“Whatever.” He marched off.
Dee’s gaze followed him, a rosy pink flushing up her neck and brightening her cheeks.
“You like Happy?” It wasn’t really a question but a stunned statement.
“No.” She looked down at the ground, her cheeks turning an even deeper red.
“Yes, you do.”
“Seriously?” Dum’s mouth dropped. “He’s a grumpy, freakishly tall, mean elf. He’s not like the other elves at all.”
“I know.” She kicked at the snow.
That was exactly what she liked about him. He was different.
“Okay, soldiers.” Cupid’s voice rose through the crowd. “It’s time to head out.”
I gave the three another hug before standing up, Scrooge and Hare coming beside me.
“Guys…” Scrooge started.
“Don’t even have to say it, Chief.” Dee stared up at Scrooge. “Until. The. End. Always.”
“This time it might stick.” Scrooge’s throat bobbed, fighting back his fear.
“No better way to go than fighting for something you love.” Her warrior personality was locked in. “And yes, I believe in Santa, but speaking for myself, I fight for you, Chief. Always have. Always will.”
“Same.” Dum nodded his head.
“Me too!” Pen raised his flipper.
Scrooge crouched down, huddling his family into him. “Same.”
They all may have been an odd grouping, but their love for each other was so bright, it would guide us through the darkest of times.
“Actually, I only tolerate you guys.” Hare broke out of the hug, rolling his eyes. “My fight is to be able to come back to the kitchen downstairs. The stove needs to be used hard and often.”
I snorted, shaking my head.
“Fall in!” Cupid yelled, motioning for everyone to advance, Frosty already taking lead. Dee, Pen, and Dum gave us a nod, then slipped into the throng of people, disappearing.
“Shit,” Scrooge murmured. “If anything happens to them…”
“I know.” I nodded, curling my arm around his, tucking myself against his strong shoulder as we watched them march over the hill, vanishing out of sight.
Rudy strolled up to us, his face serious. It was now only the four of us. The Fellowship of the Key.
Me.
“Now what?” Hare asked. “Enough time to get naked and play with my stove for a bit?”
“Cupid said we move when the moon hits the opposite horizon.” Rudy nodded at the glowing disk crossing the mountains and nodding at the darkening sky on the other side. The moon still rotated, but as soon as the sun should have come up, the moon started to reverse, trekking through the stars again.
“Something might happen along the way: gremlins, trees, chipmunks. They might not make it on time.” Scrooge stroked his cheek absently. “This plan hinges all on timing, which is not Winterland’s strong suit.”
“A chance we have to take. We have no other way to contact them.” Rudy replied. “Until then, it wouldn’t hurt if Alice worked with the mirror. There can’t be any mishaps going through.”
“No naked time with my new flame?” Hare blinked up at us, his eyes pleading.
“Naked time sounds good to me.” Scrooge shrugged, looking at me.
“Oh no.” Hare stabbed his stubbed foot in the snow. “Remember hares have exceptional hearing. If you think I didn’t hear you the last two times in the cabin earlier… My last memories aren’t going to be replaying that in my head on a loop. I’ll put my head in the oven first.”
“Okay, gloomy one.” I dropped away from Scrooge, heading toward the bunker. “Mirror time it is.” I swiveled, walking backward, winking at Scrooge. “Though I might need help being reminded which buttons to push on the sleigh.”
“You know there are stairs next to the trap door you can—” Rudy said evenly.
“Shut up, reindeer,” Scrooge snapped, jogging to catch up with me.
“Did he say there were stairs?”
“Nope.” Scrooge shook his head. “I didn’t hear anything like that.”
Grinning, I glanced up at Scrooge.
“Me neither.”
“You know I’ve had fantasies about something like this…” Scrooge tugged on the rope. “But clothing was not a factor in it and the rope was being used a little different from this.”
I leaned against the counter, wiping the sweat hinting at my brow, my boot kicking gently at the framed mirror. The glass oval had been moved from the wall to the floor of the bathroom.
