She’d dreamed of Wonderland many times, but never like this. Never with so much detail. She could smell the wind, and colors she’d never seen in her life dotted the landscape. Vivid didn’t even begin to describe this.
“Follow me.”
Was he serious? “I’m not going anywhere with you.” Alice bit the inside her cheek. An owl hooted and she shivered.
“Fine.” He narrowed his eyes. “Then stay.”
He got up and she gulped. Though he stood a distance from her still, she knew he towered over her by a good foot. At five foot two, there wasn’t much that didn’t. He turned to go and she clenched her teeth.
A thwamping sound rang through the sudden stillness of the field, and her pulse thumped. She jerked, glancing over her shoulder. A chilling echo of laughter flitted through the dark silhouette of trees.
Just a dream. She squeezed her eyes shut.
Thwamp.
“You’re not really going to just leave me here, are you?” she yelled at his retreating figure.
He stopped, and even though it was dark, there was enough moonlight to the see the heated glare on his face. “Follow or stay.”
“Follow or stay. Follow or stay.” She muttered under her breath but rushed to catch up when she heard the next slithering thwamp.
He wouldn’t look at her and he wouldn’t stop. Alice wanted to kick him. If this was a dream, he’d be nicer. Which meant it wasn’t a dream. But then there was that whole white-rabbit thing.
Each step they took, the more and more she seethed. One step blurred into the next and the next until she wasn’t even sure how much time had passed, only that it felt like forever and the silent treatment was quickly starting to wear thin.
“You know, it wouldn’t hurt to be a little more polite.” The moment the words left her mouth, she wanted to kick herself. Why the hell did she care?
He didn’t stop and the field was now no longer a field but rolling hills full of ruts.
She panted, calves screaming as she gripped her side. Shoes would have been great right about now. Barefoot was so not fun, especially when dirt got between her toes and stones dug into her heels. But she would not stop and she would not beg him to either.
Since he wouldn’t talk and she couldn’t at this point, it gave her plenty of time to think. Whatever had happened tonight, she was pretty sure she wasn’t dreaming.
The sights, the smells, the burning pit of anger gnawing at her gut. No, she wasn’t dreaming. And she wasn’t dead. Because she was pretty sure dead people didn’t want to murder someone.
She eyed the back of his brightly painted, pin-striped suit. What was with the stupid getup anyway? Just how many pocket watches did one man need? She counted at least thirty, and that was on his back! Who did that? All her life she’d been infatuated by the man. Now…
She rolled her eyes when her heart fluttered at the sight of his broad shoulders. Stupid, traitorous emotions.
A bead of sweat plopped off the tip of her nose. Annoyed, she wiped her brow. When would this torture end? Where was he taking her?
“Dammit!” She hissed when she stepped on a twig, its rough edge easily slicing through her heel.
Alice grabbed hold of a thick tree branch and hopped on one leg as she tried to peer at the bottom of her foot.
Blood. She growled, swiping at the wet warmth of it. “I could kill him. I will kill him. That bastard. Why am I following him? This is stupid. Stupid, Alice. Why did you rub that card?”
“Alice!”
Startled to hear him call out her name, she glanced up. He was looking at her, his face stone cold, but his eyes held a frantic edge to them.
“Listen to me.”
She swallowed hard. His tone held a note of “Stay calm and don’t panic.” Never a good sign when someone started a sentence that way.
A long, sibilant hiss sounded in her ear.
She froze. Swallowing hard, she turned her face and came eye to eye with the black, beady eyes of a ginormous snake, a snake unlike any she’d seen before. Its forked tongue came to within inches of her nose. And now that she was aware of it, she wondered why the hell she hadn’t noticed the tree sported purple polka dots.
“Hatter,” she squeaked and slowly dropped her hand.
Her branch moved.
“Hatter,” she hissed. She couldn’t take her eyes from the beast, as if looking at it would somehow prevent it from wrapping its thick body around her own. “Help. Me.”
Strong hands latched onto her shoulders. Her eyes were still wide, and her knees felt locked in place. Hatter pinched her and she jumped, glaring at him.
“Get behind me,” he said.
