't find anything about you, but there's a lot online about your mom. You two really look alike, now you're older."

  Calypso laughed at Astrid through the screen. There was a familiar, knowing grin on her face. The same glimmer in her eyes, curious to know more about what was going on. "I guess so," Astrid whispered, trying to memorize the curves and lines of her mom's face. "What's this from?"

  "A meet the author page," Winston said. "Did you know your mom was a writer?"

  "I know nothing about her," Astrid admitted. "I've looked her up before, obviously, but it's always hard to get through it. It's not like my dad or my aunt encourage it, either. I haven't seen her in years. I think I gave up a while ago on learning about who she was--is."

  Winston caught the slip-up. "Astrid, when's the last time you saw your own mom?"

  She didn't know what to tell him. Astrid still hadn't told her friends about her magical situation, and now her mother was part of that story, things were more complicated. Plus, she just didn't want to think about her mother.

  "I think the last time I saw her was before I went to boarding school, when I was twelve or thirteen." Astrid retreated to her desk. "I know she was a writer. I know she was from the south. And I know that after my parents divorced, she disappeared."

  Sally returned with a giant grin on her face after talking to Daniella from HR. "Alexi Spinelli is coming down to Tom's office at noon. We have twenty minutes to set it up however we want. Come on!" Sally looked like she was enjoying this a little too much. She pulled Astrid out of her seat and dragged her out of the room, heading toward their boss's office. "You too, Winston!"

  Astrid's office mate trudged behind them, still holding his computer and reading up on Calypso Gray. "Your mom was a really great writer, Astrid."

  "I wouldn't know," she grumbled. "I've tried to read her work, but I can't do it without crying." Knowing her coworker would feel uncomfortable Astrid added, "Don't feel bad for me, Winston. It has upset me about it for at least fourteen years."

  Tom was inside his office, going over the minutes of his last corporate meeting. "I'm so glad we're ganging up on interns now," he noted. "We're really getting into that corporate atmosphere I heard about in grad school."

  "We're not ganging up on interns," Astrid corrected him. "I just need to figure out why he may or may not be stalking me."

  Sighing, her boss put his glasses down and rubbed his face. "Astrid, how come your life has become so incredibly stressful?"

  "Excuse you, but you're not the one who's living it," she muttered. Poor, innocent Tom had no idea what her life was really like.

  Sally ushered Tom out of his seat and took her place in the swivel chair. "I'm the interrogator now," she scolded. "Winston, bring him in."

  Winston glanced at Tom. "I want you to know I have nothing to do with this, babe."

  Astrid snorted. "Stop flirting in the workplace, you're making me uncomfortable."

  Her boss sat down on his leather couch and patted the seat next to him. "Come on, Astrid, sit down. Let's watch Sally work her magic."

  "Last time we did anything of that sort, she made us all sit through Mamma Mia!," Winston pointed out at as he took a seat on Tom's other side.

  Astrid relented and collapsed into the couch seat. She didn't know what she should expect from the interrogation. There was a chance he knew about her mother's past, particularly the magical part. Sally, Winston, and Tom could only be out of the loop for so long. "Guys, if this person does know something about me or my mom, there's a chance he'll mention some pretty unbelievable things."

  "Like what?" Tom pressed. "As long as it's not that you come from a massive crime family and you've murdered a bunch of people under my nose, I'm sure it'll be fine."

  You're going to wish it was murder when you find out. Astrid wondered if she should just rip the band-aid off now. The key issue with that option was she didn't have any evidence to prove the more outlandish claims. No dragon fire to prove the Russos were dragons. She could at least utilize the shimmer she saw in the corner, though she had no idea where it went. Astrid just hoped she wouldn't have to find out.

  "You wanted to see me, Mr. Wates?" Alexi walked through the front door, looking at his phone. "I'm really glad to meet--" Sally spun around in the swivel chair propping her feet up on the desk. "You're not Mr. Wates." He glanced at the couch and paled. "Uh..."

  "Winston, get the door," Sally ordered.

  Astrid's coworker lunged for the door, slamming it shut. "We got you, kid," he said, puffing up a little too much. The Lionheart employees were taking things a little too seriously. "You will tell us everything you know about the Gray family, Astrid and Calypso."

  Alexi mouthed Calypso's name before looking up at Astrid. "Miss Gray, I didn't know you were here!"

  "Yeah, and I didn't know people attached my mothers name to me," she responded. "Sit down."

  The intern-turned-waiter nodded and dropped into the seat by the desk. "I didn't know you were here, Miss Gray. If I'd known, I would've introduced myself earlier."

  Tom whistled. "Damn, Astrid, how come you didn't tell me you were a celebrity?"

