by Maria Dean
"Goddamnit," she muttered. "I am an Alice."
"You are." It was Lorenzo. He was sitting in the corner, cradling a stuffed toy in his hands. "I could've told you from the minute I first saw you."
She snorted. "You told me the world was fucked up. The way I see it, that's basically the same thing."
Her bedroom door cracked open. Christian bounded in, followed by Giovanni, who held a fresh cup of hot chocolate in his hands. "You're awake!" The wholesome twin exclaimed. "God, Astrid, I was so worried." He fell to her side and took her hands. "How do you feel?"
"Chris, you're suffocating her." Giovanni set the cup down on the table next to her. "But really, dear, how are you?"
Astrid inhaled and hit her head against the headboard. "I want to drink," she admitted. "A lot."
Lorenzo snickered. "Yeah, I can help you with that." He retrieved a bottle of Svedka and offered it to her from across the room. "Gio hasn't cracked it open yet."
Weakly, she beckoned him over. "Put it in the cocoa," she instructed.
"Lorenzo, I don't think that's a healthy idea," Giovanni scolded him. Lorenzo didn't listen, pouring the liquor in her cup, anyway. The stern twin watched her gulp it down. "Happy?"
"Very," she replied. Setting the cup down, she looked at the three men before her. "So, you're all dragons," she said. "As is the rest of your family."
Christian smiled. "Pretty cool, right? Not as cool as you portalling into an other-realm, obviously, but you know."
She nodded along. "Right. I'm an Alice. I have special powers or something besides portalling. And there are a bunch of people out there who would kill me for them. Or kill you for being dragons. Or kill all of us, because hey, magical creatures are evil."
"More or less," Gio said.
"All right." She took the bottle of Svedka from Lorenzo, opened it, and easily knocked back two shots. "You're going to teach me how to use my powers," she decided.
The three Russo brothers all looked at each other. "Are you sure? You passed out the first time you portalled." It was rare to hear Lorenzo's tone sound like anything that wasn't sarcastic. "We've already put you in danger enough."
She shook it off. "Nope. You're too late. Someone already tried to kill Giovanni because of me. I'm stuck with y'all. Now get, I need some rest before you teach me how to teleport or something."
The Russo brothers left her, she guessed they were all unsure of whether or not they wanted to let such a strange woman risk her life for them. Before they left they told her she was the first Alice they'd ever met and if they weren't careful, losing her could mean losing their own lives as well. The arrival of a new Alice would heat up the Dragon-Fae war and there were so few dragons left.
As for Astrid, she was left with more questions than answers. At the beginning, she wanted nothing to do with the strange family. Frankly, she still wasn't sure of them. But Giovanni had risked his life for her, and Christian and Lorenzo seemed willing to do the same.
There was also the matter of the voice in her head that helped her go home. Or how her powers had allegedly been blocked by someone, long ago. If Astrid was going to become an Alice and help the Russos with whatever magical bullshit life was throwing at them, she'd need to work out her own issues too.
It was a good thing Nova was already coming to her. No better place to start than the woman who might've known from the beginning.
But first, Astrid had an entire bottle of vodka to drink.
CHAPTER TWO
Deceived
CHAPTER 1
There were two things Astrid dreaded about her Aunt Nova's visits to the Twin Cities. The first was Nova's incessant refusal to clean up after herself. She would come in and turn Astrid's living room into her 'therapy den', complete with incense, candles, and spools upon spools of tie-dyed cloth. Not only was it the world's largest fire hazard, Nova refused to clean it up when she left.
"It's good for your aura," she would chide Astrid. "So much of your energy is clouded by oppressive forces. Clearing it out would do you some good."
Whenever she insisted this, Astrid had to bite back her response. Clearing your shit off my coffee table would do you some good.
But allegedly, Nova's messy behavior was genetic. Nova, when confronted with her inability to clean up her stuff, would pass it off as 'just part of the Gray women's charms'. Nova would tut when Astrid complained, telling her, "Calypso is just like that, you know. Her room was always messier than mine. Every little trinket had meaning to her."