She didn’t need to be told twice. Alice stepped into the shelter of his back. Her fingers clenched the edge of his jacket, watching in horror as he lifted out a hand toward the creature’s broad head.
“And truly I was afraid.” His deep voice hypnotized her, and she buried her nose in his jacket. “I was most afraid. But even so, honored still more / that he should seek my hospitality / from out of the dark door of the secret earth…”
There was nothing after that save the stillness of the breeze, the Hatter’s even breaths, and the wild rush of blood in her ears. It seemed an eternity before he turned.
“He’s gone. Are you okay?” He touched her face, and she hated that his soft touch felt so good.
“Does it matter? Do you care?” she snapped, jerking her face out of his hand even though that was the last thing she wanted to do. She wanted to touch him, to remember again the man who’d saved the dying little girl years ago, but she couldn’t forget how he’d been earlier.
His hand hung in midair for a moment until, with a slow nod, he dropped it. Hatter turned on his heel and started forward again. “Almost there,” he rumbled.
“Fine,” she said, equal parts wanting to cry and wanting to pick up a rock and throw it at the back of his head. But she did neither; instead, she limped along behind him, her gashed heel stinging every step of the way.
Moments later, Alice was surrounded by a swarm of dancing fireflies. They zipped in and out through trees, lighting the canopy of leaves with their golden, liquid radiance.
Hatter stopped. “Stay here.”
Their rest stop didn’t look like much. There were trees and glowing mushrooms, the spotted, glowing kinds you’d see in cartoons, and in an assortment of colors. A large swarm of fireflies congregated in and around them. She wiggled her toes, wanting to moan at the lush smoothness of soft grass beneath her feet. She needed to sit. Now.
“Whatever.” She groaned and plopped down. Her feet were a mess, covered in dirt and oozing blood. If there was a time to cry, now would have been perfect for it.
Instead, she watched Hatter reach out and swipe at one of the bugs. It bounced around in his palm frantically.
He was saying something. Growling it actually, but she couldn’t hear and really, she didn’t care.
Mad as a hatter.
Why had she ever thought that was sexy?
Chapter 4
“What kind of black magic is this?” Hatter hissed.
Danika’s wings fluttered against his palm as she shoved and pushed at him. “Hatter!” she squealed. “For the gods’ sake, open your palm! Damn you, man. You’re bending my wings.”
He shook his fist and eyed the little ball of light hard. “I told you not to bring her. Not only do you bring her, you bring her! What have you done? She should be old and withered, and yet she looks the same. How is that possible?”
The muscle in his jaw tensed when she didn’t answer quickly enough. He shook his hand harder.
“Open,” she roared, “or you’ll get no answers from me.”
He flung her from his hand. She rolled in a ball through the air before finally righting herself and glaring at him. Danika pointed her wand at his chest. “How dare you!”
“I dare much,” he growled. “What have you done, Danika?”
How could Danika have done
this? How could she have returned that venomous, viperous woman back to him? How was it even possible?
How could he have these feelings for Alice, these soft feelings that made him face a snake’s constricting coils to help her? He should hate her; he did hate her. After all she’d done to him, he wanted to shake her, kiss her, whisper his undying hate in her ears. Hatter grabbed his skull, willing himself to ignore the huddled bundle on the grass behind him. Up is down, down is up. Emotions made no sense. No sense.
“Look at me, I say.” Danika snapped her fingers.
“What?”
Danika’s face crumpled. “Are you not pleased, Hatter?”
“Pleased.” He wanted to roar, wanted to stomp on Danika’s mushroom home and smash his fist through her tree. “Pleased?” he asked again. “Why have you returned her? How have you returned her? Wonderland said no. No. No.” He grabbed his head again. Dizzy. Gods, he could smell her. Like caramel and the salty brine of sea.
When she’d clutched his jacket and pressed her nose into his back, he’d been aware, so very aware. Every inch of his body screamed for her. Wanted her. She was his Alice, the one he’d surrendered his heart to years before. Wicked, wicked Alice. She’d whispered of love, touched his body, made him yearn and need.
