Behind her, the lovely girl who had been mid-waltz with the prince wobbled and fell to the floor in a mess of taffeta and lace. “Gracious! My shoes are gone!”
“No glass slippers? No happily ever after.” With those as her parting words, she vanished in a puff of white smoke.
Blinking his astonishment, Sterling’s lips parted with a pop. “I… did not see this coming.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Mirror, I beseech thee! Tell me who or what that yellow-haired beastie was. She possessed information no mortal would be privy to.” Hands clenched into tight fists at his sides, Hades paced in front of Alastor’s mirror tomb. “And if you rhyme the answer, so help me I will shatter you into a thousand pieces and sprinkle the shards into the Sea of Souls.”
Voice absent of emotion, Alastor stated the facts as he knew them. “Who she is now, is not who she once was. Power from a slew of Olympus’s most formidable gods was poured into her shell. One amongst them is now driving the vessel. Which, I cannot say. For I cannot see into the soul of a being.”
“That’s unacceptable! When you convinced me to travel back in time and give her Pandora’s Box you said it would help my cause. But, the haunting words she spoke…” Continuing to pace, the Lord of the Underworld talked more to himself than the mirror. “Someone must have gotten to her. It could be Poseidon. That fish-scaled louse would like nothing more than to destroy me.”
In the midst of Hades’ long-winded rant, Alastor faded out. Moving through his mirror portals, he traveled under the sea to the sliver still in Vanessa’s possession.
While what he was hoping for was fast becoming impossible, he called out her name once… and again.
She didn’t respond. He knew she wouldn’t. Yet, she did float by with her arm flung around the shoulders of a mer-client. “My dear, sweet child, of course I can make you taller. How could your true love not reciprocate your feelings if there was simply more of you to you love? I should warn, it comes at a price. You can’t get something for nothing, you know.”
Alastor was about to give up—and return to Hades and his incessant demands—when Vanessa’s pets, Floteson and Jetteson, swam over for no other reason than to taunt him.
“You lost her, servant boy,” Floteson rasped, tongue flicking over the tips of his razor-sharp teeth.
Pantomiming a pout, Jetteson’s eyes crinkled with devilish delight. “The sea witch needs no one now, except us.”
Reasoning with fish.
That was what the all-knowing magic mirror had been reduced to.
“And what would you do to protect her?” Alastor lifted one brow in question.
“Are you threatening her?” Jetteson’s jaws snapped a hair’s breadth from the mirror’s flat face. Which would actually hurt him more than Alastor if he dared to chomp down on it, but zebra sharks aren’t known for their vast intelligence.
“We would do whatever it takes to keep her safe!” Floteson’s tail worked from side to side in agitated twitches.
“I’ve seen the future, boys. I know where the path she’s on will lead. Her thirst for vengeance will grow, forever seeking a way to hurt Triton. And she’ll find one. She’s brilliant and her plan will work… almost. A human boy will get in the way to protect the mermaid he loves. The two of you—who are in fact the only remaining link to her humanity—will be killed. Broken and furious, she will go on a vicious rampage and she will die. So I have seen, so it shall be. Unless, of course, you two love her enough to make her see it’s not too late to let go of her hatred and believe in second chances. Keep this mirror fragment nearby. When you hear me call out, convince her simply to glance at the reflection. She once saved the both of you. Do this, and you can do the same for her.”
Thanks to the fluidity of magic in that realm, Sterling followed Persephone with ease. That did not lessen his sense of vertigo when he materialized on top of the castle’s tallest tower. “Just don’t look down,” he coached himself, his eyes squeezed shut. “Even if the earth comes rushing up to meet you, don’t look down.”
“You shouldn’t have come, Sterling.” Persephone’s voice came from behind him.
“Fast realizing that,” he muttered under his breath, turning—slowly—to face her.
Holding up one hand to halt him, the other dangled the glass slippers over the edge. “Let me do this. Let me shatter the slippers and save that poor girl from marrying a monster.”