In Astrid's opinion, that wasn't fair. It'd been such a long time since she'd seen her mother. She already knew so little about her mom. When Nova pinned one of her personality flaws on her genetics, all she did was paint Calypso in a bad light. It tarnished the already low perspective she already had of her mother.
At that moment, Nova was unpacking her new age set up in Astrid's living room. The Astrid shoveled spoonfuls of ice cream into her mouth, trying to distract herself from the impending anxiety of talking about the Alice issue with her aunt. Nova seemed distracted enough, humming to herself as she scurried about the living room. Nova hadn't said anything to Astrid about the portals yet. Well, she hadn't really said anything at all. Astrid couldn't tell if it was because she was busy nesting in Astrid front room or if she was scared Astrid would be mad. Either way, the silence was getting to Astrid.
The second thing Astrid dreaded about Nova was the way Nova would just throw around her sister's name like it was nothing. "Calypso loved that," or "Calypso would've done the same thing." The only things Astrid knew about her mother were from these offhand comments. Nova often acted as if she was Astrid's mom and Calypso was her estranged aunt, not her biological mother. Her casual treatment of Calypso as a throwaway topic frustrated Astrid to no end.
What made Astrid the most upset was how Nova refused to sit down and talk about Astrid's mom despite her casual attitude regarding her sister in everyday conversation. She'd utter maybe one sentence about her and switch the topic as soon as Astrid's interest was piqued. In Nova's opinion, there was a clear line between just enough information and too much. For Astrid, it was never enough.
That was all before Astrid discovered her powers, though. Those pet peeves meant nothing now Astrid learned she had a magical ability to portal into different realms. She was willing to give her aunt a pass for her sketchy treatment of her mother if it meant getting answers about her powers.
There were also the haunting words from the alchemist, still spinning around in Astrid's head. There's a reason it took one of our potions to wake your powers. Someone didn't want you to know what you were. The only person who could've known about her powers was Nova. After all, her aunt had implied she was a witch. That meant she could prevent Astrid from using her powers, or even remembering they existed. If that was the case, she couldn't be too mad at her aunt. The woman probably just wanted to protect her. The real question was whether Nova intended on telling Astrid when she was older. From the way she sounded on the phone, the answer was a resounding no.
"How was your flight?" Astrid said, striding into the living room. She perched on a stool and watched Nova as she draped a tapestry over the back of the couch. "No crying babies?"
"Oh, I never mind the babies," Nova said. "They're just trying to express their emotions through the only way they know how. If you couldn't speak, you would cry for attention too."
That's a start. Some bullshit, but definitely a start. Astrid nodded. "You've always had a soft spot for kids," she noted. "Why didn't you ever have any of your own?"
Nova shrugged. "I was busy with you. By the time you were off at that wretched boarding school, it was too late for me. And I never found the time to adopt." She looked back at Astrid, smiling. "But why would I need a child of my own when I had you?" Nova sat on the couch, satisfied with her work. She patted the spot next to her. "Come, dear, let me get a look at you. I can feel your wariness from over here."
Astrid, testing the waters, slid off the stool an
d headed over to sit next to her aunt. "Nova, can you really feel people's emotions and their energies?" She offered the ice cream to her aunt, who shook her head. "You always told me you could see people's auras. Is that true too?"
The older Gray woman sighed. "I guess it is the time to tell you, baby." She placed her hand on Astrid's free hand, tracing the lines on her palm. "We come from a family with a long history of being... unusual. Your grandmother, for example, could see things the rest of us couldn't. It made living in our ancient house a problem, especially when we learned our property's history." She adjusted so she was facing Astrid. "I'm an Empath. I can feel emotions and affect how others are feeling. And, yes, I've also picked up some witchcraft. It helps with the tourists."
"You were the best spiritual healer in the town," Astrid replied. "All those times you gave me elixirs instead of pharmaceutical medicine, were those potions?" Nova nodded. "Damn. Damn! I can't believe that."
