A Blade So Black

by L. L. McKinney

  “Anastasia,” Hatta snapped.

  “I know,” Alice cut in before he could continue with whatever he was going to say. “I know we don’t have a lot of time, but I’m all she’s got, and I’ve been hiking through the wilderness and fighting off fucking monsters and shadow-wielding assholes, and I’ve only got more of that to look forward to, so I’d like to take a couple of hours to hug my mother!”

  Three pairs of wide Wonderlandian eyes blinked at her. One pair kept changing color.

  “Then, take them.” Hatta broke the silence. He struggled to his feet with a wince, moving over to her. “Like you said, you’ve been pushing through for what had to be days on the other side. A few hours isn’t going to hurt us.” He pitched a look over his shoulder at the Duchess, who just wrinkled her nose a little but remained silent, then ran his hands up Alice’s arms to her shoulders, squeezing. “Hug your mom. Get some rest.”

  Alice nodded, hoping he didn’t feel the shiver that moved through her. “This doesn’t mean I’m giving up on this. Or you.”

  He smirked. “Never. Go on now.”

  “I’ll be back.” Alice looked to Maddi. “Call me if you need me, okay?”

  The Poet gave a thumbs-up, and Alice turned to make her way back out to the bar. She scrubbed her hands over her face and swallowed the groan welling against the back of her throat. Could this night get any worse?

  “Of course it can, so just shut up,” she hissed at herself as she rounded the corner and nearly ran into Odabeth, who stood in the entry to the bar. She’d changed into a pair of sweatpants and a Hello Kitty shirt that were too small, clearly borrowed given the way the sweatpants hugged the princess’s frame and didn’t reach past her ankles. She still managed to look regal as hell as she toyed with the jewel around her neck.

  The twins had come out as well, pausing their quiet conversation in Russian as Alice entered the room. She looked from the twins to Chess and Court—the latter eyeing the boys like they were a double scoop of ice cream—then to Odabeth. “Your Highness.”

  The princess lifted a hand. “After today, that won’t be necessary. I owe you my life, Alice. I’d hoped that this is where we might be able to call each other friend.”

  Well, that was a surprise. Alice blinked before smiling. “I’d like that.”

  “Then please, call me Odabeth. You two as well,” she said, looking at the twins.

  “O-okay.” Alice hadn’t expected that. Neither had the twins, given the looks on their faces.

  “Good, good. Now then…” Odabeth nodded as her jaw tightened. “How do we proceed with the plan to help my mother? And Hatta,” she added, hurriedly.

  “You mean where we gather all the magical body parts so this Black Knight can resurrect an evil queen and let her lay waste to our world and yours,” Dem muttered, arms folded over his chest. “That plan?”

  Alice cut a glare at Dem. “Yes, that plan. Only we’ll stay ahead of the Black Knight so the laying waste doesn’t happen.”

  Odabeth nodded. “Tell me what you have in mind. What do you need from me?”

  “We find the Eye, use it to locate the Heart, then keep them under close guard until you’re able to use the Heart to cure Hatta and your mother. Then one, or the both of you, scatters it all to the winds again.” Now that she said it out loud, it didn’t sound like a plan so much as what she hoped would happen.

  “You’re really going through with this?” Dee asked, his gaze bouncing between Alice and Odabeth. “Even though the Black Knight might be tricking us into doing it?”

  The princess peered down the length of her nose at the twins. “Am I wrong to believe you Tweedles are up to such a task?”

  “Not wrong at all,” Dem snorted. “But there’s a difference between being able to handle trouble and walking face-first into it.”

  “Get that out of a fortune cookie, did you?” Dee eyed his brother.

  “Zatkn’ees.” Dem shoved his twin, and the bickering picked up instantly.

  Court “mmphed” under her breath. “I can maybe appreciate why guys like watching catfights…”

  Odabeth ignored the twins, looking back to Alice. “I saw you face those monsters. I know how capable you are. You saved me. Twice. You saved X-Xelon.” She looked away then, her breath catching. “I did not get a chance to express my gratitude.” She faced Alice again with a regal lift of her shoulders. “You have our thanks.”

