Late as a Rabbit (Sons of Wonderland Book 2)

by Kendra Moreno

  “I agree. I don’t know him.” Hatter stirs his tea a little more violently.

  “Is there more than one Jabberwocky?” I ask.

  “There shouldn’t be any,” Hatter growls. “They were wiped out centuries ago and for good reason. They seek power, and it looks like this one found it in Alice. He’s using her to kill Wonderland, and since she desires exactly that, it’s the reason they’re succeeding.”

  “No doubt he’s the reason why I can’t attack the Red Queen,” Cheshire hisses. “I haven’t been able to get close to her. Something holds my powers at bay.”

  I glance at Cheshire in question, but now probably isn’t the time to ask him what his role is in Wonderland. If Hatter is the Grim Reaper, and White is the Time Keeper, Cheshire must be something of equal importance to be the third Son.

  When I tell them the visions, I leave out White being at the Asylum and knowing Alice was there. For whatever reason, something whispers in my mind to leave it out until I can talk with White. My heart hurts every time I think of him in Alice’s clutches, of what she could be doing to him. Already, she’s had him far too long. And after the visions I had, I know she can do so many terrible things.

  I continue telling them how we came to be in Wonderland. Clara grows pale when I mention the Dark Lands and the Chimera Storm. Apparently, she’d never heard of either one. I hated to be the bearer of bad news, but Wonderland is not the only horrifying place. When I finally bring up the cord we’d taken from Doe’s neck, Hatter tenses and sits up straighter.

  “The Dodo bird?” he asks, astonished. “You freed the Dodo bird?”

  I nod. “She’ll be here tomorrow, I think. She stopped to meet the Flamingo.”

  Hatter claps his hands together in excitement. “That’s wonderful news! Oh, how I’ve missed Doe! And she gets to see her Flamingo.”

  “Fresh eggs,” Cheshire says, licking his lips.

  I curl my own up at him. “You wouldn’t.”

  He grins and pops some sort of sweet tart into his mouth.

  I turn back to Clara and the Hatter.

  “Doe’s cord blocked whatever magic she uses to transform. Once we removed it, she was released and was free to do what she wanted. What if we could use something similar to block the magic the Jabberwocky feeds Alice? Make her unable to absorb his power?”

  Hatter taps his lip and meets Cheshire’s eyes. They both seem to come to an agreement before Cheshire speaks.

  “That would take an enchantment.”

  I know that since Doe called the cord an enchantment to begin with, but the way they speak of it, makes it seem like it’s difficult to pull off.

  “Can you not do an enchantment?”

  “No. We don’t have that sort of power. Very few do.”

  “Can anyone here do one?”

  Every single eye in the room looks towards the Tweedles where they delicately sip their tea. Tweedledee, the female, inclines her head and smiles.

  “Do you wish to make a deal, Fire Child?”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I stare at the duo intensely, trying to get a read on them.

  “So, like Djinn, huh?” I ask Clara.

  “It makes a weird sort of sense if that’s what they really are. You have to be very careful when you make a deal with them, Jupiter. They like to find loopholes and exploit them.”

  I chuckle.

  “So, exactly like a Djinn then. No problem. Okay.” I turn towards the Tweedles and meet the eerie eyes of Tweedledum. “What are you offering?”

  “An enchantment,” Dum says.

  “A strong one,” Dee adds.

  “That will block the Red Queen’s magic,” Dum finishes.

  Goosebumps break out across my arms at the pure otherness of them. Neptune would have liked them. She was always a fan of weird things or odd feelings, always lost in books about other worlds. That was before she discovered the otherness in drugs, though.

  “You get used to it,” Clara tells me. I highly doubt that. I don’t think I can ever get over their way of speaking.

  “Are you offering to prepare the enchantment as well, so that I simply have to put it on the Red Queen?”

  Dee smiles. “Clever, Fire Child.”

  “No,” Dum says, “we will provide the list of ingredients.”

  “And the instructions.”

  “You won’t need us to mix it.”