Swallowing hard, Sterling searched for the right words to soothe her pain. “Not all love stories have a tragic ending, Persephone. Not all men are monsters.”
Arm sinking slightly, she shot him a glare of disbelief.
“Your husband is,” Sterling admitted, braving a step closer. “He’s quite literally the Lord of Death and Mayhem. Still, sometimes you have to look past your own biases and have faith that things will work out. I’ve visited countless realms, and I can promise you I have found some element of good in every single one. Trust in that. You have magic. You know it can change everything. Let yourself believe that something as simple as a rose could break a dark spell. That wishes over a well really can come true. And that a pair of glass slippers,” moving with extreme caution, he reached for the shoes, “can change one young lady’s life for the better. Don’t deny her a happy ending because you have yet to find yours.”
Filling her lungs to capacity, Persephone stared out at the twinkling night sky. “Take the slippers. But don’t, for one instant, misconstrue that has me believing in the fantasy of happily ever after.”
She dropped the slippers into his outstretched hands and disappeared in a puff of white smoke.
“That could have gone better,” a muted voice interjected. “Then again, if could have gone far worse.”
Expelling a sigh of relief, Sterling dug into his satchel to retrieve his mirror shard. “Alastor, my friend, it is so good to hear your voice.”
“You may not feel that way for long. Alice’s action have launched Hades into a tirade. I can’t hold him off any longer. He will ask where he can find you, and I will have no choice but to tell him… Wonderland.”
Sterling instantly bristled. “That’s seems an adequate reason for us not to go there. Basically, anywhere else would be a better alternative.”
Alastor’s free-floating face tilted with compassion. “I know more than enough to understand why you were hoping to avoid a journey to that land, but the magic we need can only be found there. That is where the looking glass that could free us all awaits.”
Sterling sucked air through his teeth. “Are you sure, though? I’ve been a lot of places. Shockingly few are entirely unique.”
“I’m the all-knowing mirror. So… yeah, pretty sure.”
Sterling thought about running. Considered vanishing from all of this with a quick little jump. Then, realized he had come too far to regress to old habits. “For her, for all of us… I’ll do what I must.”
“Yes, it’s been easy to see that your driving force has been… us.” Sarcasm dripped from Alastor’s tone. “Speaking of motivating influences, I saw what transpired on that dance floor. I feel you should know I’ve watched that same scene play out a million times with a million different love-struck lads. Traditionally speaking, the moment when Persephone peered up at you and batted her lashes? That would have been the ideal time to try for that first kiss.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Sterling shook his head, teeth grinding to the point of pain. “If she’d kissed me back in there, I would know it wasn’t me she was kissing, but this.” Waving his hand in front of himself, he gestured to his prettied-up façade. “This isn’t me. One jump and I’ll be back to the striped freak with wild cat eyes.”
“And you fail to see how you’ve changed on this journey? Or how you’ve become someone she may find appealing regardless of how you look?” Alastor countered, as if that was the most ludicrous thing he had ever heard. “When you heard my voice tonight, what did you do?”
“Looked at your mirror, where the voice
was coming from?” Sterling’s voice rose just enough at the end to be a question.
“Do you not see the progress there? A few short weeks ago, had you heard a voice out of nowhere you would have thought a nearby pigeon was waxing philosophical with you. Now, with each jump into previous stops, you’re turning back the hands of time and recovering pieces of yourself you didn’t realize were missing. You’re not the scattered, erratic character you once were. Dare I say, you’re on your way to becoming a hero?”
Staring out at the silhouette of the mountains in the distance, Sterling saw his truth more clearly than he had in years. “I need no such title. All I care about is making sure Persephone and Alice are safe. I’ll sacrifice whatever it takes to ensure that.”
“Yet you consider yourself so monstrous…”
A fist of fear tightened around Sterling’s throat, threatening to cut off the question he desperately needed answered. “Being within the glass, you’ve seen everything? Know all of our secrets and horrors?”
Recognizing what his friend was hinting at, Alastor’s tone softened. “I do. I know the memory that has returned to you as your mind has healed.”