  Alice hesitated, rubbing at the back of her neck. “Uh, you’re welcome. Just doing my duty or whatever.”

  “Exactly. You are a great warrior who sees her duty done. Ignore what Hatta said before. You and I, we can do this. They can help.” She gestured to the twins, who were in a full-blown spitting match. Court ogled them, biting her lower lip, like she was watching a striptease instead of a battle.

  Alice turned the words over in her mind. She understood the reasons for Hatta’s refusal. Doing all of this would almost be like flipping the switch on a nuclear power plant. So much could go so wrong so very fast. But with fail-safes in place, and people who knew what they were doing—like Alice, the Tweedles, the Duchess, and Xelon when she was healed—they could definitely handle the Black Knight.

  “All right,” Alice answered. “We got this.”

  “Excellent!” Odabeth clapped her hands together, and the twins stopped bickering to glance over.

  “We’re with you,” Dee said.

  “Okay, well, what’s our next move?” Court asked.

  Alice faced her friend, arching an eyebrow. “Our next move?”

  “Oh, I’m part of this. You want me to keep covering your ass, you let me in on the juicy bits.” Court lowered her gaze before mumbling, “The Russian-speaking juicy bits.”

  Alice rolled her eyes but smiled. You are impossible. The look Court gave her in return made it believable she’d heard.

  “I’m in, too,” Chess said. “I literally have no idea what’s going on, but it sounds like you’re going to need all hands on deck. Even clueless ones.”

  “So.” Court clapped then rubbed her palms together. “Next move.”

  “Next move, we find the Eye,” Alice said. “Wherever Hatta’s hidden it. And he’s not in a sharing mood.”

  “I may be able to help with that.” Odabeth fingered the jeweled star hanging around her neck. “There’s a Verse my grandmother would use to invoke the power of the Eye. Since her downfall it’s been forbidden to cast. I tried it once, when I was younger, when I was missing her. Nothing happened, but the Eye was in another realm at the time. Now that I’m here as well, maybe it will work.”

  The twins looked skeptical.

  Alice shrugged. It wasn’t much, but she said, “What’ve we got to lose.”

  Odabeth nodded, though she hesitated. “Perhaps it is best if we try this in a less restricted space.” She glanced around the bar. “The results in the past could be … intense.”

  Alice pointed at the door. “Everybody outside.”

  They all shuffled through the exit, out onto the sidewalk, and into the nighttime chill. Streetlights filled the air with an orange glow, hazy against the sparkling backdrop of downtown. Alice checked her phone. 7:56 PM. Still time. Hopefully.

  When they’d all gathered in the cracked parking lot beside the building, Odabeth studied the clear sky. Cradling the gem in her hands, she released a soft breath, then held it up.

  “Twinkle, twinkle, all-seeing star. Show us wonders near and far.” As Odabeth spoke, her voice took on a faint, echoing quality that hung in the air, building instead of fading. The words grew louder, meshing together to become a hymn-like resonance.

  “I’ve never heard this version,” Court whispered. Alice shushed her, eyes on the princess.

  “In the midnight sky you keep,” Odabeth continued, “watch over the dark and deep. I beseech the masters old, search my heart for worth bestowed. Menders of the breaking skies, clear my mind, open my eyes.”

  As the sound of her voice rose, the pendant in her hand beg
an to shine, softly at first. Then the glow grew, brightening until everyone squinted or lifted their hands to shield their eyes. The light burned, blinding, then flickered and went out completely.

  “Did it work?” Chess asked after several seconds of silence.

  Alice squinted, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness. Court rubbed her eyes. The twins shook their heads as if trying to clear them.

  Odabeth stared at the ground.

  Chess did as well, eyes wide. “That was a magic spell. Like actual magic. Holy shit.”

  Alice looked down, blinking to clear her vision. With each fall of her lids, a soft trail of gold revealed itself. It started at Odabeth’s feet and fissured outward, split into six lines. Two of them led out of the parking lot and made a sharp right turn along the sidewalk. A third darted out into the street and kept going. The remaining three lines trailed to each of the twins and Alice. They pulsed gently, winking in and out as they climbed their legs.