  “And this enchantment will bind the Red Queen so that she can’t absorb the Jabberwocky’s power?” I make sure to ask every question, and be very clear.

  “Yes,” they reply in unison before Dee speaks alone. “But it won’t stop her from taking power by other means.”

  “Blood,” the Hatter supplies. “They’re talking about her taking power from blood.”

  “How will I put the enchantment on Alice?” I ask the Tweedles.

  “That is up to you,” Dum replies.

  “But you must get close.” Dee smiles.

  “Always a complication,” I mutter. “And what do you ask for in return?”

  The Tweedles lean their heads together, and everyone tenses. They communicate without talking, and I watch in fascination. When they break apart, I hold my breath. I’m not sure what I’ll do if they ask me for my first-born child. I certainly can’t agree to that.

  “A lock of hair,” they both say.

  I wrinkle my brow, puzzled. “That’s it? Just a chunk of hair?”

  “Those that carry fire in their veins,” Dee says.

  “Carry powers they don’t understand.” Dum tilts his head towards Dee.

  “You won’t harm me? Or anyone else considered a friend?”

  “We only want the hair,” Dum hisses.

  “Yes, the hair.” I can’t see Dee’s eyes, but she looks positively excited, and it gives me pause. For whatever reason, they’re anxious to get a lock of my hair. That can’t be anything good.

  I turn to the Hatter and Clara. Cheshire is still munching away on food.

  “Is this a good idea?” I ask.

  “No,” Hatter immediately answers. “But if the vision you saw is true, we don’t have much choice.”

  “Many of those capable of an enchantment are dead,” Cheshire adds. “Alice had them killed.”

  “The Tweedles are the only ones we have contact with.” Hatter stares at the tea cup in front of us. “White will not be happy that we put his mate in danger,” he says to Clara.

  “White will just have to get over it,” I interrupt. “I’m fulfilling what is needed of me, and I’m not leaving White in her hands.”

  Clara grins at me.

  “I knew I was going to like you.”

  I return the smile and huff out a breath.

  “So, no choice. I have to brew some sort of magical enchantment, get close enough to the Red Queen to put it on her, and save White. No big deal.” Clara and I share a look of understanding, and I realize she went through all of this when she first came to Wonderland, except she had to do it alone. I’m so thankful that she’s here already. I turn to the Tweedles. “In exchange for a lock of my hair, you will give me all necessary information and assistance to place an enchantment on the Red Queen that will block her from absorbing the Jabberwocky’s power. And you will not harm me in any way now or in the future or through external means.”

  “Now say ‘I will strike this bargain,’” Clara whispers.

  “I will strike this bargain.”

  Dee nods her head, and I yelp in surprise when an intense burning spreads along my wrist. When I look down at it, a symbol in the shape of their horns appears on my skin. Clara holds her own wrist up, a matching symbol etched into her skin.

  “Now, we’re twins,” she says. She doesn’t sound excited about it. If anything her voice is solemn.

  “Pick up your pen,” Dee commands.

  “Write this down.” Dum grins.

  Chapter Thirty

  Hair of a Bandersnatch

  Feather of a Dodo bird

  T
alking flower not three days old

  Drop of tea from the Hatter’s teapot

  Drop of blood from a Son of Wonderland

  Memory of Alice

  Smoke from the Blue Caterpillar’s Hookah

  I stare at the ingredients in disbelief with no idea how to get most of them. And then the instructions are even weirder.

  Mix all but the feather within a vial pilfered from the castle walls. Shake backwards and upside down for a minimum of a strong wind. Stand in the sun until the mixture turns blue with mourning. Drop the feather in and swirl clockwise and contrariwise. Soak a cord within the mixture. Tie the cord against Alice’s skin.

  “How the hell am I supposed to do all of this?” I ask Clara as she leans over my shoulder and reads the ingredients.

  “Beats me. I’m so glad I didn’t have to do all this. Chemistry is not my forte.” She points at a few ingredients. “The drop of tea is easy. As well as the drop of blood. Hatter will supply it.”

