Chasing Rabbits

by ERIN BEDFORD

  His tongue was rough, causing my mouth to tingle as he searched out my own. He pulled the appendage into his mouth, sucking on it hard enough for me to jerk back, nicking it on one of his sharpened canines. The blood from the wound seemed to spark something in him, because a low rumble came from his throat. He pressed a hand to the back of my head to keep me from pulling away as his mouth worked on the wound.

  The feeling of his mouth on mine made me lightheaded in the best of ways. In an effort to stay afloat, my hands gripped on to his vest and pulled him closer. I admit I was more than a little disappointed when my movement caused him to pull away.

  My chest heaved as I tried to regain my breathing. He leaned his forehead against mine, his own breath coming out in pants. At least, I wasn’t the only one affected.

  “What was that for?”

  A cracking sound broke our little moment, and Chess took a step back. The billowing fog from the forest leaked in under the wardrobe door. All thoughts of Chess’ kiss fled my mind as terror began to overwhelm me. I didn’t want to know what lied behind that door.

  “You need to go now, Kat.” He ushered me to the mirror before turning back to the door.

  “Wait!” I tugged on his arm. “What about you?”

  “Who? Me?” Chess gave a coy smile that didn’t reach his heated eyes. “I’m just a cat.”

  “Are you mad? Come with us!” My voice became desperate as the door banged open. And then there was silence.

  The light from the bedroom was gone. Inside the door laid only darkness. It was the kind of darkness you were afraid to look into for fear of someone looking back. I knew in the pit of my stomach bad things would happen if that darkness found me.

  Chess turned to me once again and brushed his lips against the shell of my ear. My eyes were focused so much on the approaching darkness that I almost didn’t hear what he said. I frowned and my brow furrowed at his words, but before I could question him, he shoved me through the mirror’s surface.

  9

  The Looking Glass

  “WHY DO YOU taste so old?” Chess’ confusing words echoed through my head as I pounded on the glass of the mirror.

  It hadn’t surprised me that Chess could tell how old I was based on taste alone. It was obvious that I was becoming desensitized to the strangeness of the Underground. I didn’t even question it. Why wouldn’t he be able to differentiate by taste alone? It only made sense. He was a cat. Well, a cat-Fae, but still.

  The part I couldn’t discern was why he said I tasted old? I was only twenty-two, which was not even close to old in human years, let alone Fae years. The majority of the Fae were probably three times my age. Surely he was older than me?

  “Yer not gonna get back that way.”

  I paused in my assault and scowled at Mop. “We can’t just leave him there.”

  “Pfft. The cat will be fine.” The brownie waved me off. “Ye, on the other hand, need to be keepin’ a low profile. That get up won’t fool many Fae. Just keep yer head down and follow me. I know where Hatter be.”

  I kicked the frame of the mirror one last time, my eyes full of longing and regret. Chess wasn’t anything like Mop described, or any descriptions of him in the human world for that matter. While there was a certain dangerous charm about him, he was more of a harmless flirt than anything. He certainly didn’t have any of the malicious intent Mop kept implying. And I would rather be back there with him than where we were now.

  The moment I stepped out of the mirror I’d wanted to jump back in. The room was dimly lit with black shiny, almost reflective, floors. Along all the walls lined up side by side were more mirrors. But unlike Chess’ mirror, which reflected my companions and me, these mirrors hadn’t reflected anything. Well, not completely. I could see the other mirrors and the floor, but it was as if we didn’t exist.

  I hadn’t turned into a vampire, had I? No one had bitten me, that I knew of, and I doubted that small nick from Chess would count. I trailed my tongue along the edges of my teeth feeling for any sharp edges. No fangs. Heartbeat? A little fast, but still there. I didn’t have any overwhelming urges to drink blood, not that I could after the tea party incident.

  “What ye doin’ ye daft girl?” Mop frowned at me from the exit, which was the one spot in the room not covered in mirrors.

