“Did you take them when you came here?” Alice asked, staring at the sheathed knife.
He turned his head to scan their surroundings and shrugged. “They never had an effect on me. Didn’t see a point after the first few tries.”
Alice glanced up at him. “You tried? You wanted to feel…like that? Like you’re no longer in control of yourself?”
Shadow sighed and flicked his gaze to hers briefly. In that instant, she saw vulnerability in his eyes, saw the underlying sorrow that he almost never exposed.
“I just wanted to feel…something. Something other than empty and alone. Something…good. I don’t know if I’ve ever been happy until you came along… But this is hardly the time.” He pointed toward a door on the far side of the room—a large, rectangular door that was covered in red, velvety material. The guards posted in front of it were two scaly aliens who looked like hybrids between dragons and bodybuilders. “Bokki and Grithis are through there. I can’t allow the guards to see me, or there will be more trouble than we can deal with.”
“You want me to go in alone?”
“I’ll be with you. Just…out of sight.”
Of course he’d remain close. Alice should’ve known that. But the thought of walking into the unknown unsettled her—especially in a place so reminiscent of the Hatter’s. If that female alien had wanted a taste, what would everyone else want? How was Alice going to get past those guards?
This is our only way forward.
Alice and Shadow needed information, needed answers, so they could escape Wonderland. And once they were out, once they were safe, she could let herself forget most of her experiences here—all but those with Shadow—like they’d been nothing more than a particularly vivid nightmare.
“Okay.” She took in a deep breath, released it, and stepped away from Shadow. “I’m sure they’ll let me in considering I’m a…you know. A dolly.”
One that’s been played with a little too hard, perhaps, considering my appearance.
She slipped her hands under her skirt, hooked the waist of her pants with her thumbs, and shoved them down. She kicked the pants aside; they disappeared under the feet of the nearby dancers.
“Uh…what are you doing, Alice?” Shadow asked, ears perking. “I know I wasn’t happy when you first put those on, but I’ve changed my mind. Put them back on, now!”
Reaching up, she ran her fingers through her hair, working out some of the tangles. “I’m a dolly here, Shadow.” She tore her eyes away from the door and looked at him. “I need to look the part if I want them to let me through.”
Despite the loud music, she clearly heard Shadow’s frustrated growl.
His ears fell flat. “If any of them get handsy, I will start cutting their hands off.”
Strangely turned on by Shadow’s threats of violence in her honor, Alice smiled. She stepped up against him, slipped her arms around his neck, and drew his face down close to hers.
“I trust that you will,” she said before kissing him deeply.
Shadow groaned against her mouth and gave in to her kiss; within a moment, his hands had slipped beneath her skirt to cup her bare ass cheeks, giving them a squeeze. “Remember, sweet Alice—you’re mine,” he said against her lips.
She ground her pelvis against him as a bolt of desire flared in her core, causing her sex to clench in need. She moaned. “Yours.”
He purred appreciatively, and his cock hardened as though straining for her through his pants. “I don’t want anything more than I want you right now, but we have some people we need to threaten first.”
Alice groaned, rested her forehead against his, and closed her eyes. Her body thrummed with the need to be touched, the need to feel his hands sliding over her skin, the need to feel him inside her. But her fear—of something going wrong, of losing him to true death—was stronger than her desire right now. “Be careful, okay?”
He brushed the backs of his fingers down her face, from cheekbone to chin. “Only as careful as I need to be to keep you safe.”
She tilted her head back and opened her eyes to meet his. “I love you.”
He smiled; the expression was warm, genuine, and charming. “I love you, too, my sweet, sweet Alice.”
Her heart leapt with those words. Even though she’d heard them before, they still made her breath quicken.
Alice pulled away from him, and he released her reluctantly. One of his hands lingered on her ass, as hot as a branding iron, but he’d been right—now wasn’t the time. Turning toward the large velvet door, Alice stepped out of Shadow’s touch and slipped into the crowd.
