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“Who?” Chels’ gaze jerks up to my face. I shrug, huddling her close.
“And why?” I chew on the inside of my cheek. I only realized I had the Hatter’s tracker in my possession last night, but someone else must have been watching. Stalking from the shadows. Spinning around, I search the trees for movement but it’s a tiny creature sitting just before my feet that ends up capturing my attention.
“Oh, hello there,” I kneel down. Chels doesn’t pay the creature any mind, busy licking the length of my neck with her scratchy tongue.
“The vampire blood is quickly leaving your system,” she says between licks. “Soon, you’ll be free to go where you please.”
“Hush Chels, look. We have a visitor.” Offering out my hand, I allow the creature to sniff before going in for a stroke. Huge eyes like saucers blink vertically, white fur extending to a pair of mis-proportioned floppy ears from its small head. The body is much like Stan’s, but he doesn’t seem interested in coming out to say hello. His claws are currently imbedded in my scalp, a spike of warning there that I completely ignore.
“Hey little one, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.” Easing two fingers across the patch between its ears, it shudders and closes its large eyes. “Aren’t you a cutie? I think I’ll name you Snowy, the flying bush baby.”
“Not Toothy, the flying squirrel piranha cross?” Chels asks, just as the creature’s eyes re-open, now a worrying shade of blood red. Its mouth extends in a flash, several rows of jagged teeth as sharp as razors gnashing at my wrist.
“Nope!” I jerk upright. “Not cute!” Snapping at my ankle, I quickly swing my sneaker into the freakish piranha squirrel’s face. It flies aside, preceded by a disappearing Chels who manages to land on the hilt of the axe and spin it upwards. The creature slots straight onto the blade, sliced clean in half with a fountain spray of crimson. The tree trunks around me audibly gasp and that, ladies and gentlemen, is when I know I’ve fucked up.
“Run,” Chels laughs, as if she’s commencing a new game. The pounding on the ground that beats in time with my erratic heart tells me this isn’t a game I want to sit around and learn the rules of. Something is coming. Something big. A roar splits the trees as they pick up their roots and move aside, leaving me in the direct eyeline of Momma Piranha Squirrel. Oh. Fuck.
My feet can’t move quickly enough. Darting through the trees with the tactic of disguising my route, the trunks continue to shift as I pass. A clear path is never far behind. Chels floats by my side and I quickly remove Stan from my ear to place him on her back.
“Protect him with your life. He’s got so much left to live for,” I tell Chels. Her smile drops, some lost sentiment about her life being lost waiting around for me going unsaid. But I have my own issues right now. The stomping of four heavy feet closes the distance, hindering my sprint for freedom. Wobbly legs, uneven footing, I yell for Cash, leaving all pretense of not needing a man to save me firmly behind.
A blur of speed rushes at me from either side, one pair of arms reaching me that millisecond faster to toss me in the air like a salad. A scream is torn from my lips as I tumble, landing upright on a broad back. Hands round to cup my ass and I grin against Cash’s ear until I spot the leather jacket. Wait, this isn’t…
“How many times am I going to have to save your ass?” Tweed shoots a look back but I turn his face forwards.
“At least four more before teatime,” I grumble. Cash runs alongside us, keeping pace zipping through the forest. The same one that took me two days to navigate, and within minutes we’re ascending the jewel dragon’s dirty back. It doesn’t escape me how Tweed keeps a line of trunks between Cash and I, but at the first sign of a clearing, I make a leap for it. Tweed’s fingers dig into my thighs, holding me in place and when the piranha squirrel roars, I decide I’ll stick it out right here.
Clearing the hump of the dragon’s spine, I brave a look behind. The creature has nothing on vampire speed, but as a flash of white paws appear on the mound, I realize it doesn’t need to be. Pouncing, the beast leaps high into the air and spreads the furry flaps beneath its arms.
“Tweed!” I shout, the looming shadow akin to a flying Bandersnatch blocking out the sun.
“I’m on it,” he yells back, taking a sharp right. Leading us down a roundabout path to the entrance, we skid to a sharp halt. Only Tweed’s hands on my ass holding me in place. Shoving at him to put me down, I peer into the wood, unnerved by the eerie silence of the Enchanted Wood.
“Where’s Cash?” I whisper, not wanting to spook the wood. The trees across the clearing are stacked side by side, almost as if they don’t want me to peep into its secrets. Tweed steps in beside my shoulder, his arms crossed and blonde hair perfectly quaffed.
“Who cares?” he shrugs. I stomp on his foot, doing myself more damage than anyone. Anger bubbles within, this troubled waters bullshit rubbing on my last nerve.
“Go fucking get him!” I point, jutting my chin out. If they want to act childish, then I will spank them. Wait…I’m getting off track. Tweed’s eyes slide to mine with the roll of his head across his shoulder.
“For what? We’re better off without him, trust me.”
“Well, I don’t trust you. You give me half-truths and – and…trick me with your dick,” I huff. Stomping away, I do a U-turn and stalk straight back. In all my years of shouting at Polly, I’ve never been at a loss of what to say. Yet one hookah-induced night and a glimpse of teamwork, their rivalry just doesn’t seem as sexy in the light of a new day. Rather it’s pissing me off no end and I refuse to be the sanest one here.
Tweed drops his hands on his leather-clad thighs, sighing loudly.
“For the record, you never wanted the entire truth. You said so yourself. And there was no trickery on my behalf. You wanted my cock; you found a way to get it.” I narrow my eyes into dangerous slits, refuting his insinuation. Yeah bitches, guess who went to finishing school.
“I swear to fuckery,” I grab him by the vest and hurl myself forward when he doesn’t budge, “if you don’t go in there and retrieve your twin, you will never see my pussy again.” I put on my best stern face, hoping he can’t see through the cracks. I said he can’t see it, not that he can’t have it in the dark. When I’m high. And drunk, horny and desperate – in that order. Tweed looks to the sky for a slither of patience.
“Don’t blame me when it all goes to shit.”
“Oh, I will!” I shout after he’s begun to walk away. Fury laces my tongue, his retreating back as offensive to me as the accusation he didn’t want any part of what took place on the mushroom head last night. Dude just left me here, on my own?! Pacing back and forth, I’m seething. Unable to decide who I’m really mad at. Myself? Tweed? Hatter for this wild goose chase he’s set me on. Shoving my hands into my pockets, I hold onto the pocket watch and small felt hat like my lifelines. Everything has been screwed up. The stress-free girl that found her way home fleeting on swift wings.
“I must say, that was rather touching,” a graveled voice sounds from inside the trunks. I spin, spotting Cash leaning against a trunk near the entrance. Apple in hand, he pretends to be cool, biting large chunks that he spits onto the forest floor. My eyes track the way Tweed went, putting together the pieces.
“You’ve been there the entire time?” Cocky expression in place, Cash walks his long legs over to me, tilting my chin upwards with a single finger. Dipping his head, he inhales alongside the pulse thrumming at my neck. A move I now know as him checking for Tweed’s blood in my system. The same blood that’s preventing me from entering certain territories, according to Chels. Where is she, by the way?
“You were in a rush to ditch his ass this morning. I was doing you a favor.” Cash grins and I shift back, putting enough distance between us to pinch the bridge of my nose. I might as well be talking to myself. Something I’m well apt in, but when others are within ear shot, it’s damn frustrating.