  When did he get over there?

  “I’m checking to see if I’m a vampire.”

  “Lady, not dead. Not yet, Lady not.” Trip sniffed around me. “Trip can still smell Lady’s pretty shampoo, Trip can.”

  “Uh, thanks, Trip.” Awkward. “Why don’t I have a reflection then?” I turned this way and that in the mirror, but saw no change.

  Mop huffed at having to explain it to me again. He moved back to where I was before the mirrors. “That be ‘cos they ain’t meant for reflectin’.”

  “What do you mean? Why are they here if they don’t show anything?” I stared into the mirror where my reflection should have been. It was freaking me out to have no reflection.

  “I didn’t say they didn’t. They don’t reflect the present.” Mop tapped on the glass of one of the mirrors and it rippled beneath his hand.

  The mirror cleared to show Mop and Trip arguing back at the door in the Between. Though there was no sound, I knew the moment they noticed me coming over to them. Trip’s eyes widened and his tail shook as Mop’s face closed down and filled with irritation. I stepped closer to get a better look, but before I could see what happened next Mop removed his hand, making the mirror clear again to show the empty room.

  “Ye get it?” Mop turned away from the mirror and glanced up at me.

  “So it shows the past? Any past?” I asked more to myself than to the brownie.

  I eyed the mirror for a moment as the possibilities turned endlessly in my head. I could see anything. All of the mysteries of the universe were bared before me. Just the thought of what I could do with that information had my hands moving on their own.

  Hand stretched out to touch the mirror, I almost touched the surface before Mop’s voice piped in, “I wouldn’t be doin’ that if I be ye.”

  “Why not?” I frowned down at him. “You did.”

  “That’s ‘cos I be Fae and know how to use it. Ye human, lest ye forget.” He shook his head. “Besides this be Fae magic and Seelie at that, ye might not see what ye want. Ye never know how it will react to ye. Best be movin’ along.” Mop and Trip headed for the door once again.

  I frowned and dropped my hand to my side, but I didn’t move away from the mirror. So many remarkable findings and always the answer was no.

  No, Katherine, you’re a silly human. You’re not allowed. You can’t do that. It’s not proper. Be normal like your sister. Well, I was fed up with proper, and I was fed up with rules.

  I put my hand on the cold surface of the glass and then pulled it back. What did I want to see? There was so much I didn’t know, so many questions that still weren’t answered. Chess was a mystery all in his own glorious self, a riddle I was dying to uncover, but there were so many more questions I had that were more important than my traitorous libido. Like why weren’t humans allowed in the Underground anymore? What happened to the Seelie Princess to cause such a strain between the two courts? And why did every question and answer end up with the dark prince involved in some way?

  The surface beneath it began to ripple after that last thought, and my eyes watched the surface in a mixture of fear and curiosity. I hadn’t even been touching it when I thought about the prince, so why was it activating on its own? My thoughts of the UnSeelie Prince must have been enough, because the mirror in front of me disappeared and in its place was a room.

  It was a bedroom to be exact. But it wasn’t my bedroom nor any bedroom I’d ever seen before. The bed was moderately sized with a pale yellow duvet. There was a small table with a set of wooden chairs set to one side. On the table were an unused tea set and a few writing utensils as well as some random everyday items. The room was different from my own back
home, which was littered with the laundry from that week and unpacked boxes sprawled about.

  The room was nice enough for me to know it was owned by someone important, but small enough to get to everything within a few feet. While it was neat and tidy, it seemed to lack the feeling of a home – like a stage waiting for its actors to arrive. I was about to pull my hand away since nothing really exciting was happening when my hand sank through the surface, which caused me to tumble head first into the room.

  I landed face first into cushy golden carpet. The ends of it tickled my nose, making me sneeze. I inched up onto my knees and gazed back toward the mirror. Instead of seeing my face reflecting back at me I saw the room of mirrors. Mop and Trip came back and were silently yelling at me as they beat on the glass.