Her aunt chuckled. "It's crazy, I know. It was just so much safer than letting you near the industry. So much of modern medicine is run by the cabals. You can't trust any of it." Astrid raised an eyebrow, mouthing the word 'cabal'. "Alchemists, sweetie. With every advance from modern medicine, they grow stronger. They're despicable. And they use ingredients they stole from magical creatures. I'm pretty certain unicorn hair hasn't been cleared with the FDA."
Astrid's mind was elsewhere. "You said our family has a history of being 'unusual'. Was my mom, you know, different?"
Nova smiled, nodding. She rubbed the back of Astrid's hand. "Calypso was like you, sweetheart. Always disappearing and coming back with crazy stories about other-realms. She preferred to go to the more dangerous ones, always trying to help people when she did so."
There it was. "So, you knew," Astrid said. "You knew about my Alicing."
"That's what they call it?" Nova chuckled. "Well then. Yes, baby, I knew about that. I never understood it myself. I wanted you to explore it on your own. The forest was a perfect place for that, wasn't it?"
Astrid frowned. "I can't really remember, Nova. My memory is fuzzy. And I couldn't even create portals until an alchemist triggered the change with a potion. He said someone was blocking my abilities."
Nova's smile wavered. "I don't know what you're talking about, sugar."
"No, you clearly do." Astrid's voice went cold. "My memory might be fuzzy, but I remember when I stopped going to the fantasy realms. It was in boarding school. So, either did something to me that took away my powers, or it was something in school. And if you're a witch, then that's sounding like a logical explanation right now."
"Astrid," Nova went hoarse. "Do you truly want to know that?"
She looked at her aunt, her face hardened with determination. "I do."
Letting go of Astrid's hand, Nova sighed. She straightened her back and dramatically shook out her hair. "It started when your mother told me she and your father were getting a divorce," Nova said. "She knew you had her gifts. That was partially why she sent you to live with me."
"I thought that was child neglect," Astrid said.
"It looked like child neglect when you disappeared into other worlds," Nova replied. "Your mother tried to teach you how to use it, but you were too young. And your father wasn't keen on you using your powers. He knew about our family, sure, but he only learned about our gifts after he married Calypso. Sending you to me was the only way we could help you develop your abilities."
"And I did," Astrid concluded. "What happened with the divorce?"
"By then, your father had fallen in with a difficult crowd. Calypso tried her damnedest to keep you away from him, but he wanted custody. He even threatened to expose your abilities to the world if she didn't let him have you." Nova fiddled with one of the many jeweled rings on her hand. "So, your mother and I enacted an emergency plan. First, we went to court so I could become your legal guardian. Your parents' alleged history of neglect was a good bargaining chip. We then enrolled you in a boarding school, hidden away in the north woods of Wisconsin. It specialized in taking care of children like you, who needed to stay safe from dangerous people."
Astrid frowned. She never remembered her classmates having magical gifts. Although none of them liked to talk about their families. The more she thought about it, though, the more her childhood made sense. She and her friends never went home for breaks. During summer, they stayed in school-mandated cottages. Their families had to jump through a lot of hoops to visit. "So, it was the school that blocked my portals?"
Nova sighed. "No, baby, that was me. Even though Calypso trusted the school, I wasn't so sure. I slipped you a potent potion before you left as I thought it would block your powers until you were old enough to unlock them on your own. I never realized you'd unlock them because you'd get drawn into a conflict between dragons and alchemists."
Astrid froze. "I never told you that," she said. "How d'you know?"
Nova tapped her temple. "Intuition, baby. You didn't ask further about the alchemists when I mentioned them, meaning you already knew who they are. Besides, they're probably the only ones on earth who could help unlock your abilities. As for the dragons, your apartment smells like them. Three males, in particular. What have you been up to lately?" She wiggled her eyebrows teasingly.
"Oh, Nova, ew! Stop that!" Astrid wrinkled her nose in disgust. Yes, she found the Russo cousins all very attractive. But, she hadn't let any of them near her since the night of the first Alicing, or Zero Dark Alice, as she'd come to call it. She needed time to herself. "Hold on. How do you know what they smell like?"
