Page 115 of Knot My Wonderland

Chi's form solidified as he approached Marcus, his tail wrapping loosely around the young fighter's wrist. "This way," he said, his voice gentler than I expected. "The isolation chamber will block any magical transmissions while we prepare for the extraction."

Marcus nodded numbly, allowing Chi to guide him toward the door. As they passed, Marcus caught my eye, his expression haunted with betrayal—not directed at me, but at the circumstances that had made him an unwitting tool.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, and through our bond, I felt Alice's distant empathy pulse golden and warm.

"This isn't your fault," I assured him, clasping his shoulder briefly. "We'll fix this."

After Chi led Marcus away, the tension in the chamber thickened. Every remaining fighter looked at their comrades with new suspicion, wondering who else might be carrying corruption without knowing it.

“Who is next?” Varik asked cheerfully, but I could hear the undertone of sadness but covered it quickly.

The testing continued with agonizing thoroughness. One by one, each fighter stepped forward, extending their arms for Varik's crystalline device. Most remained clear—the detector humming softly before going quiet, Seth's shadows confirmingthe absence of corruption. But the atmosphere had changed. Where before there had been nervous anticipation, now there was cold dread.

Elena stepped forward next, her weathered face set in grim lines. She'd been with us for over a year, surviving three major raids and countless smaller skirmishes. When Varik's device touched her skin, it remained mercifully clear.

"Clean," Varik announced, though his usual theatrical enthusiasm had dimmed considerably.

Two more fighters passed without incident. Then came David, a communications specialist who'd joined us six months ago after his village was razed by the Red Queen's forces. The moment the detector made contact, purple light flared making everyone in the room tense.

David looked at the device with annoyance before a bitter chuckle left him, “It seems like I have been found out.”

The air in the room thickened as David's eyes hardened, shifting from shock to cold calculation in an instant. Unlike Marcus's genuine horror, David's expression revealed a man who had been caught but felt no remorse.

"How long?" I demanded, the golden patterns beneath my skin flaring with barely controlled rage.

"From the beginning," David replied, his voice eerily calm as he glanced around the room. "Your mother sends her regards, by the way." Before anyone had time to react he moved, dagger out and lodging itself into my chest, causing pain to explode through me.

Chapter Forty-Three

Alice

I’d been enjoying my time with the twins, I was feeling the flickering of emotions from Heart but when I felt horror and then pain in my chest causing me to stumble forward.

“Heart.”I whispered and before I could even think my body was moving and I was running to where I could feel Heart. I could feel the twins behind me as I moved. The crystalline corridors blurred past me as I ran, the silver and gold patterns beneath my skin blazing with desperate urgency. Through our bond, I felt Heart's pain like a physical wound in my own chest, his life force flickering dangerously as blood loss took its toll. The golden thread connecting us pulsed erratically, each beat weaker than the last.

"Alice, wait!" Vee's voice called behind me, but I couldn't slow down. The bond was pulling me forward with magnetic intensity, every step guided by the connection that tied my soul to Heart's.

I burst through the chamber doors to find chaos. David stood over Heart's collapsed form, the dagger still protruding from his chest as golden blood spread across the crystalline floor. Seth's shadows had erupted into violent motion, wrapping around David like living chains, but the damage was already done.

“Heart!” I called, panic clear in my voice. David snapped his head to me, before a grin formed.

“Perfect timing.” I didn’t understand what he meant before I felt something thrown at me.My world shifted as I felt pure horror go through my bond, And suddenly I felt my body slam hard onto the floor as I heard murmurs surround me.

“Ohh. Look what we havehere.” A woman’s voice purred, causing my eyes to snap up. I was in a throne room, The Red Queen sat upon a throne of crystallized blood, her beauty terrible and sharp as a blade. Her crimson dress seemed to move with a life of its own, shadows of deeper red swirling through the fabric like captured screams. Ruby eyes identical to Heart's studied me with predatory satisfaction as I struggled to orient myself on the polished obsidian floor.

"My dear Alice," she said, her voice honey-sweet with underlying venom. "You're even more radiant than my spies reported. The pattern suits you beautifully."

I pushed myself up on shaking arms, the silver and gold threads beneath my skin flickering weakly. Through my bond with Heart, I felt his life force growing fainter, the golden connection stretching thin across whatever distance separated us. Panic clawed at my throat, but I forced myself to focus.

"What do you want?" I demanded, climbing to my feet despite the pain from hitting the floor and the echo from Heart going through me.

The Red Queen's laughter filled the throne room, it was beautifully terrifying, "What do I want?" She rose from her throne with fluid grace, her crimson dress flowing around herlike liquid blood. "I want what any mother wants—for her children to come home."

"Heart will never—" I started, but she raised a perfectly manicured hand, silencing me.

"Oh, my dear sweet child," she purred, descending the steps of her throne with predatory elegance. "You misunderstand. I'm not talking about Heart." Her ruby eyes gleamed with malicious delight. "I'm talking about you."

The silver and gold patterns beneath my skin recoiled at her proximity, instinctively recognizing the corruption that radiated from her like heat from a forge. Through my weakening bond with Heart, I felt his desperate struggle to stay conscious, to reach me across whatever magical barrier separated us.

---