  Apparently this was an invitation-only trip.

  I moved back to the glass and held a hesitant hand up to it. The surface rippled and swirled under my hand as it pressed through the fluid glass. At least, I knew I could go back.

  Instead of going back the way I came, I moved away from my panicked companions, irritated in Mop’s case, and turned back to the room. Where was I?

  I fiddled with a few of the perfumes and combs on the vanity next to the mirror, looking for any clue of where I was. Not finding any, I moved over to the table where the tea and writing pad sat. The tea pot was cold, and when I lifted the top there was nothing in it. The tea cups sat upright as if waiting to be used while the writing pad sat next to one of the place sets. The pad had something written on it.

  Picking it up, I squinted at the words that were written in small tight cursive. It was one of those moments when I wished I had reading glasses. Who could even read this? If the formatting was anything to go by, it was some kind of letter, but all I could make out was flowers and white. The rest was too illegible for me to decipher. I tossed the pad back on the table.

  Well, this was boring and uneventful.

  I turned from the table and back to the mirror where Trip and Mop waited, but before I could put my hand through the surface, the door opened.

  Shit.

  “I could only sneak away for a moment.” A deep voice rumbled. Footsteps hurried over to me before warm muscular arms wrapped around my shoulders, drawing me back against them.

  My body tensed at the contact that came with that voice. I didn’t need to have a working mirror to know who entered the room, and I was too terrified of being caught to turn around to face him. My silence and reluctant stance didn’t seem to bother the UnSeelie Prince as he continued to caress my shoulders.

  “Our mothers are going to be at it for a while. They started talking about troll population control, and you know how that gets them going.” He pushed my hair to the side and rubbed his face into my neck.

  Mothers? What was he talking about?

  My eyes searched for Mop and Trip in the mirror. They weren’t banging on the glass anymore or yelling at me. In fact, the look of terror on their face solidified how much deep shit I was into.

  “Meaning we finally have a few hours to ourselves.” The pounding of my heart thudded in my ears as the prince pressed his front firmly against my back, which showed me how happy he was at that prospect.

  Fuck. What was I supposed to do? While part of me was getting a little turned on from the feel of the beautiful prince pressed against my butt, the other part was screaming for me to take my chances and jump back into the mirror.

  Apparently, I was quiet too long, because he stopped his nuzzling and turned me around in his arms. “Are you all right?”

  The dark-headed prince before me wasn’t the same prince I had met outside of Teeth’s head. I mean, it was the same person, but he seemed younger. Less bitter. The swirling glyphs that decorated the left side of his face were noticeably missing. His hair was unbraided and draped freely pass his shoulders, brushing the hard plains of his chest through his blood-red silk shirt. Long dangling earrings hung from his ears and ruby-colored gems swung back and forth as he moved.

  He already caused a profound effect on my inside before, and without the ice blue eyes and the markings, he was the definition of an exotic faerie prince. If that wasn’t bad enough the heated gaze he was giving me seemed to penetrate out of his gorgeously chiseled face and straight into my girly parts.

  Ignoring my traitorous body, my mind tried to fit all the pieces together. The dark eyes, the lack of markings and the tempting long hair caused something to click inside of me.

  This was the past. His past. I was seeing him before he became His Royal Stick Up His Ass. Before his punishment. Before –

  “Lynne?”

  –she died.

  I didn’t know who Lynne was, but if I had to guess, I’d say it was his ex-fiancé. But why did he think I was her? I frowned down at myself, searching for any indication that I changed into a faerie princess.

  Nope. I was still me. Deciding to play along with the scenario, I glanced up at the expectant prince, my voice unsure, “Yes?”

  “I asked if you were all right.” He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ears, his eyes soft and full of concern.

  My heart fluttered a bit, causing me to stutter. “I’m fine. What were you saying about mother?”

