“I know, sweet girl. I know. I’m afraid this old disease is kicking my toosh. Even now, I can feel it creeping at the edge of my mind. You’ve grown so big, both of you.” Her voice almost slows when she talks, like she’s fighting a losing battle in her head. I’m terrified of where my mom goes when she’s not right, what prison she fights against.
“What are we gonna do, ma?” Attie asks, his face still buried in the crook of her neck. “We want to help.”
“You are helping, baby. But my time is coming. You must know that.”
This time, I can’t stop the tears from trickling over my lashes freely. I take my mother’s hand in mine and hold it as firmly as I dare.
“We’re taking you home today,” I whisper. “We’re getting everything ready now.”
She nods her head.
“I think I would like to be at home, when the time comes. You’ve done so perfect, my sweet girl. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for y’all.”
I shake my head.
“I don’t know what else to do, Mom.”
She smiles at me, but it’s not quite as wide, and her eyes become just a little more unfocused.
“Keep going, Calypso. You’re destined for something far greater than you can even imagine.”
Her words trail off, her eyes going distant, as she stares just above our shoulders. Attie pulls away, and takes his seat again on the other side of the couch. My mother looks me right in the eyes, seeing but unseeing.
“Do you know where my husband is? Blasted man is always running off.”
Cheshire
I stand outside the window of Cal’s house, invisible to any human eyes, and watch with sad eyes as Cal, and who I assume is her brother, lead an older woman around the house. The woman touches things, runs her hands lovingly over photographs, and yet doesn’t seem to recognize her own children. I can understand a sickness of the mind eating away at her, having witnessed it many times in Wonderland. Seeing Cal lead the obviously ailing woman around, I realize with a sudden clarity, that Cal will never come to Wonderland, not when her family needs her so much. If I ever had the chance to choose, I wouldn’t leave Danica behind, nor my mother.
“She’ll never come willingly,” I whisper softly, but loudly enough that I know White’s sensitive ears can pick it up beside me.
When I glance over at him, White’s face is solemn as he watches Cal’s mother pick up something she doesn’t recognize and set it aside. A trophy, either Cal’s or her brother’s, I’m not sure, but it hurts them both either way. I can see Cal flinch even from where we stand outside the house.
“You would leave her here, knowing she’s destined for you?” he asks.
I can hear the gears in his watch ticking, the noise getting louder and louder the longer we’re here. I frown.
“I won’t take a sister away from a brother, or a daughter away from a mother. I’m an asshole, but I’m not cruel, Rabbit.”
White looks over at me then, his eyes searching for something I have no name for.
“Did you feel it?”
“Feel what?” I bite the inside of my cheek.
“The click.”
I look away from White’s knowing eyes to back inside the window. Cal lets her brother lead her mother down the hallway to what I suspect is her room. Cal takes a moment to step into the kitchen, and I watch as she breaks down, her shoulders shaking with the emotions she keeps hidden from her family. This strain is wearing on her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Cal hastily wipes her face, pulling tissues out to scrub it free. She’s beautiful, her hair hanging down to frame her face, her slanted eyes framed with lashes. They’re puffy right now, but normally, she appears completely put together. A sad smile pulls at her lips as she gains her composure, and the memory of another such smile flits through my mind. I immediately push that thought away, and focus on the vision of Calypso.
White shakes his head, and I catch the movements out of my peripheral.
“If you leave her here, Wonderland will die.” He pauses. “And you’ll see her face for the rest of your short life.”
His words hit me so hard, I’m barely able to contain the emotions. Angry for being forced into this situation, angry that this is the only way, angry at myself for even coming here, I lift my hand and place a single claw against the glass. I don’t expect Cal to look up as I do so. I don’t expect her eyes to meet mine, as if she can see me, before she looks away again.
I feel the stones harden around my heart, the cruelty of the world I’ve grown up in bringing cruelty to my lips.