“Believe me, this is not how I want to be tied up either.” I shoved at the rope wrapped around my waist down to my hips, trying to pull my sweats up that buffered the coarse twine. The rope burn around my midriff stung like a bitch.
Working with the mirror meant having to step into it. Not wanting to lose me, Scrooge had the great idea of tying a rope around my waist to keep me from falling all the way through. Several times he had to yank me back.
“Did you see anything this time?” He wiped his damp hands on his pants, frowning at the sounds of Hare humming happily in the other room. The bunny really did love that stove.
“No. The rope isn’t long enough.” Vast emptiness lay on the other side of our refection. At least there was no water this time. Gray stone was all I could see. I hoped I was seeing the walls of the castle.
I had no idea how this worked. Frosty had given me a detailed description of the room the mirror was in, which I tried to focus on, hoping it would lead me there.
Bare feet padded into the bathroom, the shadow of antlers crossing over my figure.
“It’s time.” Rudy adjusted the weapon halter he was wearing over his bare chest. Guns, knives, and grenades adorned the harness, his expression tight and angry. I had never seen so much emotion in him before. If it was Vixen or he had finally had enough, Rudy was ready to fight. To kill.
He held out two more harnesses, doctored with all the same weapons. He had spent hours in the weapon room… making us all assassin harnesses.
Hare stepped in, munching on a fudge brownie, already wearing his own Rudy design.
“Brownie?” He held up a stack of freshly made treats. I learned Hare calmed his nerves by baking. A lot. “I added extra chocolate to this batch.” He stuffed one in his pocket. “If I’m going to die, I want this as the last thing I taste. Death by chocolate, baby.”
Grabbing one off the pile, I shoved it into my mouth as I untied the rope and pulled on the harness. Scrooge stepped up to me, tightening the straps so it fit me, his gaze heavy on me. We had been silent most of the time, no words really feeling strong enough for what was ahead of us. Neither wanting to think that in a few hours, this might be all over.
For good.
“It’s time, Scrooge,” Rudy said again.
“I know.” He sighed, his fingers gliding down my sides, his mouth pinched.
Licking my lips, I bobbed my head, lifting my eyes to stare into Scrooge’s. “At the end of this, you better survive. Come back to me.”
“I promise.”
“But your word is crap.” I tried to tease, but it fell flat.
“Guess I’m staying on the naughty list then.” His mouth took mine with desperate hunger, tasting of rich, creamy chocolate and fudge, his teeth tugging at my bottom lip before he turned away, ending it as fast as it started. Taking a step around me, his boots hit the mirror, poised to jump in.
Stepping next to him, I took his hand in mine. Rudy moved in on my other side, taking my other hand as Hare went between him and Scrooge, all our hands linking us together in a circle.
“Everyone hold on. No matter what, do not let go.” I gulped, fear batting around my heart like a cat with a toy. This really was a stupid, crazy plan. “On three we step in together.”
I took a deep breath.
“One.”
“When faced with life and death you think of all the things you regret,” Hare babbled nervously.
“Two.”
“Three!” I leaped forward into the glass.
“I should have fucked more cousins.” Hare’s words followed us as we fell.
Down.
Down a gray brick road leading us to a wicked witch.
Chapter 41
We plunged, twisting and rolling through the air.
My grip on Rudy slipped. “No. Don’t let go,” I cried, his fingers digging into my hand, trying to hold on, but the dampness between our hands slid his grip from mine with a small cry. “Rudy!” His form was swallowed up by the darkness. “Noooo.”
A loud grunt came from somewhere around me, but I didn’t have much time to think. Twirling and turning, we tumbled. I gripped Scrooge’s hand with all my might. There was no down or up, floors and ceilings in every direction, giving me no bearing on which way to go.
I closed my eyes so my brain would stop trying to make sense of nonsense. I let go of the structured concept, accepting the crazy. I constructed Frosty’s description in my head, letting it become my center. My anchor.
It was like a switch, suddenly I didn’t feel my body rolling or falling through space. Everything calmed. I was floating, drifting down gently; my toes touching something solid.
