He winks, and I know my answer. Laughing, I turn with Jupiter and Clara. Attie stands behind me, a golden helmet on his head, a smile on his face.
“You’d better be careful,” I tell him. “Stay with someone at all times.”
“I won’t be the one dying today, sis,” he says. “Besides, I’m only the backup.”
I’m tempted to ask what he means, but there isn’t time. Behind us, Alice’s army shouts their battle cry as they begin running forward.
“Let’s give them Hell!” I shout.
“For Wonderland!” Clara screams, and everyone joins in.
Together, we begin to run.
Together, we sprint into battle.
Chapter 49
“Get me to Alice!” I scream. Someone presses a sword into my hand, not the Vorpal Blade, but something to swing until I have it. Cheshire flanks me, his aqua-hued sword held steady in his hand. Jupiter and Clara separate from me, Hatter and White taking up their flanks as the two armies crash together in a wave of metallic clangs and blood.
The smell of pennies fills the air, screams starting almost instantly as soldiers from both sides fall.
We slam inside the battle and begin to fight our way through, pushing with one goal in mind. Alice stands in her large dress, as a Card slides armor over her head. She still wears the skirt, but now she wears intricate pieces covering her chest, her shoulders, her neck. Skulls decorate the shoulder armor in a grotesque display. She smiles as she sees me moving closer.
Above us, the Jabberwocky and Flam slam together in a ball of venom and feathers, screaming their rage as they attempt to tear the other to shreds.
I’m surrounded by so much aggression, so much death, that I’m amazed I’m not heaving in disgust. Instead, I’m focused on one thing, and one thing alone.
Alice steps forward, and a circle clears around her just as I break through, Cheshire at my side. The others fight at the edge, dropping Cards and beasts as they go. Cheshire snarls and leaps towards her. Alice watches in amusement as he slams into a glass wall, or some sort of force field that keeps him back. He can’t reach forward and strangle her like he wants to, but that’s okay. I’ll be doing it for him.
“I’ve waited so long to see this world die,” Alice says, drawing a sword from her back. I don’t react except for a tilt of my head. “How pleasant it’ll be while everyone is gathered together in one place. I’m going to take pleasure in killing you, Calypso.”
I laugh, even as Alice flicks her wrist and sends Cheshire skidding backwards and away. His snarl is the only thing I hear, but he doesn’t move to attack again, knowing it’s pointless. So he waits, and watches, stalking the edge of the circle.
“Still so blind, Alice,” I tell her.
“I’m the Red Queen,” she snarls. “The Queen of Hearts. And you will bow before me as I cut the head from your body.”
I can feel Cheshire’s growl as if it’s in my own chest, even though he’s at least five feet away. A connection seems to slide into place at that realization, and I can feel his frustration.
And then a golden dome begins to spread around us, locking Alice and I inside. Cheshire leaps to get in, but it closes before he can, sealing up. I turn and see Jupiter, her eyes closed as Hatter, White, and Clara protect her sides.
Alice looks up at the dome in Horror as Cheshire presses his hand against it where I stand.
“Hope Bringer,” she whispers, and I watch as shock crosses Chesh’s face, stumbling back with those words. His eyes flick over to Jupiter where she sits, completely surprised, and I remember his story.
Danica had been the Hope Bringer. And now, Wonderland has finally chosen another.
When he looks back at me, I nod, hoping he understands that I have this. Just in case, I press my hand against the dome, and he does the same. If something happens to me, at least I got to meet the Cheshire Cat. At least, I got to give him my heart.
Alice seems to come to her senses, and she rushes me. I don’t know how she moves so fast in the dress she wears, but she might as well be wearing pants. I dance out of the way just in time, her sword barely missing my hip.
Behind me, the sound of a gun going off has me glancing into the battle, to see Clara pointing a hefty thing at the Jabberwocky in the sky. He roars and dives for them, but Flam slams into him from the side, keeping him from the battle below.
I can’t tell where anyone else is because of the battle pressing in around the dome; except for Doe. I see her bite a Bandersnatch into two pieces before screeching and slamming through a group of Cards.
Alice rushes me again, and I lift the sword to block her blow before we start to dance around the globe, avoiding each other’s blade.
“You’re going to die here,” Alice taunts.
I don’t rise to the bait and continue my defense, barely doing more than keeping her at bay.
“Why don’t you fight?” she yells, thrusting the sword forward. I twist out of the way and move to the other side of the dome. “Stop running!”
“The reign of the Red Queen will end,” I say, blocking another jab. Alice is decent with a sword, but she wasn’t trained by the Hatter. She’s slow to attack, and she leaves her side open when she does. Without her minions to fight for her, she’s at a disadvantage, but her pride makes her sloppy, her need for revenge makes her weak. She’s only focused on me, and me alone.
I move a hint too slow to dodge one of her strikes, and she nicks my hand, a thin line of blood springing forth. It’s a flesh wound, nothing more, but the sight of the blood excites Alice and makes her think she has the advantage.
Alice raises her sword again, but this time I don’t move out of the way. I lift my arm into the air and pull on the string connected to me just as the golden dome falls around us. The army starts to push inwards just as Cheshire springs inside, protecting my back.
