Late as a Rabbit (Sons of Wonderland Book 2)

by Kendra Moreno

  “Girl,” Alice says, gesturing to the stairs below her throne. “Come sit at my feet. The show is about to begin.”

  White watches with solemn eyes as the Cards prod me towards Alice, towards my mission. I just need to get closer. I meet his gaze for a moment, knowing that the fate of Wonderland and my rabbit depends on me tying the cord. I know this could be the last time I see him, that I can die in the process. But if my rabbit gets to stay alive, then that’s enough for me.

  I take in every detail as I’m led towards the throne. Closer, I need to be closer. I’m shoved down roughly at the foot of the throne, stumbling over the stairs that the Cards just assume I don’t need to step on. I slam into the stone, hard, and grunt from the impact before righting myself. I’m still too far away.

  “Open the gate,” Alice commands, and I watch with wide eyes as the metal grate in the pit begins to rise. Something roars in triumph, and my heart stops.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  White and Hatter both back away as the creature breaks free. Slowly, three heads emerge, canine, resembling giant bloodhounds if I compare them to a breed. When the body steps free, I realize that this one creature has three heads, much like the tales of Cerberus. There are collars around each neck, cutting deep enough to bleed. The red coats their fur, running down the chest in rivulets.

  “Bayard,” Hatter says, his body blocking Clara and holding her against the wall. “It’s us, Hatter and White.”

  One of the heads snaps out in anger, no recognition on its face.

  “That isn’t Bayard anymore.” White keeps his eyes on the beast as he speaks. He’s tugging at the chain around his ankle hard, trying to free himself. “He’s her puppet.”

  White looks up at Alice with anger on his face, pure malice dripping from his eyes. A small smile curls her lips in answer.

  “I wish to see how long you three can last. And I’m giddy with the thought of your once friend ripping you to shreds.”

  I tense, my heart rate going so fast, I fear it’s going to beat out of my chest. I’m running out of options. I need to find a way to tie the cord, and fast. Before someone dies. I watch as Clara raises the sword she somehow managed to keep hold of.

  “Watch this,” Alice tells me, and she claps her hands once.

  The creatures around the pit go wild, jeering and chanting in grunts and hollers. Clara looks down at her sword before handing it to White, recognizing that he could use it better in such close quarters. She pulls a long dagger from her waist and hands it to Hatter before pulling the Heart Breaker from her waist. Even I know it probably won’t do much good once Bayard attacks. The risk of hitting White or Hatter will be too great, and she knows this. Still she holds out the gun, her best bet.

  “Begin.” That same bored tone again, as if this is just an everyday thing. I suppose it is for Alice.

  Bayard attacks. I spring to my feet, but a Card shoves me back down.

  “White!” I scream, panic seizing my chest. He looks up at me just as he leaps out of the way of the snapping jaws. The chain keeps him from going too far, and he has to move again so quickly that our eyes barely meet.

  I whirl on Alice, meeting her obsidian eyes, that infuriating tiny smile on her lips. The growls of Bayard grow louder as he gets frustrated when his victims move too fast.

  “If you hurt them,” I growl, menace dripping from my lips, “I’ll rip you apart with my bare hands.” The hurricane awakens inside me, and I have the sudden insane urge to leap forward. Not yet, not yet, my heart whispers, holding back the storm.

  Alice laughs at my words.

  “Child, there’s nothing you can do to me that hasn’t already been done.”

  The words are said with a tiny hint of sadness, and I remember the little girl who was left at the asylum doors. But that little girl isn’t the monster before me. That little girl is gone.

  I turn back towards the pit and watch as Bayard goes after the Hatter who nimbly slides backwards, barely enough time to move Clara out of the way. She keeps her gun trained on Bayard, but there isn’t enough room to fire, and it becomes a mess of avoiding snapping jaws. When one is avoided, another takes its place, making it difficult to maneuver.

  Clara is fast, and it’s clear she’s been training, but it’s only a matter of minutes before her inexperience begins to show. She turns from being an asset into being a liability. Hatter begins to focus only on protecting Clara.