Chapter 18
Though everything Alice had been through since being sent to Wonderland had been bizarre, crossing that dance floor was, perhaps, the most surreal experience of them all.
The press of bodies was thick, and the heat they put off made her skin tingle. She pushed forward regardless. The dancers offered little resistance, parting as easily as stalks of long grass, their arms, legs, hands, and bodies brushing over her as she moved. Many of the touches seemed deliberate—some even seemed intentionally sensual—but no one stopped her.
Sweat, alcohol, smoke, and sex scented the air, and though the music was thunderous, it was not loud enough to mask the sounds of the revelers’ panting breaths, tittering laughter, and heavy moans. Everyone who met Alice’s gaze had the same expression on their faces—lips parted as though in pleasure, brows softened, eyes blank and half-lidded.
She realized after only a few steps that this was more an orgy than a dance.
This would have been me, had I eaten those cakes…
Alice broke through the crowd and raised her chin as she walked toward the guards standing at the velvet door. Four wide steps led up to the landing the guards were perched upon; the extra height off the floor made them appear even more massive than they already were. They didn’t move except for the slight turns of their heads as they watched her approach.
Once she was in front of them, one of the guards lifted his scaled snout toward the dance floor. “Party’s that way, human.”
“I would like to speak to Bokki and Grithis,” Alice said.
The guards exchanged a glance before the first returned his attention to her. “And who are you?”
Alice ran a finger beneath the cut on her cheek, smiling as though pleased by it. “I was one of the Hatter’s favorite dollies, and I heard this is the place to be now that he’s gone.”
Both guards raked their reptilian gazes over her; the image of Sithix’s unsettling eyes flashed through her mind, but she shoved it aside before terror could take hold of her again. These creatures were not boruks; they were not Sithix.
“Looking a little run down, dolly,” said the other guard.
She grinned and bent toward them, knees locked, allowing them a glimpse down her cleavage. “I enjoy being played with”—she winked—“roughly.”
The guards exchanged another glance, and their lips peeled back in sharp-toothed smirks as they chuckled.
“Bosses might have a place for you here, then,” said the second guard. “Go on through. Maybe we’ll see you again later.”
Though Alice didn’t see Shadow, she sensed him close by, and could almost feel rage radiating from him.
Alice climbed the steps onto the landing and smiled at the second guard, trailing the tip of her finger along his thickly muscled forearm. His scales were hard. Her mouth was dry, but she forced the words out smoothly, nonetheless. “Perhaps…both of you at once?”
“Hatter must’ve been starving you, dolly,” he grumbled. “Any time you like, we’ll show you what a good time really looks like.”
Please don’t stab them, Shadow. Not yet.
The first guard extended an arm to grasp the door handle; his forearm, as solid and powerful as his companion’s, brushed across Alice’s stomach as he did so. He turned the knob and pushed the door open. “They breed some of these humans nasty.”
What the hell is that supposed t
o mean?
It took everything inside her to keep smiling, to keep herself from recoiling from his touch and their leering eyes, to keep her disgust hidden.
A long hallway with dark walls and a plush red carpet awaited her beyond the doorway. Alice stepped forward, relief easing her tension. She’d made it.
The other guard’s hand was suddenly beneath her skirt. His thick fingers slipped between her legs.
It was only a combination of shock and willpower that kept Alice from jerking away from the repulsive touch and showing just how horrified and revolted she was in that moment, preventing her from hitting the guard as hard as she could; she needed to keep up the act a little longer, needed to be a dolly just until the door was closed behind her…
The guard rubbed his finger along Alice’s sex—which was still slick after the desire Shadow had stoked in her on a few minutes before. He withdrew his hand and raised it, slipping his finger into his mouth. He groaned. “Not nasty. Sweet.”
Oh, no.
Alice spun around just in time to see Shadow appear on the lowest step. His features were swallowed in darkness but for his gleaming eyes and enraged grin. This was why he was called the Grinning Ghost. This was what everyone else saw when they looked at him.
