The Unfortunate Souls Collection

by Stacey Rourke

  As omens go, that’s never a good one.

  Bouncing on the balls of her feet, Titonis clapped her hands in giddy delight. “He’s coming! As soon as I can get through to him I must apologize for how harsh I spoke in the Underworld. Then, we can come together in a place of love and forgiveness.”

  “You’re an idiot in this realm,” Persephone muttered under her breath, her pulse pounding in her ears. “Sterling, eat it or drink it… quickly.”

  No sooner did the words leave her lips, than an inky black shadow sailed above the wall of thistles. The Jabberwock jack-knifed in mid-flight, then rocketed straight for them. His jaws open as he dove, teeth gnashing with vicious intent. At the last possible moment, he pulled up short and landed on the log, crushing it under his massive weight. Horned head thrown back, he screeched a call to the night sky that would make Olympus tremble.

  Wearing a mask of utter disgust, Sterling grabbed the dormouse by the tail… and swallowed it whole.

  He gagged once.

  And again.

  Then managed to force it down.

  The same instant he did, an elaborately carved wardrobe appeared at the head of the table. Its doors flung open wide to reveal a full-length looking glass within.

  Falling down on all fours, Sterling dry heaved into the grass. “I did it!” His back arched, making him look more like a cat than ever before as he hacked up a nonexistent furball. “I actually did it!”

  The Rabbit and Hatter encouraged his efforts with a smattering of applause and disgusted grimaces.

  Persephone managed to lock eyes with him for a brief moment of mutual victory, before chasing after Titonis who was inching her way closer to the Jabberwock. She may have been mad, but she didn’t want to spook the scaly love of her life.

  The Jabberwock’s neck rolled with reptilian grace, his eyes narrowing at the moronic prey making a sorry excuse at sneaking up on him—namely, Titonis.

  “Hades, I know that’s you,” Titonis began, she held her hands out before her to indicate she meant him no harm. “I just want to talk.”

  Persephone had to give her credit. She was bold. Unafraid. A shocking combination considering Titonis was stuck inside of the body of the same preteen who made Hades cower before her on their last encounter.

  “This is going to sound ludicrous,” Titonis warned, seemingly fearless of the hulking monster before her, “but I need you to listen. It’s not too late. Together, you and I can save Vanessa. Our daughter needs us. We can finally be a family. This maybe be hard to believe, my love, but it’s me, Ti—” Her sentence was cut off by a gurgled gasp, blood bubbling over her lips.

  The Jabberwock’s tail had whipped around at lightning speed, one of the spiked barbs on the end impaling Titonis. Skewered through the gut, she couldn’t scream out or finish the revelation she thought would change everything. As the life drained from her core in torrents, she sank to the ground in a lifeless heap. Only then did the magic binding her fade, morphing Alice’s shape into that of the merqueen.

  With a sharp intake of air, the Jabberwock stumbled back… the reality of what he had done gutting him as he had his true love. A pitiful howl quaked from his lips as his leathery head lowered to tenderly nudge her.

  “I think I’ve had enough tea for today.” Keeping a watchful eye on the nightmarish beast, the Hatter slid from her chair.

  “And I as well. Let’s leave our new friends to their party.” Hopping to his feet, the Rabbit hid behind the Hatter’s legs.

  Not taking their eyes off the Jabberwock for an instant, the pair backed toward the tree line and disappeared from sight amidst the foliage.

  All the while the Jabberwock wailed and a red haze of hate clouded Persephone’s vision. “She loved you and look what that got her.” Tapping into her well of magic, the vengeful queen let it surge and flow through her in an open current of power. She raised one hand and unleashed her fury. Crackling tendrils of energy surged from her palm, ensnaring the Jabberwock by the neck and forcing him from the ground. The talons of his back feet scraped at the earth. His yellow eyes bulged. Seeing him struggle only encouraged Persephone to squeeze harder. “She wanted to save you from yourself. But there’s nothing left of you to save. You’re a beast incapable of kindness. A broken and twisted thing beyond repair!”

  “Persephone.”

  “Choke on all the pain you caused, you monster!” Persephone’s face contorted with rage, a red flush creeping up her neck to her earlobes. “All the heartache and isolation you put me through! Titonis dying twice for you! Your own child alone under the sea because you were too selfish to seek her out. Take in every ounce of sorrow you caused!”

  “Daughter of Zeus, gentle Goddess of the Spring, I beseech thee.” Something in the peaceful stillness of that voice cut through the screaming in Persephone’s mind.

  Keeping her scale-covered husband pinned right where he was, her head snapped around to find a haunting face staring back at her from within the looking glass.

  His features were male, yet there was little more to him than a ghostly silhouette. “Your anger is real and justified. Yet it’s about to cost you the same soul-crushing price it did Hades.”

  Icy awareness prickled down Persephone’s spine. Head whipping in one direction and then the other, the ends of her sweat-soaked strands slapped against her shoulders. “Where’s Sterling? Did he make it through looking glass? Tell me he’s safe!”