Betrayer. His nostrils flared. Evil little Alice with the forked tongue, just like the snake. He should have let the snake have her. Damn her.
“It’s not her, Hatter.” Danika grabbed his fingers, peeling them away from his eye.
He shook her off. “Of course it’s her.”
“No.” Her curls bobbed around her tiny head. “That Alice is nothing more than a withered husk.”
For a moment, a yawning chasm of ice filled his empty, shattered soul.
Danika pointed over his shoulder. “That is her great-granddaughter.”
Not the same Alice? “But her eyes, and the face. Pretty, pretty hair. Long and black with a widow’s peak. The itsy-bitsy spider crawls up the waterspout …”
A sharp slap stung his cheek. “Snap out of it. Now is not the time to lose your wits.”
Hatter blinked. “Why her? I hate her.”
“Hatter, no.” Danika petted the cheek she’d slapped, her cold little hand soothing. “You do not hate her. You do not know her. She is not the same. I swear it.”
He grabbed his head, trying to recall why he’d been so angry. Trying to hang on and remember, lest he lose the thought like he’d lost so many others. “You reached into the same bloodline. Why didn’t you tell me?”
She gave him a soft smile. “Because I know you. If you’d known, you’d never have come to get her.”
He took a breath, and Alice was there, her sweet, caramel warmth permeating the breeze. Hatter looked over his shoulder. She sat huddled on the ground, staring at her foot, a tiny frown marring her brow. He’d been cruel, forcing her to march without shoes. Forcing her to follow without speaking a word.
“I can’t, Danika.” He shook his head. “Take her back. Take her home.”
“You know that’s not how it works. She’s here. For three days. Try, Hatter.” Her blue eyes filled with tears. “You must try.”
He sighed. Couldn’t Danika see it was hopeless? And now she’d brought him the great-granddaughter of the woman who’d betrayed him, and expected him to what—trust that the same blood didn’t run through her veins?
“Heal her feet. They… bleed.”
“Oh, Hatter.” Danika sighed. “Open your eyes, boy, see what I can, before it’s too late.”
He ran his hand through his wavy hair. “Wonderland’s not accepted her.”
She frowned. “She’s only just gotten here. Give her time.”
He curled his lips. Always so positive Danika was. Every time it was the same thing. Next time. The next one. He was sick of it.
“No promises. Heal her feet,” he demanded again.
With a sigh, Danika flew toward Alice, becoming a golden streak of light that bobbed and weaved around her feet.
Alice yelped, snatching her feet back and then sighing happily when the bleeding stopped. Their eyes met and Hatter had no words; all he could do was stare and hope and hate. He clenched his jaw as Danika flew back to him.
“Take her to the waters. Have her wash her feet. They’ll be healed after that.”
Hatter nodded his thanks, then walked up to Alice and cleared his throat. “Come with me,” he said, much gruffer than he’d intended.
She frowned, pulling her bottom lip between straight teeth. “Where?” Wariness shone in her gaze.
“Just… come.” He grabbed her elbow, wishing he had more kindness in him. She wasn’t the same Alice, or so Danika said, and yet… The truth was hard to reconcile.
Huffing, she stood and jerked her elbow from his lax grip. “I can walk just fine, thank you.”
Hatter led them to the fairy waters a short distance behind the glen. Fairies, looking like lightning bugs the way they danced above the surface of the placid stream, added a magical, almost surreal quality to their surroundings.
He pointed to a depressed section of verdant grass. “Sit.”
She lifted a brow, an annoyed look creasing her forehead.
“If you please.” The words were thick on his tongue.
Reminding him of a queen the way she lifted her chin proudly, she sat cross-legged. “Well?”
Knowing he should apologize, not knowing how to even begin, he did the only thing he could think of. Hatter knelt by her side, a shiver rippling through him as her scent of caramel and sunshine tickled his senses, filled his head. He dipped his hand into the water. “Give me your feet.”
“Why? My feet feel fine really.”
She grabbed hold of them, tucking them tightly against her shapely thighs. He’d put her through this. He’d make it right. Gently, he traced the instep of her left foot.
“Give me your foot,” he asked again, gently.