  “Kakogo cherta?” Dem smoothed his hands over one thin streak of light where it ended at his thigh.

  “No clue.” Dee traced the trail up his leg with his fingers, then rubbed them together.

  Alice smoothed her hand against her own leg, marveling at the phenomenon.

  “Um, Alice?” Court tapped Alice’s hip where a faint glow the same color as the trail pulsed in tandem with it.

  “What the hell?” Alice shoved her hand into her pouch, fingers wrapping around something hard and warm. She pulled the object free and held it up.

  The mirror Maddi had given her before she went into Wonderland, identical to ones the twins now plucked from their pockets. All three shone with the same light, thrumming like a faint heartbeat.

  “What’s going on?” both boys asked.

  “It’s in pieces,” Alice murmured. “The Eye. That’s how Hatta hid it.”

  Dee flipped his mirror over in his hands and played his fingers against the reflective surface. “Six lines, six pieces.”

  “And we already have three,” Dem said. “Convenient.”

  “Maybe.” Alice followed the two lights that made a right at the sidewalk. “Or maybe something more. These should lead us to the remaining sections of the mirror.” The trail turned again, right into the pub.

  “One’s gotta be the Duchess,” Dee said.

  “Then the other is Hatta,” Alice said.

  “What about this one?” Odabeth stood at the lone trail a few feet off to the side. It continued up over the hill, vanishing from sight.

  “I don’t know.” Alice glanced in that direction, wondering where the trail might end.

  “Since we already know where these two lead,” Dem said, pointing, “I say we find the mystery piece.”

  “Okay.” Alice paced back and forth a few times, her fingers tapping at her lower lip. They needed to be smart about this, stay ahead of the Black Knight. “Dee, Dem. You two stay here, with the princess and your mirrors. Take this one.” She handed Maddi’s mirror over to Odabeth. “More shards here, more muscle to guard them. Let the Duchess know what’s going on, and you all can work together to get Hatta’s mirror. That’s five down.”

  The twins nodded.

  “And you?” Dee asked.

  “I’ll track down the last piece with Court and Chess.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Dem headed for the pub, beckoning Odabeth to follow.

  “What about your mom?” Court asked. “She expects you home soon and is already fit to be tied. If you’re late…”

  Alice flung her hands into the air. “I know! She’ll probably ground me forever, or kick my ass—but this is literally life or death. I’ll take the beatdown, just … let’s go.”

  Alice, Court, and Chess piled into the Camaro. The instant the engine turned over, Court peeled out of the lot and onto the street. During the ride, Alice managed an awkward-as-hell explanation of Dreamwalkers, Nightmares, Wonderland, and everyone back at the pub while trying to focus on the road and the thin trail of light that disappeared now and then under the direct glow of streetlights. They lost it a couple of times, having to backtrack here and there. Chess took all of it in stride—seeing Odabeth perform the Verse probably helped. His knee was bouncing awful hard in the back seat, though. He nodded. And nodded. And nodded, repeating the phrase “Well, all right” whenever a new bit of information was offered.

  “Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”

  Alice shrugged, fighting the urge to sink down in her seat. “I didn’t know you. At first. Then I didn’t know what you’d think of all this, of me. If you even believed me.”

  “Yeeeaaaaah, it … it’s pretty damn unbelievable.” He reached to set a hand on her shoulder. “But I did just watch a princess from another world perform a spell to find a magic talisman to save your boss and possibly the world from an ancient evil. Which is equal parts unbelievable and awesome. So you’re still the coolest person I know.”

  Alice twisted in her seat to find him smiling at her. She couldn’t help but return it, feeling some of the tightness in her chest loosen a bit. It felt good, telling him all of this, telling somebody all of this. Courtney knew, but she knew from the beginning. It had been over a year of keeping this secret. Now it weighed a little less.

  “Um, this has got to be a joke.” Court guided her car into a wide lot.

  The three of them stared through the windshield, Chess leaning in from the back, as they pulled up in front of their school.