  “He paid the price to open the portal… for you. Now, magic is killing him. Cast the table aside and see for yourself.” While the mirror spoke with an emotionless timbre, his nostrils flared with a panicked urgency. “His only chance to survive is to cross over to a realm where such curses do not exist. For that, he needs you.”

  Praying to Olympus he was wrong, Persephone tossed the table aside with a flick of her wrist.

  Tea cups went flying.

  Scones rained down.

  Dishes shattered.

  And the Queen of the Underworld let out a whimper.

  Splayed in the grass, mere inches from the looking glass, laid Sterling, lips kissed the blue hue of death. His feline traits were fading before her eyes. She didn’t have to ask to know that when the cat vanished, so would he.

  Gone from her life forever.

  Torn between her vengeance and conscious, Persephone refused to give up on either. “Sterling, hold on!”

  One hand held the Jabberwock in the prison of her control, the other cast out a bubble of energy to cocoon Sterling and float him from the ground. She thought she could deliver him through the glass.

  She was wrong.

  Her power bounced off the face of the mirror, unable to break through.

  “I’m afraid it’s not that simple, Your Highness.” Behind the man in the mirror, the faint image of roiling tentacles appeared, as if he was somehow channeling yet another realm. “Only you can open the portal. He can’t leave… unless you do.”

  “No! Hades cannot win! I can’t allow him to hurt anyone else!” Leaving Sterling suspended in midair, she threw herself into a fresh attack on the Jabberwock. Her essence surged through him in electrifying voltage, his limbs locked rigid with each jolt.

  “If you would let Sterling die simply to punish Hades, you’re already lost,” Alastor boomed to be heard over her thunderous assault.

  Chest rising and falling in frantic pants, Persephone’s arms fell slack at her sides. Chin quivering, she glanced to the mirror in hopes of finding resolution to her years of anguish. “He can’t get away with all he did. He can’t.”

  “Look at him,” the mirror commanded. “Does he appear to have made it through this unscathed?”

  In Persephone’s eyes, Hades would always be a heartless devil.

  Still, one glance at him now and the truth was hard to deny. Freed from her wrath, he didn’t fight back. There was no swooping in with his jaws snapping. Instead, he sank to the ground alongside Titonis and curled his massive frame protectively around her.

  �
��No matter what happens now, he will forever be haunted by the sins that cost him everything. Don’t make that same mistake.” The mirror’s expression softened with something that resembled compassion. “You can’t have it both ways. You can either stay here in an endless loop of battling a being who can’t be killed. Or, you can let go of your hate and finally claim your elusive happily ever after. What will it be, my Queen?”

  Persephone’s fingertips twitched with magic capable of deciding her fate. The possibilities tugged at her from both sides, ripping her in two.

  Forgiveness.

  Rage.

  Hope.

  Reckoning.

  She couldn’t hold onto to one without losing the other.

  If she was being honest with herself, she knew how the rose petals would fall before ever stepping foot in Wonderland.

  Squeezing her eyes shut, a rogue tear slipped from her lashes.

  Well aware nothing would ever be the same again, the goddess lifted her chin and took a bold step toward her destiny…

  “Floteson! Jetteson! Now!”

  Epilogue

  “Then an epic battle broke out. The Queen of the Underworld blasted the Jabberwock with fireballs!” Bounding to his feet, my son pretended to use his hands to shoot fire around the nursery. “Pew! Pew! Pew!”

  “Shhh,” I chuckled, pulling him in close to my side. “It’s not always an epic battle, my love. Sometimes the greatest war we will ever fight is with ourselves.”

  With a fluff of blonde curls framing her cherub-face, my daughter rested her head on my shoulder and blinked up at me from under her forest of lashes. “Did Persephone stay or did she go, Mama?”

  Closing the leather-bound book, I laid it in my lap and wrapped an arm around each of them. “Some say that she stayed. That she spent the rest of her life on a constant hunt for a way to kill the Jabberwock.”

  “Is that what you think happened to her, Mama?” My son traced one plump little finger over the image stamped into the book cover. The design was a unique one that featured a mirror with tentacles twining up it, and a fluffy cat tail draped over its peak.

  Dipping my head, I dotted a kiss to each of their foreheads. “My Darlings, I believe she let go of her hate and carried the Cheshire Cat with her as she stepped through the glass. And in a land untouched by magic, all the scars that had been left on their bodies and hearts faded, allowing them both to start anew.” Filling my lungs to capacity, I stared out the window at the puttering Model T’s passing on the street below. “I think that clever mirror conspired with those zebra sharks to place the shard of mirror before the Sea Witch at the precise moment that allowed them both to be saved from their unfortunate fates as well.”

  “But, Mama, the witch and the mirror are still in all the storybooks! Doesn’t that mean they’re still there?” My ever-inquisitive daughter’s face screwed up into an adorably dubious mask.