  "Tom," Astrid said as she rose, "you're my boss, so I can't tell you to shut up. Just let me do the talking." Sally pouted. "And Sally and I do the talking," Astrid amended. "As long as she promises none of this is going to Daniella from HR."

  "Lips are sealed," Sally replied. "Now, Alexi, how have you come to know Astrid Pfeiffer under the name of Astrid Gray?"

  Alexi looked between Sally and Astrid who was leaning on the desk in front of him. "Her mother told me about her," he explain
ed. "I've trained with her before."

  "You've what?" Astrid straightened up. There were only two things this intern could be talking about, and training wasn't exactly the kind of word you used to talk about writing.

  "She's legendary," Alexi continued. "I was training under her for a while until she had to move again. When she heard I would be in this area, she told me about you. I was just so excited to meet you, I forgot you don't go by that name."

  Sally tapped her fingers on the desk. "Why were you training under Calypso? Was she your writing mentor?"

  The intern glanced around. "Do they not know?" He asked Astrid. "About what your mother does?"

  "Not the Alicing," Astrid whispered.

  Alexi, however, shook his head. "Not that," he replied. "I mean the other thing." The intern waited for Astrid to respond, before he said, "Do you really not know either? How can you not? She's your mother."

  "My mother disappeared when I was thirteen, Alexi," Astrid said as she stood over him. "I know absolutely nothing about her life because she hasn't been in mine. So I would love to hear about her from someone else's point of view."

  "I-if you don't know, I don't think I should tell you," he said. "Especially with your friends around."

  Astrid nodded toward the corner of Tom's office with the shimmer. "Tell me, can you Alice?" He shook his head. "There's a portal, right over there. If you don't tell me, I won't hesitate to drop you in it. I'm not afraid to do it in front of my friends, either."

  Clearly, Alexi thought she was bluffing. "Maybe you should talk this out with your mom. I could get you in touch with her--" Astrid grabbed him by the collar and yanked him out of the chair. "Mr. Wates, are you really letting her threaten me?"

  "I'm not really sure what she's going to do," Tom responded. "You're not killing him, right?"

  "Nah," Astrid said. "Just shake him up a bit."

  Winston leaned over to Tom. "That's definitely legal."

  To her coworkers, Astrid said, "This will freak you out at first, but please don't make a scene." She shoved Alexi into the shimmer and they both vanished from the office. Astrid dropped him on the ground in the other-realm, quite pleased with herself. "This looks cozy," she said as she glanced about the volcanic wasteland. "Do you feel like talking now?"

  "Look, Miss Gray, Astrid," Alexi sputtered out. "I don't think you want to hear this if you're not already informed. Your mother leads a dangerous life--"

  "--My mother left me alone with my hyperactive aunt and a father who apparently is one of the people who wants to kill my friends," she finished, shoving him onto the ground. "I miss her but also I don't know if I ever want to see her again. So let me ask you one more time, Alexi. Can you please tell me what you did with my mom?"

  Astrid wasn't a violent person. She was lonely, and sometimes very desperate. She didn't want to hurt the little intern. But there was a pain racing through her body that stung every time he spoke about Calypso. It wasn't fair he got to learn from her. It wasn't fair he could talk about her so freely.

  She wanted to appear collected, but the strain in her voice and the shaking of her hands said otherwise. "Please," she whispered.

  Alexi looked down at his feet. "I'll tell you." His voice was small. "But you're rushing into this without proper preparation."

  Fuck your preparation. Astrid dragged him back through the shimmer, finding her coworkers and boss all panicking in the office.

  "Astrid, where the hell did you go?" Tom was first, his face pale with terror. He and Winston were both on their phones, no doubt looking for help regarding her disappearance.

  Winston dropped said cell phone and swept her up in a hug. "Never do that again," he demanded. "Or at least without me. Where d'you go?"

  "It's better I wait until after Alexi talks to explain things. It can be a little complicated, and half of it isn't the intern's business." Like the true identities of the Russo cousins, or Astrid's investigation into the dragon slayers.

  Astrid shoved Alexi back into the seat. "Where do you want me to start?" He asked.

  "Where d'you meet my mom?"

  He sighed. "Right. In an other-realm dedicated to the training of monster hunters," Alexi said.

  Tom and Winston sputtered out "Monster hunters?" and stared at Astrid.

  "It just gets weird from here," she said to them. "Are you telling me my mom was a monster hunter?" Alexi nodded. "Just to clarify, you mean a regular monster hunter, not a dragon slayer, right?"

  "Oh of course," he replied quickly. "We don't associate with those zealots."