  “We sure they got the right place?” Court asked.

  “Uh-huh. There’s the path.” Chess pointed to the trail of starlight that led up to the building, climbed the wall, and vanished into a third-floor window.

  Alice suddenly knew, without a doubt, where it would lead. “It’s in my locker.”

  Twenty-Three

  ONE TO GO

  Alice gawked at the school through the Camaro’s windshield. Everything looked different in the dark. The brick of the building had taken on a purple quality, shadowed under the cloudy night. The windows were dark, the blinds pulled, closing the entire place off. The empty parking lot stretched on like a concrete desert.

  “Didn’t know this place could look so creepy.” Court cut the engine.

  Alice kicked the underside of the dashboard.

  “Easy!” Courtney held an arm out in front of the dash protectively.

  “I can’t believe I didn’t realize it sooner.” Alice knocked her head back against the headrest. “Or that I have a piece of a powerful relic just chillin’ in my locker.” If Hatta had told her what it was, she would’ve taken better care of it, gotten an extra lock, locked it in a box inside the locker with the extra lock, something! But no, can’t tell Alice anything important, apparently.

  “Soooooo,” Alice drew the word out as she straightened in her seat. “Any idea on how to get inside?”

  “And somehow get to your locker, get the mirror, and get out without breaking any windows, picking any locks, setting off the alarms, and possibly winding up in jail?” Court glanced over her shoulder. “Not one. ’Cause Hatta’s hot and all, but I don’t do time for a pretty face.”

  Alice eyed the metal double doors at the front of the building, her mind working out just how the hell they were going to do this.

  “You’re seriously considering breaking into the school?” Court asked.

  “I could get us in,” Chess offered from the back seat.

  Both girls turned to stare at him.

  He lifted his hands. “If it’s important, I wanna help.”

  “You could get us in there?” Court asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

  He pressed his lips together, glancing to the side, and shifting a little before meeting their gazes again, though he didn’t hold them. Finally, he sighed and said, “I may or may not have been kicked out of my last school for … similar activities.”

  Court’s face went from suspicious to shocked, then sly all in a blink, a smirk curling her lips.

  “I
t’s not what you think.” Chess waved his hands. “I didn’t steal anything. It was a stupid dare-slash-bet. I wasn’t caught, but the jackass who dared me ratted me out instead of owning up.”

  Court snickered.

  Alice couldn’t help grinning, too. “Looks like I wasn’t the only one keeping secrets.”

  “Touché.” Chess sighed before looking back to the school. “We can’t do it right now, though. It’s too early, and I need to get a few things.”

  “Chester.” Court purred his name. He flinched. “I didn’t know you had this darker side. Think I’ll start calling you Clyde.”

  He scowled, though there was no real malice behind it. “Only if I can call you Bonnie.”

  “Right, so.” Alice took a breath. “We take you home, you get your cat-burglar kit together, and you meet us back here when?”

  “Late, like three,” Chess said. “And not here, a few blocks over. Don’t want our cars on the security cams.”

  “Huh.” Court eyed Chess, her mouth turned down as she gave an impressed nod. “I like this Clyde-Chess.”

  “Just Chess is fine,” he muttered as Court started the car and pulled out of the lot.

  After they dropped Chess off at home, Alice called the bar and let Maddi know what the plan was and was pleased to find the Duchess had handed her mirror right over. They found Hatta’s in his office. The good news was he didn’t put up a fight about it. The bad news was he didn’t put up a fight because he’d had another episode. After five minutes of assurance from Maddi that he would be okay, it wasn’t half as bad as before, Alice hung up and flung her phone into the back seat.

  “What’s wrong?” Court asked quietly.

  “He’s getting worse. Can you believe that fool is ready to die?” Anger warred with the burn of tears. “On top of that, his headass is ready to make me watch it happen.”

  “It’s okay, Alice.” Court glanced back and forth between her and the road. “Seriously, everything’s gonna be fine. We’ll get your mirror, then get the Eye thingy and all that other stuff. He’ll live. You two still have to hook up; he can’t go out before that.”