  It turns into a dance, Hatter and White trying to avoid the teeth, Clara stumbling between the two trying to avoid being eaten. The Heart Breaker skitters away across the stone when a giant paw swipes across her, sending her stumbling into the Hatter. She doesn’t move fast enough as the teeth shoot towards her. I try to leap forward, but I’m shoved down again. I watch, everything seemingly moving in slow motion.

  One of the heads is quicker than the Hatter plans, and it all happens before I can focus. The beast is determined to latch onto Clara, but Hatter shoves her out of the way. Instead, Bayard’s teeth clamp down on the Hatter’s arm, and he screams out in agony. Clara screams and rushes forward, pummeling against the snout with her fists. White dances between the snapping teeth of the other two heads and slams his dagger down into the snout of the head holding Hatter. Bayard releases Hatter with a howl, a paw swiping at the blade still in its skin.

  The move costs White precious seconds, and the second head grabs White by the leg, the leg he had already been favoring from a prior healing injury. I panic as the beast shakes him from side to side and fight against the Card holding me. I need to get away. I need to get to him. White screams in pain as the Hatter and Clara fight to get the beast to release him. Bayard only shakes White harder. Another head joins in and grabs White by his ear.

  I cry out when the ear is ripped away, and White’s hoarse yell fills the courtyard. Tears spring to my eyes as I finally break away from the Card, shoving a knife into its face before leaping for the edge. I don’t make it far. Another Card grabs me and yanks me backwards. Still, I fight to get to White, tearing at the horrifying creature holding me.

  “Stop!” Alice commands.

  Bayard drops White to the ground. He’s bleeding profusely, his beautiful hair and skin covered in red, but he heaves himself up from the stone. He braces himself against the wall and lifts his sword. When his eyes meet mine, they’re so full of pain that my tears flow faster, dripping down my cheeks to coat the stone. Hatter is holding his arm, blood oozing from the wound there. Alice smiles at the sight as she looks down at an injured White and Hatter and a panicked Clara.

  “You don’t look so well, White,” she sneers. “Should we begin round two? This time, we can add some excitement. I’m bored.” Alice nods to someone on the other side of the pit, and a bucket is dumped over the edge. The contents pour right over Clara. I realize with a start that it’s blood and guts, much like when fishermen chum the water for sharks. Bayard goes wild with Bloodlust, lunging and snapping but staying back under the Queen’s command.

  Alice giggles, and I snap.

  I whirl, another knife dropping into my hand, and I throw it as hard and fast as I can. The knife flies right passed the Red Queen but not before it nicks her cheek. A small red line appears before a single drop of red wells out. Alice wipes at it and looks at her fingers, at the small bit of blood there.

  “You’re nothing but a coward, Alice,” I snarl. “A stupid, insipid child! You’re acting like a toddler who didn’t get her way, and you’ve been throwing a tantrum ever since.”

  “You know nothing about me,” Alice growls back, taking a step forward.

  I raise my chin, seeing my opportunity. Attack her pride, and she won’t be able to resist. I glance into the pit at White again, where he claws at the chain around his ankle.

  “I know more than you think.” I meet Alice’s eyes as I speak, ignoring what’s going on behind me. I can’t afford to lose focus. “I know you were stuck in an Asylum when you returned from Wonderland because you talked about it. I kno
w your parents never once visited you. I know that you begged for White to save you when you saw him again, and he didn’t.” I feel White’s eyes on me, but I resist turning. I can feel his guilt from here. “I also know that he had his reasons, even if I don’t know them yet. I know that you were experimented on, tortured, mutilated, humiliated, all because no one believed you.” Alice’s face grows impossibly whiter, but I don’t stop. “Until someone did.” I take a step forward. “Where is the Jabberwocky, anyways?” I ask. “Where is your best kept secret?”

  Alice’s face morphs into fury at my mention of the Jabberwocky.

  “How do you know all of that?” she hisses and draws a sword, taking a step closer. I don’t focus on the gleaming black metal. Instead, I keep my eyes locked with Alice’s.