“I can’t conceal the truth from her in Wonderland. How can I possibly face her when she finds out?”
“With comfort and love, my friend. That’s the only way.” Alastor blinked Sterling’s way, seeing not the imp he first met falling from a tree but a man who had grown and embraced his own oddities. “Now, my friend, we’ve run out of time. Hades beckons. Gather your allies, ready your hearts, and hold onto your heads… because Wonderland awaits.”
Chapter Fifteen
The jump to Wonderland felt different than any Sterling had ever embarked on before. There was a finality to it, an ominous sense of dread that set in before he even stepped inside. In a pitch-black room, lit only by a wall sconce in the shape of a rose, awaited a red, six panel door that led to the end of their journey.
Hand curling around its ornate golden doorknob, Sterling hesitated. “Before we go in, I feel there’s something we should discuss.”
With a sigh of aggravation, Persephone shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I promise you, the slippers were returned. I put them back on that lovely girl with a snap of my fingers, she ran out, and one fell off just as planned. I would like to point out that they clearly don’t fit as well as that prince is counting on when they can’t even stay on her feet. Are we good? Can we go in now?”
“No, not that. Though I do appreciate you putting her story back on track. The thing is, when we crossover, I may vanish. I have a tendency to fade in and out here.” With the knuckle of one finger, Sterling scratched at the smooth surface of his cheek, knowing his scars were moments from returning. “In case I’m not around, you need to be aware that this realm is ruled by the most ruthless queen I have ever had the displeasure to know. Beheadings and torture are her chosen punishment for even the most minor offense.”
“Avoid the royal like she’s a circling shark.” Alice dipped her head in a brief nod of confirmation. “Got it.”
Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Sterling chose his words carefully. “She calls herself the Queen of Hearts, because she evokes fear in the hearts of all who experience her wrath. And I am one of that lucky many.” Chin to his shoulder, he glanced back at the women waiting expectantly for him to budge. “You’ve made jumps with me. You’ve seen how it is. Thrust into a new world, it takes time to learn the rules. Unfortunately, there was no time for even that luxury. I found myself wandering in the most lovely rose garden I had ever seen. Thinking nothing of it, I plucked one single rose. Soldiers appeared out of nowhere. They seized me by the arms and dragged me into the throne room of the looming castle. Lording over the room from her bejeweled throne, sat the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, yet her face was set in a scowl of hate. She asked me questions I couldn’t have answered on my most coherent of days. Things like, how is a raven like a writing desk? When I couldn’t answer, she ordered her men to string me up. My arms and legs were bound, splaying my limbs out wide. The queen herself floated down from her pedestaled throne with an item cradled in her palms. The second I saw it, I knew… I just knew.”
“Knew what?” Persephone managed in a raspy whisper.
“That it didn’t matter what I did or said, all she craved was bloodshed.”
Casting a leery glance toward the door, Alice’s eyebrows knit together tight. “What did she do?”
Sterling closed his eyes, as the memories and sensations flooded back in. “In her hand she held the glossy back talon of a Jabberwock.”
“What’s a Jabberwock?” Alice and Persephone chorused.
“If we’re lucky, we’ll make it out of Wonderland without you ever finding out.” A lone tear slipped from Sterling’s lashes as he vividly recalled the searing pain. “She smiled as she slipped the hooked talon between my lips… and ripped. I blacked out from the searing pain of my flesh shredding. Not wanting to ruin her fun, she waited for me to wake up before she did the other side. This is the threat that waits in Wonderland, and why we must stick together and be diligent above all else.”
Persephone paled. A million questions and uncertainties played across her face. Forcing all her doubts down with a brazen lift of her chin, she shoved Sterling aside and seized the doorknob. “All warnings are noted and appreciated. But somewhere in this land is the looking glass your mirror said I would need to defeat Hades. I’m sorry, Sterling, but I’ve come too far to turn back now.”