Her big brown eyes softened, and she didn’t resist when he tugged it free. Dipping his hand into the chill waters, he scooped up a palmful and let it drizzle against her soft flesh. She moaned when he rubbed the water in.
“Oh wow, that’s so… Wow.” She sighed, leaning back on her hands, silently opening herself up to him further.
He smiled, knowing the magical properties of the water did more than heal a scrape or seal a wound. The waters here were the purest essence of life, making new what was old. He rubbed the liquid in, kneading the hurt and rawness away.
Leaning in so close, feeling the breath of her body flit against top of his head, he licked his lips. Alice Hu, whatever incarnation she came in, had a way of affecting him in the deepest marrow of his soul.
Her body heat so close, wrapping around him like hug, made him forget that he couldn’t lean in and kiss her, that she wasn’t his. That he didn’t want her. All he knew was this moment, this touch, the rhythmic movement of her breasts as she exhaled slowly.
His fingers trembled as he moved to her other foot, forcing himself to repeat the same torturous massage, trying in vain to forget how soft she felt, how good she smelled, how her lips parted ever so slightly, fuller on the bottom than the top.
Hatter swallowed hard. She wasn’t his. Not now. Not ever.
Jerking back, he waved his hand over her feet. His own magic ran hot through his veins as he called forth a pair of sparkling silver flats to cover her feet.
Standing, he nodded, molars grinding so hard his jaw ached. He could never forget who she was. What stock she hailed from.
A snake could shed its skin many times in its life, but it never stopped being a snake. New Alice couldn’t be so different from Evil Alice.
What do you want from me, Alice? What do you want?
Chapter 5
They walked again. Thankfully Alice’s feet were fine. Which was amazing. One second she wanted to cry from the stinging pain, and then the next second, the ball of firelight ran across her feet and she’d felt better. And then he’d washed her feet and sh
e’d felt amazing. Not an ache or pain anywhere the water had touched. Like she was a new person. Well, from the feet down anyway. And though there’d been nothing erotic or even sensual about his ministrations, her stomach and heart had fluttered like a girl with her first crush. He’d washed her feet, stood, and stared at her.
Maybe it’d been her imagination, but for just a moment, an infinite second in time, it’d seemed like he’d shared a piece of his soul, letting her peer deep into the burning depths of his heated gaze, but then he’d blinked and the spell (or whatever it’d been) had passed, leaving her shaken and tongue-tied.
He seemed different now. Not completely kind. Hell no, nothing that drastic. But there was much less hostility, which, she supposed, was better than nothing.
“I’m”—he cleared his throat and glanced at her from the corner of his eye—“the Hatter.”
Alice lifted her brow. “I pretty much figured that out.”
“Right.” He sighed and glanced to the side.
She rolled her eyes and huffed. “I’m Alice. Alice Hu.”
His jaw went rigid, but even so, her heart skipped a beat at the pure beauty and masculinity of his face. He was so much more than she remembered. Didn’t mean she’d forgiven him for what he’d done earlier. Not by a long shot.
But she hated silence. “So is this a dream or what?” At this point, she was 99.9999 percent certain this wasn’t a dream, but she wanted to talk. Even if that meant talking with the most sexy, infuriating man she’d ever met in her life.
“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream,” he said, words laced with a bitter sadness that made her heart tremble.
“Sure.” She was confused. Was he agreeing with her or not? Why did she suddenly want to wrap him in her arms? The haunted sorrow in his gaze touched something in her heart.
She set her jaw and tapped her hand against her thigh. The man was ridiculous, spoke in riddles, and yet—her stomach did a somersault—she couldn’t stop the mental pictures of him nude with her sprawled on top of him.
She groaned. He was mean. She didn’t like him. He’d freakin’ made her walk through a forest without shoes. Her tender feet had gotten bruised and bloody, and it was so easy to give in to the hate, but then he’d saved her from that damn snake, washed her smelly feet, and nothing made sense anymore. Since the moment they’d left the mushroom glade, he’d been acting different. Not so angry and cold.
[Kingdom 01.0 - 03.0] Kingdom Series Collection Page 4