Page 33 of Cheshire's Smile
“You know both her mothers are here, right?” Chess lowered his voice, no doubt trying not to be heard by whatever other fae were in the house.
“Well, we’d told Kat’s human parents about the pregnancy, but not the queen. And, well, we had dinner earlier, and Kat’s mother, the human one, made a comment about all the things she was going to teach our child, which then started an argument about where our child would be raised—the human or fae world. Kat has been trying to defuse the situation, but you know how her mothers are.”
He pinched his clawed fingers together. “I’m this close from whisking Kat away to some remote island and letthemdeal with the fae refuges.”
“Kat shouldn’t be stressed out in her condition. It’s bad for her blood pressure. You need to remind her mothers that it’s your child and there’s plenty of time to decide where you’ll raise them. Remind them there won’t be a child if they cause Kat too much distress.”
I tried to keep a calm and level voice as I spoke but the mixture of my anxiety about Kat’s condition and getting to Shadow Realm didn’t help the matter. “And if that doesn’t work, then you just kick them all out.”
“Can I do that?” Chess sat up straight, a mischievous look in his eyes. “I can just kick them all out?”
“Yes, Chess.” I sighed. “You can.”
“Okay. I’m going to do it.” Chess stood and started walking. He paused and glanced back at the mirror. “Is that all you needed?”
“Yes, by—”
The mirror clipped off.
I shoved it back into my pocket and shifted in my seat. Now that I had a way to get into the Shadow Realm, my nerves were keeping me frozen to the spot.
“You can do this, pet.” Cheshire combed his fingers through my hair. “Let’s go get our boys.”
Chapter 15
There was no sweeter sound in the world than the clanking of the chains as they fell off the door to the Shadow Realm. Without giving myself a moment to think too much about it, I pulled the door open and stepped through.
I realized a second too late that I didn’t grab Cheshire’s hand. So it wasn’t surprising that when I fell out of the doorway, I was alone.
Grimacing, I brushed off the brick-colored dirt from my hands and skirt and stood. Smokey purple and white mist filled every inch of the space in front of me. While Kat and Chess had told me about their time in the Shadow Realm, they never mentioned the mist.
With a hand out in front of me, I eased forward. The instant my fingertips touched the edge of the mist, I hissed and jerked it back, holding the offended hand to my chest.
“Yeah, that stuff is a bitch,” a feminine voice announced, laughing a little.
My hair whipped around with my body. My eyes searched behind me, taking in the run-down wooden home covered in vines and moss. In front sat a fae woman lounging on a bench.
Long wavy blood red hair poured down her body pooling around her lap. A sharp nose and an even sharper chin didn’t take away from the gorgeous fae’s face. A dark crimson dress clung to her voluptuous form with all the airs of a queen. Long dark lashes framed dark green eyes that scanned my form. The twist of her lips told me she hadn’t found much about me appealing.
“Uh, hello.” I stepped toward her, more than happy to get away from the stinging mist. I could only hope that Cheshire had ended up somewhere closer to the palace than me.
The female hummed and stared at her long black painted fingernails. “So, what’s your story? Did you die? No.” She mused sucked her teeth. “I don’t think that’s it. You’re far too... solid.”
“I beg your pardon?” I huffed, my hands on my hips. I was no wispy female by any means, but I would hardly call myself solid.
“Corporeal, my dear.” She waved a hand up and down my figure. “If you were dead, you wouldn’t be so... visible.” She shifted in her seat, crossing one long leg over the other. “So, that can only mean, you were sent here. The question is did you arrive by your own desire or,” her lips curled up in a wicked grin, “are you being punished?”
My arms crossed over my chest, a bit offended by her tone of voice. “For your information, I am here by my own volition. And who are you? The gate keeper?”
Her nose curled up into a sneer. “Gate keeper? Hardly.” She leaned her elbow on the arm of the bench. “You may call me Morgana. Not that you will be here long. I’m sure if the mist or spirits don’t take you, then those shadows that have tainted our lands will.”
My shoulders tensed.
I knew the shadows had been chased to the Shadow Realms. A part of me had figured Eugene and Dorian had taken care of them already. Or at least I’d hoped so.
Something else she said caught me. Morgana? Kat had mentioned a Morgana before. Rumor had it that she was once the queen of the Shadow Realm, but I didn’t know what caused her to lose her crown or why Eugene now ruled the mostly barren land.
If Morgana was as terrible as Kat had told me, I had to watch myself around her. I didn’t want to give Morgana a reason to make my journey harder than it needed to be.
