Page 21 of Cheshire's Smile
Oh no. Here we go. I was never going to hear the end of it now.
“Kat. Focus.” I clicked my fingers in the mirror. “Sickness. Impending doom. Most of my lovers stuck in the Shadow Realm.”
“Oh, yeah. Right. Sorry.” Kat straightened up. “Alright, all business. But we will be coming back to your little harem when this is all over.” She pointed at me with a stern look.
“Fine.” I rubbed my temple. “But there better be lots and lots of wine.”
“Deal.” Kat nodded. “Anyway, the only other way into the Between is...” She trailed off and frowned. “Uh... you’re not going to like it.”
My stomach twisted into knots. I had a sinking feeling that I knew exactly where she wanted me to go and she was right I wasn’t going to like it.
“You have to go back to the Hall of Mirrors.”
Chapter 9
The Hall of Mirrors. The very place that had imprisoned me for a hundred years. Compared to the human prisons I’d seen on television, the Hall wasn’t that bad.
Except the shadows that fed on all the inhabitants.
It was that place that made me lose my memories. I still remember the overwhelming loneliness. The sucking feeling of losing pieces of myself each day, until I barely remembered who I was anymore.
I never wanted to go back there. There were millions of things I would rather do than enter my own nightmare. I would rather have tea with both fae queens and the Shadow Man than go back to there. I would let the faeries use my body as a dance floor if I never had to step foot in the Hall of Mirrors again.
Unfortunately, there was no other way.
Between my fear of the hall and saving my fae, I had to swallow down my fear and pull on my big girl britches. Ignoring the fact that Cheshire had completely ruined the britches I’d had on before. They were metaphorical britches, and it was time to stop letting my fear control me.
“Alice, dear?” Cheshire brushed his hand down my back.
I jerked, pulling my thumb away from my mouth where I’d chewed it down to the quick. “What? Sorry. I mean, what is it?” I brushed my hair away, trying to give him a brave face.
Cheshire tipped my face up, stroking his thumb along my jawline. “Are you alright?”
“Uh... yes. Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” I let out a nervous chuckle and shifted in my seat on Tick’s bed. The fox paced a few steps away, glancing over at me every few moments since I hung up with Kat. “Could you stop moving?”
Tick threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t understand what your problem is. We know how to get to the Between. Let’s just go there and get out of the Underground before we all catch the sickness.”
Cheshire let out a small growl. “What did I tell you?”
“She talked to me first!” Tick gestured at me wildly.
“Cheshire.” I patted his arm. “It’s alright. I did talk to him first.”
I turned to Tick once more and sighed. “You’re right. We know where to go to get into the Between and honestly, we don’t need you anymore. So, you can feel free to... get lost.” I waved my hand off to the side. “Save yourself.”
“Yes, little fox. Weasel off like the little coward you are.” Cheshire flashed a vicious smile at him.
“You know, in another situation, I would be happy to skedaddle and leave you two psychopaths to get yourselves killed.” Tick crossed his arms, tapping his foot in a rapid rhythm. “However, I don’t even know where the Hall of Mirrors is or how to get to the Between from it.”
“Ha.” I crossed one leg over the other and leaned back, one arm on the bed. “You don’t know where the Hall of Mirrors is? How is that possible? Everyone knows about it. Your queen basically threatens anyone within sneezing distance to take off their heads. Which is a very confusing wording since you don’t actually lose your head.”
Cheshire stroked his fingers through the curls of my hair. “An understandable misnomer.”
“Excuse me for never actually going near that bitch of a queen. Some of us prefer to keep a low profile.” Tick jerked on the front of his ruined vest then winced, remembering the warning slash Cheshire had given him.
“You’re obviously afraid of the hall as much as I am, and I was actually in there. For a hundred years, I might add. So youwill understand my hesitancy to go back there.” I tried my best to keep the bite out of my voice, but just mentioning the Hall of Mirrors put me on edge.
“Well, sitting around here is only going to end with one thing, us dying of the sickness or worse. One of the lower fae could find us and decide we’re lunch.” Tick turned in a circle, his arms wide at his sides.