Before the guards could react, Shadow darted forward. Metal glinted in his hands a fraction of a second before his simultaneous attacks landed. Both guards were shoved back against the wall to either side of the door with abrupt grunts and wet, crunching sounds. Their bodies sagged, but neither fell.
Shadow had stabbed them in their throats with such force that both guards were pinned to the wall.
He vanished just as quickly as he’d appeared, and his hands settled on Alice’s hips from behind immediately afterward. He turned her around and led her through the doorway, shutting the red velvet door behind them.
“Shouldn’t have touched you,” he muttered. “Shouldn’t have put his hand on you.” Growling, Shadow tightened his grip on her. He was vibrating with rage. “He tasted what was mine.”
Alice glanced down to see Shadow’s hands on her skirt. She settled her palm over his right wrist. “It’s done. We just need to keep moving, because somebody must’ve seen that.”
“None of those drug-addled revelers saw anything,” Shadow replied, his voice low and thick with fury. “They’ll glance over and think the two of them are still guarding the door.”
She nodded. Given the state of most of the Stark Rave’s patrons, she doubted anyone but the guards were lucid enough to notice anything beyond whoever it was they happened to be rubbing against at any given moment. A shudder ran through her. She could still feel the alien’s touch between her legs, and it made her sick to her stomach. The only one who could make that feeling go away was Shadow.
His fingers inched a little lower, and, as though reading her thoughts, he said, “I would remove the taint of his touch myself right now, Alice, were we not in a den of enemies.”
“I know.” Alice turned and caught him by his collar, pulling him down and smashing her mouth against his, kissing him hard before pulling away. “I understand.”
He slid his tongue out and licked his lips. For a moment, he looked as though he might take her right then and there despite everything that should’ve stopped him. But he simply took her hand in his and led her along the hall.
“He’d better hope he stays dead,” Shadow said as they walked briskly, “because if he’s not, I’m going to kill him over and over and over again for a very long time to come.”
It wasn’t long before they reached another red, velvet-lined door at the opposite end of the hall, identical to the one through which they’d entered but for the sign posted on it.
The sign, painted with large, messy brushstrokes, said Guests Received by Invitation Only.
Naturally, Shadow opened the door without hesitation and strode through.
Well, I guess we had already abandoned the whole can’t be seen plan before we made it this far.
Alice hurried in behind him.
“My old friends!” Shadow declared, throwing his arms wide; he held a fresh knife in each hand, though Alice hadn’t seen him draw either of them. “It’s been far too long.”
The room was surprisingly tame compared to everything else she’d seen here, containing a round table with a lacy white tablecloth, two old-fashioned wooden chairs, and a tray of sweets, pastries, and alcohol. The two individuals seated at the table were not what Alice had expected. One of them was the same species as Miraxis, though his hair was tan, his skin had a ruddy, brownish hue, and his eyes were dark. The other sat atop a stack of pillows on the chair opposite the praxian and couldn’t have been more than three feet tall. He had shaggy, dark brown hair and large, drooping ears reminiscent of a donkey’s. His face was startlingly human—and startlingly adult—but for his pronounced, snout-like nose and large front teeth.
Both aliens were staring at Shadow in shock, their mouths agape and eyes wide. The praxian was holding a glass of amber liquid in his trembling hand; drops of the drink splashed out to fall to the table and stain the tablecloth.
“I know you prefer sending invitations out, but I haven’t received one in so long,” Shadow continued, his voice bristling with menace rather than its usual humor. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d forgotten about me. I decided to pay you a surprise visit. What could it hurt, right?”
“Bokki and I a-always welcome you,” the praxian, who must’ve been Grithis, said. “You do not need an-an invitation.”
But Bokki’s features had hardened in anger and hatred.
“We rescinded your invitation, Ghost. Indefinitely,” the little alien said with surprising firmness.