But in my mind, anger whispers about the destruction of my home, and I dismiss it for the innocence of a daughter trying to subtly remind her mother of her name.
“Then so be it,” I whisper, and I turn and walk away.
Chapter 10
Saturdays are my day to relax usually, but with everything going on at home, it’s hard to ease the tension in my shoulders. Attie had wanted to spend the day with mom, and I couldn’t deny him that, not when he’s had so much of his childhood robbed. I’d been lucky enough to be an adult when the disease hit. Attie hadn’t, and he’d missed out on so much that I couldn’t give him. So, the nurse and Attie had taken mom to her favorite park, a day of sitting by the pond to feed the ducks and eating her favorite meals.
I’d come into the shop to work on Bertha some more. I need the escape.
Last night, mom had woken up screaming, suddenly remembering that dad had died. She’d dreamed about it, and while she wasn’t quite sure if it was real or not, she’d finally fallen back asleep after asking where her husband was. It had been a brutal night, made even more so by her cupping my cheek before sleep claimed her and whispering “my baby” as if she remembered.
I’d been almost grateful when Attie suggested the day spent with mom. He could always read me so well, and he knows my heart is hurting, no matter how hard I try to hide it.
I’m tightening down a bolt on Bertha’s frame when I feel the same eyes on me that I had last night, the ones I had convinced myself were never there. The hairs stand on my neck, and I slowly turn to meet the electric-blue eyes of Cheshire standing just inside the door. I hadn’t even heard him come in, but I’m certainly aware of him now. I sigh.
“I don’t need this today, buddy. You can just see yourself out.”
He tilts his head, studying me, that fancy tail twitching back and forth like a real cat’s. I’m so curious to ask how he’s made it work.
“What’s so special about you?” he asks curiously.
I scowl. “Excuse me?”
He takes a step forward, and I tense.
“Why you? Out of billions of people, why you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and if you don’t leave, I’ll call the cops.”
He laughs and takes another step forward. “What could they do to me?”
I raise my brow. “Throw your ass in jail and give you three square meals a day.” That only makes him laugh harder, and I frown, before turning back to the motorcycle frame. “Whatever. Just make sure not to drop the soap,” I grumble. I hear him step closer this time, still across the shop, but gaining ground.
“You’re good with your hands,” he comments, and I snort, meeting his eyes again.
“Is that supposed to be a sexual innuendo?”
He shrugs. “It was meant to be a compliment, but if your mind automatically went to fucking, well, who am I to complain?” He grins, and I have to fight the twitch at the corner of my lips.
Oh, yes. Under different circumstances, I would be drawn to the man in front of me. The cat ears on top of his head twitch again, swiveling as if picking up sounds. And that tail, it’s so realistic, it almost has me fooled.
“Where do you get such believable ears and a tail? I’ve never seen anything like them.”
He smirks. “Wanna touch it?” he asks, and his tail comes around his hip and hovers in the air like he ha
s complete control over it. Wow. I can’t help the small chuckle that escapes my lips when I meet his eyes again.
“I’m good, Pussy Cat. Was there something you needed?”
Cheshire growls at my nickname for him, but when I ask the question, sadness passes over his face so fast, I almost miss it, before it’s replaced by that smug look again.
“I just wanted to see you again, one more time, before I leave.”
And just like that, my heart squeezes. What the hell is wrong with me? I’ve met the guy for a few minutes, and suddenly, I care about him. I don’t listen to the whisperings inside my head that say everyone is leaving. That’s too much to bear right now. I don’t need to be worried about a man I just met, let alone one who wears cat ears all the time.
“Where are you going?” I ask, dropping my ratchet and standing up.
Something whispers for me to stop him, to keep him here with me. It’s an insane thought, one that I crush down hard, but I can’t completely dispel the feeling.
Cheshire slowly begins to stalk towards me, and I back up, his intensity almost forcing me back, until the base of my spine hits my workbench. He doesn’t stop, coming so close that I immediately tense. His arms cage me in, bracing himself on the counter on both sides of me.