  “Couldn’t Cheshire?”

  Clara raises a brow at me.

  “Doubtful. He isn’t the most accommodating in case you didn’t notice.”

  I don’t speak the thought that goes through my mind, that if Clara asked, I have no doubt Cheshire would supply it. He would complain and pretend he wouldn’t, but the moment Clara looked upset, he’d prick his finger. Cheshire has a soft spot for the first of the triad, although, no one else seems to notice it. They’ve become somewhat friends, although Cheshire would most likely contest that, too.

  “How do we get a memory of Alice?”

  “That will come from your head,” Hatter answers from his spot at the table. He’s stirring a teapot in front of him, preparing his tea for the enchantment.

  “That sounds painful,” I comment, scrunching up my face in worry.

  “Not at all. You won’t feel a thing. A strand of your hair holds the memory ring.”

  Clara smiles at him as he focuses intently on the liquid in his teapot.

  “Sounds like I’m going to go bald after this if everyone wants my hair,” I mumble.

  “I have a vial of Absalom’s smoke in my room,” Cheshire comments as he walks into the room.

  “How did you get that?” Hatter snaps his attention to the grinning man.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

  Clara rolls her eyes and returns her focus on the list.

  “I have a hair of the Bandersnatch,” she whispers. “It stuck to my clothing when we were pursued. I kept it for some unknown reason, but now I think Wonderland was telling me to.”

  “Perfect. So, all we need is the talking flower and the feather of a Dodo bird.” I frown, remembering the vision of Doe having her feathers stripped. I don’t like that I’ll have to ask her for a single feather, not after she lost so many. I don’t want to cause her more grief, but we have no choice.

  Clara looks over at Cheshire where he sits, his feet propped up on the table.

  “Chesh, think you can get us a flower not three days old?”

  “No.” He takes a sip of tea, watching Clara with a sparkle in his eye.

  “Please?”

  “Still, no.”

  She sighs and puts her hands on her hips. “Well, I suppose I’ll have to go get it myself. Hatter, I’ll be back soon.”

  Cheshire’s eyes flick over to Hatter who doesn’t even look up from his teapot.

  “Clara Bee, return to me. Make sure to watch your feet.”

  “You’re just going to let her go by herself?” Cheshire asks, dropping his feet to the floor.

  Clara begins to move towards the door.

  “Clara can handle herself,” Hatter answers, still stirring, always stirring.

  “I’ll be back soon!” Clara calls, a small smile on her face. Cheshire’s eyes dart to her as she opens the door of the tea room. He shoots to his feet.

  “Wait! I’ll go. Just, stay here,” he growls.

  Clara’s face morphs into glee as Cheshire fades away, a scowl on his face. She claps her hands.

  “I knew that would work. Didn’t I tell you it would work?”

  Hatter nods his head, a small smile on his face as he watches Clara’s excitement.

  “Indeed you did, my Clara Bee.”

  I chuckle at their exchange and look down at the list.

  “So, what about the mixing it part? I’ve never heard of anything like this.”

  “That’s for you to puzzle over Jupiter. It must be you.” Hatter finishes his tea and scoops up a drop into a vial before passing it to me. “The Tweedles were very clear. It must be you that mixes it. They imbued you with their powers.”

  “And they seem to think you have some of your own,” Clara adds.

  I shiver at the memory of the Tweedles walking up to me and touching their hands to my shoulders. I hadn’t felt much of anything besides a slight warmth. I had seen their beetles though, and I’m intrigued. If I wasn’t so certain they would kill me for it, I’d get closer to study them. I’m so curious how the beetles stay on their skirts and don’t fly away. Just before they moved away, Tweedledee had sliced a lock of my hair free and taken it with them. Now I have a small chunk of hair shorter than all the rest.

  “I don’t understand why they would think that,” I mumble.

  “It does no good to worry about it now,” Hatter interjects. “We should retire.” His eyes flick to Clara, and they share a look that makes me immediately turn my head. The fire in their eyes makes me feel like I’m watching something I shouldn’t, like I’m intruding on a private moment. They do that a lot.

