Page 148 of Happily Ever Witch
Thenmorethings moved.
What had once been two huge brilligs was now a thousandtinybrilligs. The size of actual mushrooms, the itty-bitty beings were alive and well. And apparently a lot happier.
Her eyebrows soared, stunned that her magic had kind of worked.
Some of the little brilligs pranced around, holding hands in cheery circles. Some sang in high-pitched unison, like something out of a cartoon. Some of them scampered off into the forest to explore. Within seconds, the others followed that group, eager to play with their friends. Her Good energy had turned them into joyful, childlike, mini-monsters.
“Hang on!” She called after them, coming out of her shock. “I’m not just letting you leave without telling me where Trevelyan is!”
The brilligs giggled madly and dashed away, vanishing into the woods. They had no intention of obeying her. Esmeralda might be a villain, but she couldn’t very well stomp on frolicking babies. Also, they were too fast for her to catch. Sweet and defiant little jerks.
She ran a hand through her hair, breathing hard. Good magic was clearly a pain in the ass. How was she supposed to find her True Love, now? The first brillig must have taken him to the Club Castle. Right? That made sense.
What if it hadn’t, though?
What if Trevelyan was hurt? What if the Queen of Clubs was already torturing him? Damn it, she needed to make sure he was okay! Esmeralda blew out an aggravated sigh, trying to think. If only she could talk to him somehow. Get reassurance. She hadn’t been this scared since she was a kid, huddled in the orphanage, hiding from the rain and reaching for her True Love.
Esmeralda’s eyes widened in sudden inspiration. …And she wondered just how strong her Good magic could get.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
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The Club Castle
The gigantic brillig transported him straight into a dungeon and then quickly teleported out again. Maybe it sensed its life was in mortal peril if it stayed. Trevelyan didn’t have time to react, before it was gone.
It must have been following the Queen of Clubs orders, because ithadto belong to her. None of his other enemies were organized enough to enlist a brillig to fetch him. They were exceptionally rare and expensive to keep. Not to mention, they tended to eat their owners. Flying pigs were much better pets, really.
As pissed as he was, Trevelyan was not disappointed to see the brillig go. Fighting it without powers would have been a real bitch. It was the largest one he’d ever seen, with teeth like a shark and empty black eyes like --well--alsolike a shark.
Fuck.
The damn brillig had tossed him into a wall, so he wasn’t at his most articulate. It was an evil monster and, as much as Trevelyan generally approved of evil monsters, he hoped thatparticular one died. A lot. When he got free, he fully planned to help that happen. That was the bottom line.
In the meantime, at least he’d finally made it to the Club Palace.
Because this was definitely the Club Palace.
He held a palm to his forehead, checking for blood, as his eyes took in his surroundings. Given his personality, Trevelyan spent a lot of time in lockup. He’d seen enough cells to tell the worst from thereallyworst. This particular one was mid-range horrible. It got some credit for having no visible rats, but it lost points for being freezing cold.
He was alone. No other prisoners were trapped in the dungeon and no other brilligs were arriving with Esmeralda. Had she escaped? Had they captured her and taken her someplace else? Was she hurt? Scared? Looking for him?
Instinctively, he headed for the barred window, sitting high on the wall. Hoisting himself up, he peered out of the small opening and saw a slim view of the aggressively checkerboarded courtyard. As he watched, the Chess Tower shifted, for no reason at all. Trevelyan frowned as the red queen edged towards d1. He had no idea why there was a huge chess game looming over the landscape.
Or, more importantly, why it was making such a pointless move.
The queen was all by herself, heading forward with no apparent strategy. Pawns could get promoted, if they reached the opposing side of the board. They could become a queen. That was a rule. No other piece gained anything by moving there, though. So where was that queen going? Who was controlling it? Why was everything in Wonderland so dumb?
And where in the frozen-hells was his mate?
He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. …And he suddenly smelled the wolf.
Trevelyan’s eyes popped open again. Marrok’s scent was all over this dungeon. He’d been locked down here, very recently. Trevelyan dropped back down to the floor and headed over to the corner of the space, where a dirty mattress was pushed up against the wall. Marrok’s scent was strongest there, so he must have slept on the makeshift bed the night before.