His nostrils flare the same time as mine do, a thick smell of wild honeysuckle and woodsmoke filling my nostrils. Cheshire presses so close that my eyes close of their own accord, absorbing the feeling of this man pressing against me, and liking it far too much. He leans in and rubs his cheek against my neck, just like a cat, and I tilt my head to the side rather than push him away. I groan at the feeling, tempted to thread my hand through his hair and hold him closer.
What the hell is wrong with me? I’m letting a stranger rub all over me, and I’m not even pushing him away.
“What’s so special about you?” Cheshire groans into my neck, asking the same question as before.
“I don’t know,” I breathe, my eyes still closed. I don’t know how else to answer the question. I’m no one special, just a woman trying to raise her little brother. Nothing extremely special about me.
My words make him pause, and he yanks away. My skin grows cold where he’d been against me. When I open my eyes in confusion, Cheshire’s gone.
The only sign that he’d been there at all is the scent of woodsmoke and wild honeysuckle hanging in the air.
Chapter 11
Hatter
I shift on my feet in the tea room, as anxious as everyone else. Clara stands beside me, and Doe and Jupiter stand beside her as we all direct our eyes to the double doors. Doe had said the Flamingo is coming, and he’s an ally we desperately need in this war.
Even though Clara stands next to me, I can feel my madness creeping along the edges of my mind, feeding off of my nervousness. I manage to tame it down for now, barely, but if the Flamingo comes in and starts trouble, I know I won’t be able to hold it back.
Eventually, it will come down to a fight, and we need everyone possible on our side. The Flamingo is the first step in preparing for war.
“What’s he like?” Clara whispers, tilting her head towards me.
How can I explain the Flamingo? I’m not certain I can.
“Just wait and see,” I reply, threading my fingers with hers. The touch of her skin on mine calms the madness again, and I sigh. My mind clears enough that I can remember Flam’s story.
The Flamingo was never good, not in an honest to goodness way. He’s never played for one team or the other, preferring to remain neutral in any fight. And then he met and fell in love with the Dodo bird.
I smile, remembering the night that they had formerly met. Flam had been in the process of beating the shit out of another creature. I can’t remember who it was now, but I do know the creature had challenged Flam. It had been an idiotic decision really. Everyone knows not to challenge the Flamingo, even if his powers are a little diminished now thanks to the old King and Queen.
Flam used to have a penchant for trouble–he still does–but his powers got too out of hand for even him to control. So, he’d gone to the King and Queen, and he asked them to lock some of his powers away, inside himself. He’s still powerful beyond knowledge, but he chooses to be less every day. That’s what redeemed him in the eyes of Wonderland.
Flam’s heritage makes him a prime example of ‘you are what you make of yourself.’ He could have become something far worse than anyone had imagined. His mother was a flamingo, just like his namesake, but his father, oh, his father was a Jabberwocky. I have no idea of their love story, or how a beast incapable of love fell in love with a flamingo. Flam’s mother was far from weak, taming the Jabberwocky, and she chose to die with him when Wonderland deemed him too much of a risk after he’d razed the whole forest.
Flam was left behind, a child, appearing as nothing more than a flamingo. It had been easy to persuade everyone he was an innocent, until he wasn’t. His powers awakened when he reached adulthood, and he rained down destruction wherever he went. But he never harmed innocents, not directly. And then he’d met Doe, and all of that had changed.
Flam is still bad, still powerful, but now he has a reason to love, something a Jabberwocky should never be capable of. And yet, the Flamingo lives.
The double doors to the tea room slam open and crash against the wall with a bang. I sigh dramatically. Bloody bird can’t ever be gentle. Even now, a nice little crack creeps up the wall from where the door had hit.
The crash had made Jupiter jump, but Clara didn’t even twitch. Her senses have been getting better since she came to Wonderland. No doubt, she heard Flam’s footsteps the moment he stepped into my home.
