Page 110 of Happily Ever Witch
“Told ya I don’t like him.” The Mad Hatter chimed in smugly, stirring his Darjeeling and Dijon with his finger. “We should have gone with William.”
A muscle jumped in the Queen of Clubs’ cheek, her wrathful eyes on Marrok.
Marrok’s answering smirk was all the arrogance in the world distilled into a facial gesture. Like the untouchable bully of your childhood, who’d just punched you while the teacher’s back was turned, but somehowyouwere the one who got detention for disrupting class. It was a wonder he didn’t get blasted to smithereens right then and there.
No way was Bluebeard going down with this sinking ship. “I can amp up the magic I’m hitting him with.” He told the Queen of Clubs swiftly, wanting to avoid a bloodbath. “It might fry his brain, but I can convince him he’s married to her. I swear.”
She flashed him a dark look. “Do it, then.”
Lupine gold eyes swung Bluebeard’s way. “You’re not strong enough to enspell me.” Marrok sounded contemptuous of the very idea. “You’re a third-rate nobody, from nowhere. You’ve never been on a date with a cognizant woman. You can’t doshit.”
Bluebeard stifled a wince, as the barbs hit home. All his life, showier villains had looked down on him for his fashion choices, and strange abilities, and hypnotized girlfriends. Anger took hold and he bounded to his feet. “You son of a bitch! At least I’m not tied to a fucking chair! Look at where you are, right now, wolf! You really think you’re better than me?”
“Iambetter than you.” Marrok leaned closer to him, his smile confident and cutting. Filled with all the arrogance of someone who’d been born beautiful and talented and special, it was downright taunting in its superiority. “Evenyouknow it.”
Bluebeard snapped. Digging deep, he called on every drop of magic he possessed. Every ounce of power. Every skill he’d ever developed. And then he slammed the full force of his energy into Marrok’s mocking face.
The explosion of magic knocked the wolf backwards, his chair hitting the floor. Marrok let out a grunt of pain as he fell, unable to brace for impact with his arms tied. He landed on the ground.Hard. The taped-on top hat came loose and tumbled from his head, rolling along on its brim. The condescending bastard finally stopped talking.
Bluebeard stood there, breathing hard and impressed with himself.
The Queen of Clubs gave a satisfied sniff.
The Mad Hatter ate his teacup.
Snow White cried out in alarm and rushed to the wolf’s side. Falling to her knees, she ran a hand over his golden hair. “My handsome husband!”
Marrok stared up at her in confusion. …Then something began to happen to his features. Bluebeard’s magic took hold and the wolf’s expression softened. Tenderness replaced the anger and derision. He smiled at Snow White, like this was the someday when all his dreams came true. “My beautiful wife.”
Chapter Twenty-One
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The Heart Castle
Esmeralda had always been a morning person.
She did her best thinking as a new day was born. It was when all her shiniest nail polishes got mixed and her greatest recipes got written. If inspiration was going to strike, it usually struck Esmeralda around six a.m.
The day before, the Queen of Clubs’ army had attacked. That had interrupted Esmeralda’s prime contemplation time. This morning was different, though. With Trevelyan sprawled out asleep in their bed and the rain falling outside the only sound for miles, Esmeralda had plenty of time to focus.
And all her focus was on the creepy, heart-shaped mirror.
Trevelyan had moved it, because she didn’t want it in the royal bedroom. Now she sat cross-legged on the floor of the hallway, staring into its silver depths. Her head tilted, watching her slightly-wrong reflection tilt its head, as well. There was a lag to the movement, like the looking glass took a moment to catch up. The heart-patterned wallpaper on the wall behind her wasn’t exactly right, either. In the mirror, the tiny red heartsweren’t just hearts. They were also spades and diamonds and clubs.
Esmeralda had known something was off about the damn thing, from the first time she’d seen it. Now she knew what it was. Inspiration had struck her in the morning light, as it usually did when she was onto somethingbig. The mirror wasn’t just a mirror.
It was also a rabbit hole.
A portal, just like the vortex that had brought her to Wonderland. She recognized it, because she’d fallen through one, back in the Northlands. A girl always remembered her first inter-dimensional kidnapping. Someone had tamed this rabbit hole, harnessing it into a gilded frame and turning it into a looking glass. Its magic was controlled. If you went through it, you could direct where you came out. It was a gateway to other lands.
Thiswas how she could get to Marrok. Every magical cell in her body told her so.
Her phonebing-ed with a text message. Esmeralda glanced down at it. She’d known Scarlett would call. Maybe her magic was getting stronger, because she’d been waiting.