“Alice.” My name sounded next to me. “Open your eyes.”
Slowly, my lashes lifted, and I blinked. My feet were on hard ground and I stood on the back side of an oval mirror. Like a two-way mirror, instead of seeing my reflection, I could see through to the other side. Red and black flags hung on the walls, modern crystal chandeliers, the castle waiting for us beyond the layer of glass.
“You did it.” Scrooge’s hand slid from mine.
I had done it. I had gotten us to the queen’s fortress. “I let go. Accepted the insanity.”
“I told you.” Scrooge smirked. “Everything would become logical if you let in the absurd.”
“Did that with you, didn’t I?’ I chuckled. Scrooge had been right. Though I would never tell him that.
“Oh god, Rudy!” I swung around, panic lurching my heart at the memory of his fingers gliding through mine.
A soft smile came from the figure straight behind me. My gaze ran over the reindeer making sure he was all intact.
“You made it.” I sighed with relief
Hare coughed, pointing at himself. “Thanks to me. Though he yanked my arm out of the socket.”
“You got us here, Alice.” Rudy bowed his head to me. “I knew you were her.”
Part of me wished I wasn’t. There was so much pressure to be what the legend declared. What if I failed them?
Blowing out, I spun back around. It looked quiet and calm on the other side, but that could all change the moment we stepped in.
“You ready?” I took a breath, looking at each of my comrades.
“As ready as a Toe-few-turkey.” Hare pulled out his gun.
I grinned, turning back to the mirror, and yanked out my gun, switching off the safety.
“Christmas Combat has begun,” I said, and stepped through the mirror. The air wobbled and pricked chills at my skin as I slipped through, the guys right behind me.
Quiet emptiness welcomed us, but my guard was still up, scrolling every corner for a threat, my gun ready.
My awareness circled the room as we came into it. There wasn’t much to it. Curved stone walls and a large window, which let the moonlight stream in. Gazing down through the window, I saw an interior courtyard. Cages hung in the air, filled with prisoners, whose skeletal frames said they were either dead or near death from starvation.
I knew exactly where we were.
“That could’ve been me in there.” Hare stared down in quiet horror.
“Nah,” Scrooge replied. “You would have been fattened up and served with potatoes.”
“Knowing you…” I nodded at Hare. “…you would’ve cooked your own dinner to be served up, criticizing her chefs the whole time that you wouldn’t be garnished in anything but the best.”
“Funny.” Hare huffed.
“True.” Scrooge snorted.
Heading for the stairs, all of us quietly followed him down the tight turret. Single file with steep and uneven stairs, Rudy had to turn sideways to get his antlers through.
Our feet echoed against the stone no matter how quiet we tried to be; the stone screamed out like an alarm. One way in and one way out. My heart pounded. This would be a perfect scenario to attack us as we came out the doorway at the bottom. We had no defense and would be gunned down before we could run back up to the mirror.
Scrooge took lead, stepping out into a room, his gun up and ready to shoot. I followed him, doing the same. We were on the second level, the elegantly designed space reminding me of Jessica’s therapy office. Cold, minimal, but beautiful. It must be her private office with the same abstract art on the walls, glass desk, sleek furniture, and a blood-red rug. The tower we had come from could only be accessed through this room, which I had a feeling she kept closed to anyone else but her.
Creeping to the large door, I pressed my ear to it.
Nothing.
Heart beating, lungs contracting, I cracked open the door, slowly poking my head out into the hall.
Silence.
Unease prickled up my spine as we slunk into the dark passage. It was too quiet. A strange eerie heaviness lapped at my bones. No signs of a battle raging outside. Not even the sound of people moving casually around the castle.
“This doesn’t feel right,” I said softly to Scrooge.
“No.” His eyes darted around, his body hunched and ready to defend or attack. “No, it doesn’t.”
That meant our party hadn’t arrived, or if they had, they were already dead. The journey here was filled with peril, they might have been killed back up on the mountain.
