Page 58 of Knave

“What? No!” Maddie grasped her by the arm and turned her to where the chess set rested on top of the table. Only, beside the set was something blue, an odd almost oval shape.

And then Mouse’s eyebrows shot up as she glanced back at her sister. “It’s a cocoon!How?” Caterpillars in Wonderland never formed cocoons, never became a butterfly or a moth.

“Species evolving? Maybe she’s special? Perhaps her sadness did it. She had remained blue for a while, her yellow coloring gone.” Maddie shrugged. “But she’s been like this since the day you left.”

“This is my fault.” Her heart sped up and she blinked away tears.

Maddie wrapped her arm around Mouse, drawing her close. “We’ll wait and see what happens when she emerges from it. She’ll be fine, I promise.”

Mouse didn’t know what to think, but she would try to be positive the way Maddie always was. She hugged her sister, then sat in the chair across from Des. “Thank you for watching over her.”

“Of course.” Maddie took a seat opposite her. “How about you tell Des everything that happened while we play a game of chess? I’m certain she’ll be able to hear you.” She paused, scanning her over. “Unless you would rather bathe or nap first?”

“No, I’m not tired and I can have a proper bath later. I want to spend time with the two of you for now.” Time that she should’ve been spending with them before instead of moping about.

Maddie inched a white chess piece forward. “Now tell me, what precisely led you and Ferris to fuck in Red?”

“Maddie!” Mouse laughed while moving a black pawn forward. She then turned to Des’s cocoon and murmured, “Ignore my sister, she’s too nosy for her own good.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ferris

Ferris paused outside of the drawing room after talking to the royals, listening to Mouse and Maddie laughing together. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. This was how it used to be with them—how itshouldbe. They had laughed together all the time before Mouse was taken by Rav and the Queen of Hearts, spent hours joking. Ferris hadn’t always known what it was they’d found funny, but the sound was so contagious that he had nearly always laughed along with them.

Mouse and Maddie needed this time together. Ferris wasn’t one to eavesdrop, so he stuffed his hands in his pockets and made his way through the hallways, up the stairs, until he reached the bathroom a few doors down from his bedroom. After turning on the water as hot as he could stand it, he peeled off his clothes. Usually he would take a shower, but he needed to soak the ache from his muscles.

Stepping into the massive granite bath, he released a low groan and sank down into the water with his eyes closed. The warmth was an instant relief to his body after the journey in Red. But, as frustrating as their trip had been before the fae arrived, Ferris would do it all over again if it meant he and Mouse could be together.

Ever and Chess had found the information about fae troubling, not that Ferris could blame them. Magical beings who could create a portal anywhere they wanted could be a problem. What was to stop them from portaling into a throne room and vanishing with a royal? But Tin and Tik-Tok had seemed eager to leave Wonderland. They might be back one day if Mouse ever decided to put on the ring Tik-Tok had given her, but until then he wasn’t overly concerned.

Surfacing from the water, he dragged in a breath and found a bar of soap. The lake had done well to wash off the blood and dirt in Red, but by the time he finished scrubbing himself, Ferris felt refreshed. After sparing another moment to wash his hair, he drained the bathtub, dried himself, and wrapped the towel around his waist.

He padded toward Mouse’s room, but the door was wide open, the bed perfectly made, the lights off. A small twinge of disappointment pinched his chest. He wanted to see her, to touch her just to reassure himself she was real. That she was safe and here, with him, but he knew she would find him when she was ready.

Returning to his bedroom, he passed by his drum set and ran a finger over his cymbal. It gave a low chime when he flicked it. He smirked and grabbed one of the sticks from where it sat on his snare. “Hello, beauty,” he whispered to the instrument, twirling the stick between his fingers. “Did you miss me?”

Soon he would play them again, but there was no music drumming in his mind right now. He set the stick back down and stretched his arms over his head, yawning. Now that they were home, he had no doubt that he could sleep for days. He stood between his bed and the dresser. Ever had told him to go rest, so he likely wouldn’t be bothered again tonight. There was no need to get dressed.Not even for Mouse,he thought with a grin. He pulled the towel from his hips and walked to the chair, draping it over the back to dry.

The only thing he wore now was his necklace with Ellie’s ring. It felt heavy around his neck now, uncomfortably so. He lifted the jewelry from where it laid against his chest and stared at the white gold band. The small solitaire diamond. He’d worn it every day since the coroner returned it to her family, who then returned it to him, to remind him of Ellie and their daughter. To carry them with him as he struggled through life, knowing they were gone.

But he wasn’t struggling now. He missed them and would always miss them, but he had finally accepted the hard truth of it. Ellie and Luna lived in his heart and always would. This ring though… Ferris hadn’t been carrying their memory around his neck. He had been carrying his guilt.

Biting his lip, Ferris carefully lifted the chain over his head and ran his thumb over the ring’s stone. It was time to let go of the bad and remember only the good. To stop wonderingwhat ifand start living again. Truly living. He opened the top drawer of the dresser and set the chain inside, closing his self-blame away.

Ferris loosened a breath and perched on the edge of the bed, feeling lighter than before. So light, in fact, that he was no longer tired. His hand itched to draw. To bring beauty to life on page. He smiled to himself as he took his sketch pad and pencil from the bedside table.

Flipping past sketches of looming castles on cliffs, glass-like portals, of Ellie, Mouse, and Maddie, Ferris put the tip of the pencil to the page and began drawing.

“Ferris.” A soft voice broke into his sleep. “Ferris, wake up.”

“Hmm?” He cracked one eye open to see Mouse leaning over him.Oh, shit.He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. One minute, he was sketching his third image of Mouse, then the next, she was waking him. Sitting up, he blinked the sleepiness from his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Des somehow formed a cocoon. Maddie wanted to watch over her for one more night so I’m letting her.” She gave him a soft smile. “I wanted to climb in next to you, but you’re hogging the whole bed.”

He rolled off his stomach and onto his side to give her room, not thinking that he was giving her a view of his dick. Pink rose in her cheeks but she didn’t hesitate to lay beside him. She propped her head up on her hand. His gaze traveled down from her damp, loose hair to the large black T-shirt she wore.HisT-shirt. And from the looks of it, nothing else.

“What are you drawing?” she asked, interrupting his lazy perusal.

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