Page 94 of Madness

“That’s sorted then. Give me a day to sort a plan, and we’ll meet here tomorrow night,” I say, prying the book from Red’s hands and placing it back in the safe.

“What if we’re caught?” Red whispers, fear dancing in her eyes.

“We won’t be. I promise.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

“Are you ready?” Bander knocks on my door, pulling me from my thoughts about the life growing inside of me.

“Yeah. I need to see him,” I say, standing from my bed.

There’s no bump yet, but I find myself cradling my stomach as if I can protect it from any harm that this place might cause it.

Dusty emerges from his room, his eyes darting to where my arm is wrapped around myself, and he gives me a gentle smile. “Everything will be alright, you know,” he says, his voice softas we make our way through the empty hallways down to solitary.

Bander walks ahead of us, watching for any lurking guards, and I look at Dus, “Do you really believe that?” I ask.

“Down in the rabbit hole…” he coughs, “Sometimes all I would have was hope that things would get better, and on the days I was really lost, I would have to try twice as hard to believe it.”

“I’m glad you aren’t lost down there anymore,” I mutter.

“Me too,” his hand interlinks with mine as we walk, and the familiar butterflies that appear so often when I’m around my men make an appearance, and I smile, remembering our night together.

Though we haven’t had much chance to be alone quite yet, hopefully, once we escape Wonderland, there will be plenty of time for that.

Solitary looms over us as we walk down the hallway on silent feet, careful not to alert anyone to our presence, “I’ll stand guard,” Bander offers, squeezing my hand and kissing my cheek as I go past, “Take as long as you need Atropa.”

“Thank you.”

Al’s door creaks open, and his head jerks to the side in an attempt to see who is entering, “Red? What the hell are you doing here?”

“We have a plan,” I whisper.

Dusty stands next to me, and I don’t miss the way his head jerks at the sight of Al restrained to the bed, just like he was down in the rabbit hole.

“What plan?” Al asks, seeming more coherent now than the last time we saw him.

“We’re going to escape. Jameson has a book – a book your mum wrote about how to escape Wonderland, and we’re going to use it to get us all out without anyone noticing,” I explain, stepping closer to him.

A bittersweet smile graces Al’s lips, “That’s great. I’m glad.”

“You’re coming with us. We aren’t leaving you behind.” Dusty says, his voice holding no room for argument.

“I’m sorry,” Al cries, “I can’t. I can’t go with you as much as I want to. I need to stay here, and Wonderland is my only chance to get better.”

“You have to come with us!” I cry.

“I’m sorry, Red, but I won’t risk you like that. I’m not safe enough to be around, and if the rumours are true and you are pregnant, I refuse to be a risk to your child.”

A tear leaks from his eye, and I want to argue with him, to beg him to come with us, but Dusty nods in understanding.

I lean forward, kissing his lips softly – a plea for him not to abandon me, but Dusty grasps my hand firmly, pulling me away from him and out of the room, “We understand, Al,” he whispers sadly, closing the door behind us.

“Why aren’t you trying to convince him?” I whisper, shout, “Why are we just leaving him?”

“Because we cannot make him!” he exclaims, grasping my arms, “Al is lost. He is far too lost to comprehend that he may not actually be mad. We will figure it out, but I refuse to allow you both to upset the other in a useless argument when we still have a few days to plan.”

“Ok,” I whisper sadly, a tear leaking from my eye.

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