Page 62 of Maddie

The group headed outside into the cool breeze of the bare streets. Not a single bat flew in the air as Mouse and Ferris walked ahead. He took Mouse’s bag from her, then hoisted it over his shoulder. Neither one of them talked but Mouse shifted closer to Ferris, her humming stopping as though he was her cure.

Maddie realized then that her sister had grown even closer to Ferris in the past two years. Her stomach sank—she knew she’d missed two years of her sister’s life, but she hadn’t realized that Mouse wouldn’t want to confide in her. Perhaps she could with Ferris though.

“Are you all right?” Noah asked, his deep voice relaxing her a fraction.

“I’m perfectly peachy.” Besides having to leave all her hats behind at the cottage, but she couldn’t risk going there. She was almost certain Chess would be sitting on her settee, with his legs spread open and his vest unbuttoned, lazily waiting for her to arrive so he could remove her heart like she had his mother’s.

“You don’t look it.”

“How was Alice?” Maddie asked, changing the subject.

“She’s safe. Our flat was in shambles and one of Rav’s goons showed up. I had to dump him in the Thames and ruined my favorite jeans. Yet I’d have to say I’m perfectly peachy too.”

Maddie sucked in a sharp breath. She should’ve known Imogen and Rav wouldn’t have left his flat unwatched. “I should’ve come.”

“You can’t save me every time.” He grinned. “I’m an immortal in training.”

“Ah, that you—”

Mouse stopped, sniffed the air, her eyes growing wild as she gazed around the tall stone buildings. It was almost as if she was a new vampire... “I need to eat.”

Ferris grasped her shoulders. “Hold Des and I’ll get you a packet.”

With a nod, Mouse held the caterpillar. She took the powdered blood and water from Ferris.

Something wasn’t right here. Ferris’s gaze met Maddie’s and he shook his head, telling her not to question it.

As they kept to the shadows, Mouse seemed to perk up a bit yet still focused on Des, who was crawling up her arm.

“What’s with the caterpillar?” Noah asked. “She was singing to it back in her cell.”

Maddie shrugged, but her chest tightened for her sister. “It’s her friend from the dungeon.”

She kept her eyes peeled as they ventured away from the city. They walked for hours until they reached the same white and silver trees that she’d traveled past only days before with Noah. All remained quiet as they drifted deeper through the outskirts of Ivory, staying clear of the city. The abandoned lands of the Red Queen would’ve been the ideal place to go, but Chess knew the location of its safe house. She feared he would try to return there at some point to look for them.

As they entered the opposite side of Ivory, Maddie scanned the trees, searching for the trunk with a mark across its belly. Some thin and wide, others gnarled or drooped. Her gaze fixed on a curving line in the middle of a mossy trunk.Aha! This was it.

Maddie drew out the key from her skirt and shoved it into the thick trunk. A soft click echoed and she opened the door, allowing everyone entry. When she stepped inside, the smell of flowers and fresh rain snared her senses.

Closing the door behind her, she ascended the white marble flight of stairs. All around her, the room was entirely white, its surface giving off a glittery sheen. Down below, an ornate dinner table surrounded with high-backed alabaster chairs took up the open space. When she hopped down the last step, she peered up at a chandelier, covered in pearl beads, hanging above her. In the center of the table rested a chess game that looked as if it ached to be played. Six doors surrounded the room, and Ferris opened each one. Five bedrooms and a bathing area. It was almost like a miniature palace underground compared to the other safe houses she’d spent nights in.

“I think I’m going to lay down for a bit.” Mouse yawned and padded into one of the rooms, leaving the door wide open. Maddie’s stomach sank at the thought that her sister didn’t shut it because she feared being caged in again.

Ferris’s brow furrowed as he studied the room where Mouse had entered.

“Was she like this when you were there?” Maddie whispered to him.

“Sometimes.” He ran a hand across his strong jaw.

“Watch over her tonight. I think she’ll confide in you more than me.”

“Of course.” He set his and Mouse’s bags on the floor and walked into the room.

Tomorrow would be a new day. Each day her sister was gone from the palace would get better for Mouse—it would have to.

A warm body slid up beside her, reminding her she wasn’t alone in the room. This male, who’d become immortal not too long ago, had decided to stay in Wonderland, to remain a vampire.

To be with her.

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