  Astrid ignored the sound of Sally's jaw dropping to the desk. "So my mother is in an other-realm, training monster hunters. Why?"

  "She never said why. She arrived before I did, so I never heard her story. I can only assume it has something to do with wanting to protect you." Alexi offered an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid there's not much more I can tell you, Astrid. Really, I was just shocked to see you in person."

  "The only thing that was a threat to me was my father, an alchemist," Astrid said. "There has to be some other reason."

  The intern shrugged. "I wish I could be of more help. The only real way to find out would be to ask her, but she's not really in this plain. You could always look for her, you know. Calypso would be thrilled to know you're an Alice like she is."

  "Right, but I have no idea where she went. Do you?" He shook his head, much to her disappointment. "I don't know what else I would've expected."

  "Astrid," Tom drew her attention from Alexi. "Can we have a word with you?"

  She nodded. "I'm done with him anyway," Astrid said. Alexi had only left her with more questions than answers, starting with the possibility of her mother still being alive, just as a monster hunter in an other-realm. That itself was about three questions in one. "Get out of here, and please, just call me Astrid from now on."

  Alexi scrambled up, mumbling apologies before leaving the room. He shut the door on his way out. As soon as the door slammed, Astrid fell into his now unoccupied chair. She sighed, hiding her face in her hands.

  "Monsters? Dragons? Other worlds?" Sally stared her down from across the desk. "Are you living in a Young Adult fantasy novel, or is this just a complicated game of Dungeons and Dragons?"

  Astrid threw her head back, groaning. "The first one, I'm afraid," she muttered. "I don't expect you all to believe me though."

  "You disappeared into thin air like, five minutes ago," Winston pointed out. "Whatever the hell is going on, the least you can do is try to explain it."

  Good fuckin' luck with that one. Astrid felt her body deflate, the hope that this day would be easy vanishing. "So dragons are real," she started. "I got sucked into their world the minute I wrote Magdalena Russo's will."

  Sally squealed in excitement. "Oh my god, please tell me the Russo brothers are all dragons." Astrid nodded, her receptionist friend's grin growing in seconds. "Astrid! Screw YA novel, this is a full-on, juicy romance paperback!"

  "God, Sally, that's even worse," Astrid moaned. "Yes, they're all dragons. They're being hunted by literally everyone on the planet which now might include both of my parents. My dad is an alchemist and, well, you heard about my mom." She pulled her phone out and opened up a note she was keeping about the Davidson case. "Alchemists are shady wizards who peddle miracle drugs and alternative healing therapies. You remember the Davidson case?" She handed the notes to Winston and Tom. "There's a chance that involves alchemists. There's no other reason Giovanni Russo would throw that case."

  Winston whistled. "Those Russo boys are really keeping you busy, Astrid."

  "That's not even the half of it," she said. "Remember how those break-ins were all attributed to a church of dragon slayers? They were looking for my friends. They even attacked Lorenzo and me at his house."

  Her boss collapsed once more onto his couch. "All right," he groaned, "can you please just explain how you disappeared and call it a day?"

  "Yeah, that part's kind of confusing," Astrid replied.
"Besides these magical people and creatures being real, there are also other-realms that run parallel to our universe. They call them 'other-realms', though I'm trying to find a better name. It's hard to travel between these worlds unless you're something called an Alice. It's someone who can travel through portals into these other realms."

  "Like Alice in Wonderland?" Sally prompted.

  "Sounds about right." Astrid jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "There's a portal in the corner of Tom's office. You can take it into a volcanic realm. I've never seen it before in my travels."

  Winston handed her back her phone. "Besides Alexi, is there anyone who could back this up? Not that I don't believe you, Astrid, but I still need more proof before I get into the rest of this mess."

  "You mean Astrid disappearing into another dimension wasn't enough?" Tom asked.

  Winston Majors groaned. "No, babe, it wasn't. Is there anyone who we could talk to about this? Preferably not the Russos, either. They're a little too much on the hot, intimidating side for me."

  Astrid snorted. "The only person I can think of would be one of those dragon slayers that got thrown in jail for breaking and entering. I was meaning to talk to one anyway."

  There was a beat of silence as Tom, Sally, and Winston had a silent conversation. It was mostly Sally looking at them both with a wide grin while the men tried to fight their curiosity. Tom lost first. "Damnit, Sally. We're taking Winston's car."

  "Yes!" Sally leapt from the desk and grabbed her cell phone. "I'm making some calls so we can get in. Meet you all in five minutes!"

  As the Lionheart receptionist ran out the door, Tom looked to Astrid with a sigh. "Please don't make me regret this," he begged.

  Astrid was already regretting things herself.