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“It’s not theonlyway.”
Callister arched a brow. "You have a better plan, then?"
“Yes. We find Alice," I said firmly. "Like we’ve always done. She’s the one destined to defeat the Queen, not us. We have to keep looking for her.”
“You’re only saying that because you miss fucking her brains out,” Callister accused.
I slammed him against a tree, the beast within me surging through my veins. “Watch your tongue, Callister, or I’ll rip it out!”
He narrowed his eyes and held my gaze. “No you won’t. You’re not strong enough.”
My hand went to his throat, squeezing. He didn’t even flinch. Of course he didn’t. A twisted smile played at his lips, and I knew he was enjoying the pain.
“The truth hurts, doesn’t it?” he hissed before burning me with his cigarette.
“Stop fighting!” Hatter shouted at us as he tried to pull me off of Callister. “We need to work together if we’re going to save Wonderland!”
I let Callister go with a snarl.
“Alice has always been the one to stop the Red Queen. What if murdering the Red Queen throws our entire world out of balance?”
“Have you looked around lately?” Hatter snapped. He straightened his hat and vest and motioned at our surroundings. “The rivers are flowing with pus. Black ooze drips from the trees and covers the forest floor. How much worse does it have to get until you’re willing to take matters into your own hands?”
I sighed and gazed out at the ruins of Wonderland. “I just want our home back,” I said softly. “Alice is the key. We have to believe she’ll return.”
“And what if she’s already gone?" Hatter countered. “What if she’s already vanished back to her own world? How long do you want to wait for her to come back?”
I set my jaw, refusing to consider a Wonderland without Alice. She was my light in the darkness, my glimpse of joy in a bleak world. Wonderland needed her to defeat the Red Queen, but I needed her for reasons that went far deeper. She had brought color back into my life, and without her, everything was shades of gray once more.
“She will return,” I said firmly. “She has to.”
Callister’s lips curled into a grim expression.
“What if she’s still here, but she’s fallen into the hands of the Red Queen? What’s your plan then, Chess?”
I ground my teeth, frustration simmering in my veins. I’d killed soldiers without a second thought, but that was in self-defense. The thought of assassinating our mad queen left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Perhaps I hated the idea because it meant accepting what Wonderland had truly become: a place where fantasy and dreams were rotting away to nothingness.
Hatter placed a hand on my shoulder. "I don’t like the idea any more than you do, Chess. But we’re running out of time and options. If we don’t stop the Red Queen soon—"
He broke off as a distinct, bone-chilling howl split the air.
Fuck.
Abyssal hounds.
Not many sounds in Wonderland scared me, but this one did.
Abyssal hounds were a nightmarish canine creation of the Red Queen’s twisted imagination. They were covered with jet-black fur and had eyes that burned with otherworldly, bright red flames. Their fangs and claws were sharp as glass, and they could traverse through shadows, appearing and disappearing at will.
By the time you heard them, it was usually too late to run. And without the full strength of my powers, I was as weak and vulnerable as a Cheshire Kitten.
The Red Queen wanted a word with me, Callister, and Hatter.
And she had sent her hounds to find us.
Callister said nothing, his face an impassive mask as he scanned the trees. But his jaw was tight, shoulders tense. His tattoos writhed, venomous insects and serpents ready to strike.