  “Wendy Darling, you are such a bright thing,” I cooed. “I suppose because of those stories, that part of their lives will live forever in infamy. But I like to think they broke free and found peace and happiness. It’s a far more lovely outlook, don’t you think?”

  “I used to think the story was about you, Mama. Because your name is Persephone just like hers. And Daddy’s name is Sterling.” Catching one of her golden ringlets, Wendy twirled it around her finger.

  “What was it that convinced you that it wasn’t?” Head tilted, my eyes narrowed with interest.

  “Because we know you change the names to make it seem real,” John answered for his sister, stifling a yawn. “That’s why Aunt Vanessa and Uncle Alastor are in there, too!”

  “Speaking of, you sweet angels need to go to bed if you’re going to go swimming with them and your cousins tomorrow.”

  “Awwww, but we’re not tired!” both children whined and flopped themselves onto the floor.

  “Quiet now,” I soothed, glancing to the crib in the corner of the nursery. “We don’t want to wake baby Michael. Speaking of, it’s time for bed for you two.”

  Pushing off the rug, Wendy sat up and folded her arms over her chest with a pout. “I’m not going to bed until Papa kisses us goodnight!”

  “A night without a kiss? What curious form of punishment is this?” I heard Sterling before I saw him. Jumping down from the loft overhead, he landed gracefully on his feet before us. Time had grayed his wavy hair a bit at the temples, yet the twinkle in his eyes was as bright and mischievous as ever. The only lines that marred his face were a few wrinkles from smiles and laughter.

  “Papa!” the children crowed and leapt up to grab their Daddy in tight bear hugs around each of his legs. “How did you get up there?”

  “Up there?” He pointed, feigning confusion. “I haven’t a clue. Sometimes I just… end up places.” On the sly, he winked my way. “Now, Nanny is downstairs and the car has just arrived to take your mother and I to the theater. Tonight’s show is A Midsummer’s Night Dream. I fully intend to sleep through it, but based on the title, I’m sure your mother will love it.”

  “Because she was the goddess of spring time.” Bouncing onto her bed, Wendy wriggled under the covers.

  “Oh, was she now?” Taking a knee beside her bed, Sterling tucked her in tight. “And that makes me, who? The loopy cat everyone loves to laugh at?”

  Catching her father’s face between her palms, Wendy made him look her straight in the eye. “No, Papa. He became the hero. All it took was for people to believe in him.”

  I watched my husband’s chin tremble and fought back my own hot rush of tears.

  Taking hold of one of her hands, he pressed a kiss to her palm. “That’s all any of us need, my Darling. Now, off to sleep with you. I need you well rested for your adventures tomorrow. Uncle Alastor thinks he’s the fastest swimmer around, and it’s up to you to prove him wrong.”

  Turning on to her side, Wendy’s heavy lids were already falling shut. “Did you leave the window open in the loft, Papa?” she murmured. “You know it has to be open if Peter Pan drops by.”

  “But, if this is the realm without magic, Pan can’t be real.” John grabbed his special blankie and wrapped it around his shoulders before climbing into bed.

  Ruffling his hair, Sterling’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “That’s the secret, my boy. No land is completely without magic. A bit of it lives in every single one of us.”

  Leaning over the crib rail, I brushed the down soft hair from baby Michael’s forehead. Then met my husband at the door where we both blew kisses to our sleepy children.

  “Mama?” Wendy called the instant I clicked off the light. “If they did make it through the looking glass, what do you think happened to the Queen of Hearts and Cheshire Cat?”

  Meeting Sterling’s loving gaze, I spoke the beautiful truth of my heart. “My Darling, their story ended as all fairy tales do… with them living happily ever after.”

  The End

  About the Author

  Stacey Rourke is the award-winning author of works that span genres. She lives in Florida with her husband and two beautiful daughters. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction, and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head.

  Connect with her at:

  www.staceyrourke.com

  Facebook at www.facebook.com/staceyrourkeauthor

  Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2l8FlbH

  or on Twitter or instagram @rourkewrites

  If you enjoyed The Unfortunate Soul Chronicles, pick up these other titles by Stacey Rourke:

  The Gryphon Series

  The Conduit

  Embrace

  Sacrifice

  Ascension

  Descent

  Inferno

  Revelation

  The Legends Saga

  Crane

  Raven

  Steam

  Reel Romance

  Adapted for Film

  Turn Tables

&nbs
p; TS901 Chronicles

  Co-written with Tish Thawer

  TS901: Anomaly

  Coming Soon: TS901: Dominion

  Veiled Series

  Veiled

  Vlad

  Coming Soon: Vendetta

  The Journals of Octavia Hollows

  Wake the Dead

  Dead Man’s Hand

  Caught Dead

  Drop Dead Gorgeous

  Dead Ringer

  Dead as a Doornail

  The Unfortunate Soul Chronicles

  Rise of the Sea Witch

  Entombed in Glass

  Pursuing Madness

  The Archive of the Five

  The Apocalypse Five

  Coming Soon: Rogue Five

  Coming Soon: Freedom Five