“Bokki,” Grithis warned, carefully placing his drink on the table, “The ghost is our old friend. He is always welcome. Remember? I-In these times, it is better to be friends than enemies.”
Bokki crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. Despite his stature, his body was proportioned similarly to that of an adult human.
“The rescinded invitation, that was just part of our…our game,” Grithis continued, swinging his gaze to Shadow. “The game, right? We’ve all had fun, we’re all friends. W-would you or your dolly like a drink?”
It was only then that Bokki looked away from Shadow, turning his attention to Alice. A crease formed between his brows. “She’s the one. The one they said was with the Hatter when the Grinning Ghost killed him. The one that escaped with him.”
Alice barely resisted a sudden urge to retreat.
Shadow took a step forward, sinking into an easy crouch that still left him at least a foot over Bokki’s eye level. “Your bringing up the Hatter gives me the perfect opportunity to remind you that death is currently permanent. Make no mistake, my friends—we’re not here to play a game today.”
Bokki bared his teeth. “You don’t come into our place and threaten—”
Shadow lunged forward, slamming one of his knives into the top of the table. Everything on the table’s surface jumped and rattled, and one of the bottles tipped over, spilling a fluorescent green liquid onto the floor. “I’m sure after I stab you to death, Bokki, Grithis will be more than willing to talk.”
“T-talk? What would you like to talk about?” Grithis said, his eyes flickering between Alice, Shadow, and the knife. “We would l-love to talk!”
Shadow held Bokki’s hate-filled gaze. “The king. Where is he, what is he doing? I want every tidbit of information that’s passed through this place concerning him.”
“The king? Have we seen any kings lately?” Grithis asked.
“I can start with stabbing you if you think you’re clever, Grithis,” Shadow said. “There’s only one king in Wonderland.”
Some of the color drained from Grithis’s face. “Oh, y-you must mean the Red King, the King of Hearts!” Grithis looked at Bokki. “Have we seen that king lately?”
“He was here not long ago,” Bokki said, “asking about you, Gho
st. And your dolly.”
“But he didn’t hurt you,” Alice said. “He came here to cull the city, but you’re unharmed.”
“Everyone has some sort of use,” Bokki replied, looking past Shadow to meet her gaze. “And some of those uses are more valuable than others. Me and Grithis, we’re useful, because we keep people entertained and we keep information flowing. You’re useful because you’re pretty and you have a tight slit between your legs.”
Alice scowled and lowered her hands to tug her skirt down farther. Without pants, she was back to feeling utterly exposed.
“The Grinning Ghost, though…” Bokki continued, “he’s a liability. A problem. And now there’s a permanent solution.”
Shadow’s posture stiffened as he bowed his head. He released his hold on the knife embedded in the table and settled his hand on Bokki’s leg. Despite all his bravado, a glint of fear flashed in Bokki’s eyes. He looked miniscule with Shadow’s hand for comparison.
“I find that my patience has been worn quite thin, Bokki,” Shadow said quietly, “so I will allow you one—and only one—chance to apologize to Alice for the way you just spoke about her. She’s not a dolly, not an object, and deserves the same respect you would afford any of your peers.”
Now it was Bokki’s skin that paled. His nostrils flared with his suddenly ragged breaths. “Sorry,” he murmured.
“To her,” Shadow growled.
Bokki’s little tongue slipped out for a moment, and his nose twitched. He looked at Alice. “I’m sorry.”
“Respect, respect,” Grithis muttered, then smiled big, his attention focused solely on Alice. “Of course! Would you like a drink? Perhaps a cake?” He waved a hand toward the platter on the table. “You’re welcome to join us.”
“No, thank you,” Alice replied.
Grithis deflated, sagging in his seat as his face fell. Alice almost felt bad for refusing, but she wasn’t going to touch so much as a drop or a crumb of whatever they had.
“We’re here for answers, not refreshments,” Shadow said. He patted Bokki’s leg but did not remove his hand. “What did the king say? What is he doing? What’s the word ’round the party?”
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