  The prince cupped my face in his hand, stroking along my cheek as he watched my face for any sign of a lie. When he didn’t find anything, he relaxed against me, pulling me closer to him still. I gulped when the side of my face touched his bare chest. The sound of his heartbeat pounded in my ears, its pace as rapid as my own.

  “I know you’re worried about the disappearances, but you really shouldn’t work yourself up so.” He pressed his forehead against mine. “You’re going to give yourself wrinkles.”

  “Would you care?” The words came out of my mouth before they ever made it to my mind, but I found part of me really wanting to know.

  “What kind of question is that?” He leaned away from me, confusion on his face. “Of course, I wouldn’t. You’ll always be beautiful to me. I love you, Lynne.”

  My eyes became as round as a beach ball when his mouth captured mine. I tried not to tense up as he tangled a hand in my hair, deepening the kiss with a sweep of his tongue. I felt like I was betraying Chess in some way by letting him kiss me, but I didn’t know what else to do.

  His kiss was so different from the aggressive way the feline had taken control of my mouth. Instead of trying to devour me all at once, he seemed to be trying to savor each stroke of his tongue, each press of his lips and each moan that sounded.

  Moan? My eyes snapped open, having closed without my knowledge. This wasn’t right. I shouldn’t be kissing him. All of a sudden I felt like an intruder. I wasn’t his princess and this was a private moment for him. One I was never meant to see. One I shouldn’t even be in.

  I tried to pull away from the kiss by taking a step back, but he only followed my movement and even encouraged it until he had me pressed against the vanity. The answer to if he was actually seeing me or someone else was answered when his hand found my skin beneath my sheer top. It stroked along my skin and inched up to cup my breast.

  My face heated up as I realized what we must look like to Mop and Trip. I could barely see the mirror out of the corner of my eye, but from what I could see, they weren’t there anymore. In fact, the mirror wasn’t showing the other room at all. It was reflecting back the bedroom with me pressed up against the vanity, a Fae Prince attached to my face.

  I placed my hands onto the prince’s chest and pushed, disengaging our mouths. A small part of me pouted at ending the kiss, but it was completely overridden by the panic I felt at being trapped. I struggled against the arms around me, ignoring the confused and hurt look on the prince’s face as I put my hands on the mirror.

  Solid. The glass was solid. I pounded on the glass, the sound of the prince questioning my actions was drowned out by the whirlwind of thoughts flying through my brain.

  Why did the mirror bring me here? What was I supposed to learn from being h
ere? I wanted to know what was going on, but I didn’t want to live it, especially since I knew how this story played out. Suicide was so not me. I liked myself far too much to deprive the world of my witty sarcasm and intellect.

  “Let me out!” I shoved against the glass, trying to force my way back through, all the while shoving at the hands trying to pull me away from the mirror.

  “Lynne? What are you doing? You can’t get out that way.” The Fae prince tried once again to pull me away from the mirror. Concern was etched on his face, but I didn’t care. I just wanted out.

  “Don’t touch me!” I shoved against him, my voice becoming hysterical.

  At my words, his face shut down. He took a step back, his eyes going dark and frightened. I cringed against the mirror. What now?

  “Fine.” He whipped around, his earrings swinging in the air as he marched back to the door. “You know where to find me when you figure out what you want.”

  I winced as the door slammed shut on more than just our conversation. Forgetting the possibility that I could have disrupted their timeline by my little scene, I turned back to the mirror. Pressing my face to the cool glass, my eyes filled with tears of frustration.

  I just wanted to go home. Back to my stupid job at the library. Back to my overbearing mother and my perfect sister. Hell, I would have even settled for Brandi at that point. I would’ve done anything to get out of that place.

  Placing my hand on the mirror, I pleaded to whatever Fae magic was at work. “Please let me through. I don’t belong here. Please. Please.”

  I repeated it over and over again, hoping the mirror would give in to my pleas. After a few minutes, when nothing happened, my distress turned to anger. A building rage I didn’t know I had pushed at the surface of my skin.