  “I saw it.” I’m proud how strong my voice is, no wobble even though I can feel my body shaking with nervous energy. “You’re nothing but that disturbed eight-year-old girl pretending at being a Queen. You’re nothing but a bitter woman. You’re nothing but a coward, Alice. And that will be your downfall.”

  Alice screams in rage and storms forward. I hold my ground as she draws closer, that sword growing more dangerous by the second.

  Inside the pit, White screams, and I can hear him yanking furiously on the chain around his ankle. I want so badly to look at him, to tell him with my eyes that if this is my last moment, that I’m still glad I got to meet him, that I want him to keep searching for the light within the dark. But I can’t look away, not while the Red Queen bears down on me.

  Alice stops in front of me, and her sharp fingers wrap around my throat, lifting me into the air. I choke as my air supply cuts off. I grab at Alice’s wrist, trying to take the pressure off, my fingers frantic when the panic sets in.

  “I may be bitter,” Alice sneers, “but at least I’m not dead.”

  She shoves the sword through my stomach, and I gasp and jerk from the suddenness. Immediate coldness radiates out from the wound, spreading along my body. Somehow, I don’t feel the pain, only the slowly expanding ice. But Alice isn’t fast enough.

  Around her wrist, a bright light flashes golden. She drops me, and I have the small inkling that I should twist to avoid doing further damage, but I can’t quite manage it. When I hit the stone, pain finally wracks my body, and I scream. Something trickles from the corner of my mouth, but I don’t bother wiping it away as I focus my eyes on Alice. The ice slowly begins to turn to warmth, and I know that for the bad sign it is. Still, I keep my fury in my veins, ushering the hurricane to expand, the gold around Alice’s wrist glowing brighter. She claws at the cord, her attempts to remove it failing.

  “What is this?” She hisses, drawing blood where she claws.

  “An enchantment,” I croak, a chuckle escaping. “You can no longer draw power from your precious Jabberwocky.”

  Alice’s face loses the last color it has, and she screams in fury. The chuckles grow to laughter at the stricken look on her face.

  “I told you, Bitch,” I rasp. “I’ll rip you apart with my bare hands.” My eyes droop. “No one touches my rabbit.”

  Alice looks over my shoulder when a commotion rises in the courtyard. She snarls before turning and storming away. I fall backwards, all strength fleeing my body, as I stare up at the dark sky. My eyes close, and I begin to drift.

  Before I can go completely, strong arms lift me up gently.

  “Stay with me, Fire Child.” Whose voice is that? It’s not White. “You’re going to be okay.”

  No, I think. I don’t think I will be. But at least my mission is complete. At least the third can finish the job.

  I think of White one last time, his face swimming in my mind, before the darkness takes over me completely, and I leave the world.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Neptune calls, and I answer. I always answer.

  “Come over. Please? I need you.”

  I’ve never been able to deny my twin anything, even when she slipped money from my purse, so I climb into my car and rush over. When I arrive, she hugs me tight, her eyes clear for the first time in years.

  “What’s going on?” I can’t help the hope in my voice, and Neptune smiles sadly at me.

  “I missed my twin. Can’t I want to spend time with you?”

  No. Neptune hasn’t spent time with me since we were teenagers. Something is wrong, but I don’t look too deeply, afraid of what I’ll find. So, I fill her fridge with something other than mustard and expired cheese and have a seat on the stain-covered couch.

  “Why am I really here?” I ask, exhaustion filling my body. If she asks me for more money, I’ll give it to her. I know she’ll only buy more drugs, but I can’t give up on her. Or maybe I already have.

  Neptune’s eyes are clear when they meet mine, her expression so serious, I find myself leaning forward to hear her words.

  “Don’t live your life the way I have, Jupiter. Don’t piss it all away. You’ve always been so smart, so beautiful. Don’t let that be all that you are. Go on adventures. Promise me you’ll go on an adventure when I’m gone.”

  “What are you talking about, Nep? You’re not going anywhere.” So strange. Where is this coming from? Neptune has been a drug addict for over ten years. I’m used to her odd behavior, but this feels different.

