Page 55 of Alice and Her Shifters (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 2)

I shrugged and tried to reach my magic. There was nothing.

I frowned.

Over and over again, I tried to cast magic, but my efforts proved worthless. There had to be something about this place—the bars maybe—that prevented me from doing magic. I cursed Milo and the day he and I crossed paths.

If I ever saw him again, it would be too soon.

22

MILO

Camelia swayed her hips as she moved back down the hall that stretched through the bowels of her estate. We passed by a line of cells that filled the wall on our right. I frowned as she moved. I wasn’t sure if she legitimately wanted me to have sex with her or if it was all a show for Alice. I desperately wanted to believe it was all a show. Camelia was the jealous sort, especially if she found herself competing with another beautiful woman.

The idea of crawling into bed with the evil woman created a sour taste in my mouth and made my stomach twist into knots.

I hated what I had done. Betraying my group was my only shot at freedom. I hadn’t accommodated for the sting of handing the one person I started to have feelings for to the one person I despised the most. Alice was my one blind spot in this great scheme of mine.

Guilt wasn’t an emotion I was accustomed to. Yet, the sensation weighed me down as I followed Camelia to the main floor. Her heels clicked loudly on the stone floor as we moved. It was like the ticking of a clock that counted down the time until she killed Calvin, Aidan, and Alice.

Once we reached the center of the foyer, she spun around to face me, her eyes blazing hot with rage.

“I should have you locked up with the rest of them, you know” she said.

I shrugged, keeping my demeanor as calm as possible. “Is that your wish?”

“No. But I will come up with an appropriate punishment for killing my general and making me wait so long.” She pouted as the fires in her gaze simmered. “He was special to me. Loyal. You know, the things you aren’t.”

I nodded and folded my hands in front of me. “I will accept whatever punishment you deem worthy of my slight against you.”

She stepped up to me and patted my cheek, eating up the lies I was feeding her. Her eyes glittered with glee as her smile reflected in them. “That’s a good boy. I’m not without understanding, however. Part of your actions are my fault, after all. I put you in this position. It’s in your nature now.”

I nodded and zoned out, not catching half of what she said next. It was true, what she said. I was cursed to be a Cheshire. It was the one way she could ensure I was an unlovable asshole. Besides, I was too busy trying to come up with a way to get out of this mess I had found myself in to listen to Camelia drone on and on. I had to find a way to save Alice too. Calvin and Milo were inconsequential to me. But I wouldn’t get far without them. As strange as it might have seemed, I had come to appreciate their presence. I needed to free them. I just wasn’t sure how to go about doing that.

“Now, as for your reward…” Camelia’s voice pulled me back to the present. “Two members of your group still managed to get away.”

“An unfortunate turn of events, I’m afraid,” I said. “I’m sure your army will locate them promptly.”

She hummed. “Perhaps. Either way, I want them collected, not just captured.”

I nodded. “It will be done. Shall I leave now?”

She waved a manicured hand at me. “My army, as you had put it, is already handling it. Were you not listening when I mentioned that already?”

“Forgive me, Milady,” I said. “I’m tired. It took a great deal of effort getting here with everyone and I’m finding it hard to focus on anything but a soft bed right now.”

A cold chill entered the room and encircled me. Camelia’s eyes narrowed on mine. I stood still, allowing her to appraise me, tucking my guilt deep inside the depths of my being, far out of her reach. I must have given away a clue that I was misleading her. She was using her powers to search my soul for any hints at betrayal. A hint at justifying her taking my head.

Within seconds the chill released. I let out a quiet breath. That was way too close. I was going to have to be extremely cautious of my words and actions from here on.

“Very well.” Her heels clicked against the grey stone floor as she moved toward her office. “Follow me.”

She opened the crimson-stained set of wooden doors and stepped inside. She snapped a finger and a fire ignited in the stone hearth on the far side of the wall. Windows, located directly behind her desk, toward above her cloaked in dark, rich, earth tones. The desk was immaculate and made of black marble. Etched along the surface were specific alchemical symbols of which purpose I was lost to. I hated alchemy and never bothered with figuring any of it out. On the wall opposite of the fireplace, hung an enormous portrait of the red witch herself.

She pointed to a stiff black chair sitting on the opposite side of her desk as she moved to take her seat.

“Sit. Let’s continue this chat,” she said.

I obeyed her direction.

---