  “You can stay in White’s room.” Clara gestures towards the hall. “Just think about White as you walk and keep him in your mind. The house will show the way.” I raise my brow. “Don’t ask. I have no idea how it works.”

  I laugh and stand, gathering the supplies and walking from the room, leaving the odd couple to their own ventures. I’m certain I don’t want to be around them when they start groping each other. And they only remind me of White and the fact that he’s not here.

  I keep White’s face in my mind as I walk through the twisting hallways of the house. I could easily get lost if Clara hadn’t already warned me to keep White in my mind. After a few minutes, I arrive at a closed door with a motif of a clock on it. The door opens wide for me when I push it, and I step inside a room that smells like wilderness and vanilla, exactly how White smells. I take a deep breath, pulling the aroma around me like a blanket. My longing surges through me, and I almost stumble under the emotion. It hasn’t been long enough to feel so strongly for White, but after the events we’ve been through together, it seems more feelings than I anticipated have developed. I miss him.

  The room is a shade of green that matches White’s waistcoat, the pretty variations making the room feel warm. To the right sits a wrought-iron bed, cream-colored curtains hanging from the ballasts to create a sort of burrow. I smile at the thought, and decide I’m going to tease White about it mercilessly the moment I save him. The carpet is a cream color as well, beautiful, complementing the walls. To the left is an open doorway, and when I step inside, I find a luxurious bathroom. But I don’t linger in there too long.

  It’s been far too long since I’ve had a shower, so I immediately turn that on and strip my clothing, before stepping inside to scrub the dirt and blood from the last few days away. The soap I use smells like the vanilla I always sense on White, and it reminds me that I have a mission to complete. I don’t know when Wonderland became my main priority, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it was the moment a certain White Rabbit turned into a drop-dead sexy man. Yeah, that was probably it.

  When I leave the bathroom wrapped in a towel, I find a soft cami set lying on the bed, as well as clothes for in the morning. I worry my lip. I still have my backpack and my spare clothing, and I use that to find a fresh pair of underwear and a bra. The cami is cute but not my style, so I just slip on a t-shirt to sleep in. The outfit for tomorrow however, I plan on wearing. The mom
ent I see the combat boots waiting with it, I grin. Definitely rocking that tomorrow!

  I slip beneath the cashmere soft covers on the bed and snuggle deep. By the time I fall asleep, I’m wrapped up so tight, I feel like a burrito. I clutch a pillow close, which smells like my Rabbit, and drift away.

  I crinkle my brow at the scene in front of me, before a gasp escapes my lips. I’m surrounded by stone walls that constantly drip with water. Dark smears mix in with the wet trails, and I realize it’s dried blood.

  In front of me, manacled to the wall, hangs White, his head drooping. He’s covered in blood, his waistcoat gone, leaving him only in his leather pants. Even his boots are stripped away. The manacles glow with weird symbols as he dangles above the floor. I choke in dismay at the sight, and he jerks at the sound, his head tilting up to search for the source. His silver eyes seem to glow in the dim light, and when they land on me, they widen.

  “How are you here?” he whispers harshly. He immediately looks towards the door where guards no doubt stand. Alice wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave the White Rabbit unguarded.

  “I don’t know.” I hold up my hand and tilt my head. I’m not whole, my hand appearing smoky rather than fully corporeal. The last thing I remember was going to sleep and thinking about White, and now here I am.

  “You have to get out of here,” White snarls quietly. His voice is hoarse, as if he’s been screaming. “She can’t find you in here. I won’t let her have you.”

  I don’t tell him that I think I’m not really here. This whole encounter feels like the one I had with Doe right before she found us. Somehow, I’m dreaming and talking to White.

  “I’m going to help you.” My words are determined as I step a step forward.

  “Get out!” He hisses. “Go!”

  “No.”

  Before I can reach him, the cell door slams open. I spring backwards and press myself against the wall. I might not think I’m really here, but that doesn’t mean I want to be seen.