  “Promise me.” Neptune grabs my hand, clenching my fingers in hers to the point of pain. Her face is so earnest, so vehement, that I find myself speaking before I consider her words.

  “I promise.”

  “Promise what?”

  “I promise that I’ll go on an adventure when you’re gone. . . .”

  Stay with me, Fire Child. . . .

  Floating, drifting, darkness. I can hear voices, but everything is so dark. Where am I? I try to open my eyes, but I can’t, the lids far too heavy to move. Something feels like it presses down on my chest, stealing my air, making my heart fight for the right to breathe. Everything is fuzzy, and I can’t make out the words, only a few penetrating the haze.

  “She’s gonna be okay.” I don’t know who’s speaking, but I repeat the words over and over in my head.

  ‘She’s gonna be okay. She’s gonna be okay.’ I’m gonna be okay. . . .

  The next time my awareness spreads wide enough that I feel someone standing near me, I can feel their fingers interlaced with mine. They’re strong, calloused, yet soft.

  “Wake up, Little Inferno. It’s time to wake up.”

  White. I struggle to come out of the darkness, but it keeps a tight hold on me. I can’t open my eyes, I can’t speak. The weight on my chest returns, and I can’t breathe. I’m sorry, White. I’m trying.

  The darkness pulls me back under.

  The next time, I blink open my eyes only to shut them again on instinct. The light is too bright, too harsh. I groan softly at the pain, waiting for it to ebb before I try again. This time, I’m able to squint at the ceiling above me. My body feels like I’ve been run over by a Mack truck, repeatedly. My mouth feels coated with cotton, my stomach like fire. What the hell happened to me?

  When I turn my head to the side, I realize the light is coming from a lamp on the table, soft enough that my eyes finally adjust to it. My head doesn’t care and starts to throb, but I fight the urge to relax and fall back into the darkness. It’s been too long.

  I search the room, recognizing the one I stayed in before. As the thought crosses my mind, the scent of wilderness and vanilla crashes into my senses, and I take a deep breath, searching for the source. I finally find him in a chair, sprawled out in what has to be an uncomfortable position. His head is lolled in sleep, his ears twitching at whatever dreams he’s having. He looks completely unharmed after the courtyard, so I have no idea how long I’ve been out. As that thought crashes through my mind, I push back the covers and lift onto my elbows to look at my bare stomach. I touch my fingers to the unblemished skin, no scar mars my flesh. I frown. I know I was impaled with Alice’s sword, a wound that should have injured me far beyond r
epair internally. I reach beneath me and feel my back, where I know the sword came through. Nothing. There’s no mark on my skin at all.

  “What the hell?” I mumble, rubbing harder at the skin as if that’ll bring up the evidence.

  I glance over at White again, and I’m startled to find his silver eyes watching me from his position on the chair. He slowly sits up but doesn’t stand.

  “I was stabbed with a sword,” I whisper, staring deeply into his eyes.

  “You were stabbed with a sword,” he affirms.

  “But I’m healed? How long have I been out?”

  He runs a hand through his hair and looks down at the floor for a moment.

  “A week.” Still, he remains sitting in the chair, and I ache for him to come to me. I don’t trust my feet, or else I would step from the bed and rush to him.

  “But how?” I can’t wrap my mind around it. I was stabbed with a sword, and now I’m completely healed a week later?

  “There are many answers to that question.” White meets my gaze again. “The first is the healing tea that the Hatter supplied.”

  “And that was enough to heal me?”

  He shakes his head.

  “No. You healed mostly on your own. The tea just sped up the process slightly.”

  “How is that possible? I’m just a normal human being.”

  Finally, White stands from his chair, his legs unfurling and bringing him to his full height. He moves towards me, but he doesn’t reach out, no matter how much I want him to.

  “No,” he says, looking down at me. “You’ve never been that. You’re so much more. Wonderland knew that, and it’s woken something in you, something we don’t know anything about.”

  Now that’s he closer, I can study him. He no longer holds any signs of a fight, his skin unmarred. Even his waistcoat is clean, and the missing button fixed. He looks just as he did the first time I saw him, beautiful, dangerous, mine.