With that, she threw open the door and allowed the aroma of exotic flowers and moss to ride in on a breeze. The trio spilled out into a hedge maze comprised of towering, and immaculately maintained, rose bushes. They may have marveled at the vibrant colors. Breathed in the mingling scents of sunshine and fresh foliage. Admired the cloudless, cornflower blue sky. If there was time for any such thing before footfalls came closing in.
Backpedaling, Alice reached for the door handle that was no longer there. “Bad news, gang. There is no longer an exit. Whatever—or whoever—is coming, we are all in.” Glancing to her cohorts, her face crumbled into a cringe. “Where is Sterling, and what the hell are you wearing?”
Persephone was aware her form had gotten significantly heavier the second she stepped into Wonderland. She thought it was a quirk of the realm… until she looked down. From toe to chin she was draped in crimson. The realm had bestowed her with a full ball gown edged with black piping. It was drawn tight at the bodice, heaving her cleavage clear up to her chin. The collar rose in a high, heart-shaped arc behind her head, framing her elegant neck which was left exposed by her hair being pulled into a mass of curls on the crown of her head. “I… don’t know. To either question. Or why I’m wearing this and you’re still in that dreadful blue and white ensemble that started smelling atrocious two realms ago. No offense.”
“Some taken.”
Palms skyward, Persephone turned her hips in one direction then the other to inspect her elaborate gown. “Already, I think this place is a bit mad.”
“We’re all mad here,” a disembodied voice echoed all around. “But I’ll tell you a secret. All of the best people are.”
“Sterling?” Gathering up the fabric of her insanely heavy skirt, Persephone spun in a circle in search of him. “Where are you?”
“Everywhere… and nowhere, really.”
The sweep of a puffy purple tail drew the queen’s attention to the top of the hedge maze. Perched on top, sat Sterling. His striped skin was far more vibrant. The feline flare of his eyes glowed a brilliant green. His ears had elongated to furry points, and the tail was new. What remained was all Sterling.
“Sterling? You’re a cat!” Persephone’s feigned surprise lasted all of two beats. “Nope, can’t even act shocked. I think it’s safe to say we all saw that coming.”
“I remember now.” Sterling’s tongue played over the tip of one dagger sharp incisor. “They called me the Cheshire Cat, because I was famous on the stre
ets of London for vanishing… without a trace.” As he uttered the words, he vanished, leaving nothing behind but his manic smile. “I understand now. This place is an exercise of the imagination. After my first trip, the clock spun backwards. The puzzle pieces never quite fit into place. Now, we’ve turned it back, and it all makes sense. I’d explain more of my riddle of existence, but we’ve run out of time. Heads up, kids, we’ve got company.”
No sooner did he utter the words, than a drumming chorus of footsteps pounded in. They rounded the corner in a solid mass, a sea of bodies pouring in with perfected precision. Lining up, row after row, they assumed a tight formation in front of the outsiders who dared to barge into their realm.
Persephone folded her hands in front of her, and offered them a tight smile. “My apologies if we’re trespassing. We just arrived. I’m looking for my husband, you see. He’s a dreadful man. Really, he’s just the worst and—”
“Persephone, Goddess of the Summerland,” one among them called out, “we’ve been expecting you. It has been foretold that you would come and save Wonderland from the Jabberwock.”
Eyebrows vanishing into her hairline, Persephone’s mouth fell open. “That sounds… heroic. And really makes me wish someone had clued me in on what a Jabberwock was before we got here.” She cast a judgmental scowl Sterling’s way.
“It’s the most horrid beast you’ll ever see,” a soldier on the left side of the pack interjected. “It first swooped in under cloak of night, with its mighty wings beating against the sky.”
“Its jaws biting whoever and whatever they could,” added another near the center of the armor-clad cluster.
The voice of a third cracked as he recalled the nightmarish creature. “Flames shot from its eyes, scorching the forest and burning entire villages. Since it first entered this realm, we’ve lived in fear of the moments its ear-piercing shriek slices the sky and a fresh onslaught of terror begins.”
The Unfortunate Souls Collection Page 49