"It's that or you have a natural gas leak. It reeks of sulphur in here," Nova said. "I might be the only one who can smell it, but it's there. If you weren't getting it on with them, who were they?"
"A whole lot of trouble," Astrid muttered. "I wrote a will for this old Italian woman who turned out to be the matriarch of a family of dragons. Of her seven grandkids, three of them became slightly obsessed with me, one became my friend, and I think one wants to kill me."
"And the three with the obsession are all big, hunky men?" Nova chortled. "Look at you, baby! My little girl is all grown up now!"
"Yeah, well, the one who wants to kill me is a hot lesbian, so don't get too excited," Astrid muttered.
Nova raised her eyebrows. "You're really getting it on up here. Your momma was like that too. You better be careful, though. All that flirting is how you ended up in this world."
Astrid groaned. "Nova, I'm not flirting with any of them. Do you think I have the time to handle a relationship? No! I barely have time to hang out with friends anymore. No, don't give me that look," she said when Nova rolled her eyes. "I do have friends. Winston, Sally, and I go out all the time."
"Those are your work friends, sweetie," Nova said. "Don't you have friends from school?"
"We're all busy, Nova." It wasn't like she was lying. Everyone from her program was working in another state or at a high-power firm that demanded all of their time. Astrid didn't mind too much. She missed having her friends around but learned to survive on her own. And when she wanted company, Winston and Sally were always happy to go out for drinks. She even went out to Minneapolis's most famous night club, Gay 90s, though she wasn't going to tell her aunt that. "Look. I'm making friends with the Russo family. They're all nice."
"Even the one you said was trying to kill you?"
"Well, yeah. I think she means well. She's just damaged from years of being discriminated against because she was gay. Wonder how that feels." Nova flinched at Astrid's last jab. Serves her right, Astrid thought to herself. She loved her aunt wholeheartedly, but the woman had grown up in a traditionally Christian home in the south. It baffled Astrid that Nova practiced witchcraft, but took almost twenty years to accept the fact her niece was not entirely straight. Now Astrid had moved into her own home and wasn't dependent on Nova, the woman had finally begun to grow and let Astrid do what she wanted.
On that note, Nova decided she was done discussing the stra
nge family. "I can't control your decisions," she said. "All I ask is now you've unlocked your abilities, you explore them again. Your gift is incredible. Now you know about it and the magical world, you will need to know how to use the portals. There are dangerous people running around that will kill for the things you can do."
"I'm aware," Astrid said. "That alchemist tried to kill me."
"Already?" Nova gasped. "That's much faster than I thought." Nova rose and went to her suitcase. She dug around for a few minutes, finally retrieving a leather-bound notebook. "Your mother told me to give you this when we thought you were ready to know the truth. I was planning on coming up here and revealing it to you, anyway." She pressed the book into Astrid's hands. "These are Calypso's notes on her travels throughout the other-realms. They should help you through your journey." She kissed Astrid's forehead. "Your mother and I love you very much, baby. Everything we did was to protect you."
"I know," Astrid murmured. "I think... I think if I were in your shoes, I would've done the same thing." She ran her fingers over the cover of the book. "I just wish you were the one who told me. Then I could've explored it in my own time. I instead I was thrown into another dimension and forced to watch a dragon fight a guy shooting lighting from his fingertips." She looked up and noted the star struck expression on her aunt's face. "What?"
"Do you mean you saw a dragon transform?" exclaimed Nova.
Astrid scooped up more ice cream. "Uh-huh," she said, her mouth full. "It was cool, I guess. He made me carry his Armani jacket for half the battle."
"But you've already seen a dragon-shifter morph into his true form!" Nova's eyes sparkled. "That's amazing! I can't believe you've got so far with so little guidance."
Astrid wasn't sure that was a good thing. She had been thrown headfirst into a conflict that belonged in a young adult novel. "I wouldn't say that," she countered. "I still don't know how to open the portals. The first time they forced me into it, and the second time took all my energy. I passed out afterwards."