“We can’t think about that now.” Rudy inched down the hall toward the exit. “All we can do is go forward.”
“You think she has Santa in the dungeons we were in?” I whispered, my head jerking around, my pulse thumping in my neck.
“No.” Scrooge’s lips thinned, knowledge straining his expression. “Vixen, yes, but Santa? She’d keep him close. This is personal. He’ll be below. A room she once put me in.”
“Right.” My head dipped. “I forget you have personal experience with her. With this place.”
Being her knave, willing and not, Scrooge had spent a lot of time in this castle. Knew her mind and the layout of the castle.
“Yeah. Not a time I want to remember.” He jerked his head deeper into the castle.
Rudy looked back at us, comprehension sinking in.
“This is where we part ways.”
“Get Vixen and whomever else you can save down there…” Scrooge verbalized to his friend. “And get the hell out. Don’t even think about coming for us. You understand? Help out people on the other side.”
Rudy’s black lips peeled back in a snarl, wanting to fight Scrooge, but slowly his head bobbed in acceptance.
“Good luck.” Scrooge clutched his arm.
“And good luck to you, my friends.” Rudy nodded at each of us, stalling on me for a few beats longer. “I believe in you, Alice. You are worthy of the legend, of this story,” he said before he turned away and slipped into the shadows, descending a set of stairs.
My heart lurched, and I wanted to run after him, protect him. My feet stumbled forward. There would always be a connection between Rudy and me. The thought of anything happening to him shredded my chest in grief. But it would make no difference if we didn’t save Santa and stop the queen.
Rudy’s belief in me to fulfill this lore didn’t ease my nerves, and the doubt I could live up to the myth weighed on my shoulders.
The three of us slunk and weaved down two more levels, not running into one person, which tripled the anxiety spinning in my stomach. It felt all wrong, like walking into a trap, but what could we do? We had to try.
Scrooge was in full “knave” mode. Stealthy
, meticulous, quick, and ruthless with his commands, making us follow in the exact line he wanted us in. If it kept us alive and got us what we wanted in the end, I was fine with taking his orders. He knew this place, knew where to hide, and the lesser-used paths. Hare and I stayed alert, covering all angles when we got to a crossroads.
Scrooge waved us forward, the steps taking us lower underneath the castle, darkness coating us in shadows, but also hiding dangers behind them.
Sweat dripped down my back, my ponytail tickling my exposed skin. Scrooge stopped, his head peering down the dark passages, the only light coming from tiny windows at the top near the ceiling. This level was mostly underground.
Scrooge’s hand shot up, halting Hare and me instantly, the muscles down his arm straining with nerves. Scrooge tapped at his ear, then put his finger to his lips.
That’s when I heard sets of footsteps come from down the hall, freezing me in place. They were precise, the clicks perfectly timed, echoing back as if they were contained in a small space.
Toy soldiers. Scrooge mouthed to us, holding up his fingers. Two.
The only reason they’d probably be down here would be to guard Santa. Of the many scenarios we came up with before we left, we were ready for this, though we actually had planned for more guards on Santa. Two seemed hardly sufficient.
Scrooge fanned his fingers out, ticking his pointer finger down.
One. Two. Three. Four.
Inhaling, my ears thundered in fear.
Five.
Hare darted around Scrooge, leaping into the hallway.
“Do you wood chips know where the massage room is in this place?” Hare folded his arms, his voice nonchalant. The two soldiers jerking toward him in surprise. “Gloria still does those happy endings, right? Last time she had me falling to my knees, singing, “Oh Gloria!”
“Foe!” one guard yelled.
“Is that a no? Guess I’ll have to find it on my own.” Hare snapped his fingers and dashed back around the corner to us.
“Stop! Halt!” the guards yelled as their heavy marching reverberated down the hall toward us.
POP!
A bullet from Scrooge’s gun tore through the wooden head of the first one, splintering chips across the space like daggers. The muzzle of the gun so close it muffled the boom of recoil, eliminating the sound banging in the corridor.
Ascending From Madness Page 32