I laugh when I see the surprise on Clara and Jupiter’s faces when Flam steps into the room, his stance wide, his eyes searching.
“Where’s my girl?” he asks, his voice thick enough that it even gives me chills.
His eyes scan our group until they fall on Doe, a wide smile on her lips. He storms forward and sweeps Doe into his arms, swinging her around. She laughs, pure joy in the sound, and wraps him tight in her arms.
“I’ve missed you, Pink. It’s been forever.”
“It’s only been a few days,” he reminds her, staring into her eyes, complete adoration reflected there.
Doe and Flam had been meeting in the woods rather than my house. He claims he’s not fond of structures, that they make him feel caged, and yet he walks into my home today. I’m interested to see what he has planned.
“You’re the Flamingo?” Jupiter asks, tilting her head. “I expected someone vastly different.”
Flam sets Doe down and glances over at Jupiter, a grin on his face.
“Were you expecting someone bedazzled and flamboyant?” he teases, and I chuckle. Flam has dealt with the stereotype his whole life. I secretly think that’s why he looks like he does.
The Flamingo is far from flamboyant. He’s covered in tattoos, some depicting scenes from Wonderland, others just random tidbits all added in. A small mushroom is inked under his eye, just an outline, but it’s enough to draw your attention. The tattoos even climb his neck and swarm around his jawline, but besides the mushroom, they don’t actually touch his face. They only give the illusion that they could. Besides the tattoos, he’s covered in piercings, his lips, in his brow, along his ears. If it’s capable of being pierced, it probably is. I can’t see from my position, but I know Flam’s eyes are a bright-fuchsia color, and to top off the whole look, he’s dressed in hot-pink leather pants. It does nothing to detract from his masculinity though. Even I can take that in.
“I was, actually,” Jupiter laughs. “Although the pants fit with what I imagined at least.”
Flam’s smile turns soft as his gaze fully lands on Jupiter.
“I’ve heard lots of things about you, Fire Child. I heard you’re the one that saved my girl.”
I watch as Jupiter shifts on her feet, a slight blush rising to her cheeks.
“I just solved a riddle, is
all.”
And then Flam does something I never expect, something I’ve never witnessed. He walks up to Jupiter and kneels down in front of her. She takes a hesitant step back but otherwise, holds her ground. Me, on the other hand, I stumble backwards and gasp so loudly it echoes in the room. Clara looks at me in confusion, but I can’t tell her that I’ve never seen the Flamingo on his knees for anyone besides Doe, not right now.
Flam drops his head and exposes the column of his neck.
“I am in your debt, Dream Walker. I’ve come to join your fight.”
My gasp, this time, brings a chuckle to Clara’s lips, and it distracts me. I suddenly want to kiss her. This is a monumental occasion. We should celebrate!
Doe looks down in adoration at her husband. When Flam stands again, I can see the gears turning in Jupiter’s head.
“Do you shift into a giant flamingo?” That’s the first question she asks him after he’s just sworn to fight at her side. White’s mate is an odd one.
Flam grins in answer, before his eyes dart over to Doe.
“Big enough to ride.”
None of us miss the double meaning there, and Clara snorts in amusement.
“Well, this should be interesting,” she says.
Indeed, it will be. Indeed, it will.
Chapter 12
I open the car door and offer my arm to my mom. Attie comes around and helps her up, before pulling her oxygen tank out behind her. We’d thought it best to take mom to her favorite restaurant for dinner. She hadn’t been able to eat much, claiming she wasn’t hungry, but we all know that she hasn’t eaten properly in months. Dr. Frank said it’s from the decline. I say it’s my mom’s way of helping things along unconsciously.
Either way, it sucks.
Bad things happen to good people. I know that. My dad had been an honest person; caring and kind. He’d volunteered on the weekends at the local soup kitchen. He didn’t even curse. And yet he was taken far too young by a drunk driver.
Feral as a Cat (Sons of Wonderland Book 3) Page 5