A singing fills the air, as if someone plucked a guitar string and left it to ring. And then the Vorpal Blade slides between my fingers, the call of it vibrating in my hands, happy to finally be able to come forward. The silver gleams in the light, picking up on the sources around us, absorbing it and bringing a pale-blue glow with it. It’s comfortable in my hand, no longer a weapon as much as an extension of my soul. It gives off a slight vibration, urging me to complete my duty, to fulfill my prophecy.
Alice’s eyes widen, and she reels back, but she’s too slow, and the Vorpal Blade wants blood. The dress finally slows her down as she trips over the hem and stumbles.
“Wait!” she cries, raising her own sword, but she always leave her side open. It’s a simple thing to parry her sword to the side.
Without a second of hesitation, I thrust the Blade forward, every creature she brutally murdered dancing in my mind. That little deer girl’s silenced scream echoes in my mind, even as the Vorpal blade sings. For every death in Wonderland, for every end that Alice has brought, I fight for that. Alice’s armor gives under the steel, the Vorpal Blade piercing straight through her sternum. The sound it makes, a scraping wet squelch, unnerves me, but I don’t have the luxury of letting it stop me. Too many have died at her hands; I refuse for there to be any more deaths. I twist the handle of the blade, embedding it deeper, in an attempt to make sure she can’t heal from it. She can’t be allowed to live. She can’t be allowed to fulfill her destiny. This world will not be broken.
She gasps and looks down at the sword protruding from her chest, the silver-blue handle looking out of place. She’s so confused, shocked, as she stares at the blade. Around us, the sounds of the battle pause, as everyone looks at the Red Queen. When she looks at me again, I watch as a single tear trickles from the corner of her eye, and my heart squeezes even though I know she’s a monster.
Just when I’m uncertain of my next move, she begins to flicker, her image in front of me flashing between the Red Queen I know and the twelve-year-old Alice. She flickers like a glitch, as if she can’t decide what form to land on.
“What’s happening?” I ask
Cheshire, stumbling back, leaving the sword in its place as I stare in horror at the image of a child appearing.
“Wonderland is trying to reclaim her.” His voice is solemn as he watches. “The last time she was part of Wonderland completely—“
“Was when she was a child,” I finish.
Alice flickers once more as the woman before she settles as a girl, her eyes so blue it makes my chest hurt. The Vorpal Blade sticks through her small chest, black blood rushing around the wound. Her eyes flick to Hatter’s when everyone steps forward, and those blue eyes glaze over. Her sword clatters to the ground, a harsh gasp leaving her throat.
“You promised,” she whispers, before she collapses to the ground in a heap of blue material and pale-blonde hair.
I cover my mouth in horror and turn away only to see the Queen’s army collapsing to dust around us. They die with their Queen, her power the only thing keeping them on this plane.
I never expected the sheer dread I feel as Alice’s body glows bright white before it’s gone, too. The image will never leave my mind, and I’ll never escape it. Clara meets my eyes and slips her hand into mine, an understanding passing between us.
It takes something from you when you destroy another person, even if they’re evil, especially when they used to be innocent.
Above us, the Jabberwocky screams in outrage at the turn of events and flings Flam away from him. I look up just in time to see him dive right for us.
Chapter 50
“Watch out!” Cheshire snarls, seconds before he throws me backwards. I go airborne, a scream lodged in my throat, as the Jabberwocky misses me and grabs Cheshire instead.
Before my feet hardly touch the ground, I’m sprinting forward again, pumping my arms as hard as I can.
“No!”
I throw myself after the Jabberwocky, trying to grab the spikes on his tail as he speeds by. My fingers graze them, and miss. I land on the ground with an oomph, before pushing up.
I hear Cheshire’s scream of outrage, knowing he’s trying to Fade, but the magic of the Jabberwocky prevents it.
Flam swoops down, and I brace myself as he wraps his claws around me, gently, before we’re lifting into the air, and leaving the ground far behind us. The battle scene disappears quickly as we enter the cloud layer and chase after the beast in front of us.
“We have to catch him!” I yell, hoping Flam can hear me over the wind. My hair whips around my face, pulling free from the haphazard tie I’d put it in.
Flam is fast, fast enough to keep up with the Jabberwocky and slowly gain on him. I squint my eyes, focusing on the black monstrosity in front of us.
“When I get close enough, I’ll throw you onto his back,” Flam says. I have no idea how I can hear him, or how he can talk in this form, but the voice is definitely raspier than usual. “Be careful,” he warns. “If you fall, I’ll catch you.”
We draw close enough that I see Cheshire pull his knife and stab at the Jabberwocky’s clenched hand. The beast roars in outrage and squeezes his fist tighter. Cheshire’s grunt of pain reaches my ears as he pushes against the hold around him.
Closer, I think, tensing. Closer. Closer.
Without warning, Flam rears up and throws me forward. I don’t get much time before I’m in the open air, barely below the cloud layer now, as I fling my arms wide and focus on the spines of the Jabberwocky’s back. For a moment, I think I won’t make it, that I’ll drop into a freefall and have to hope that Flam can catch me, but then my hands wrap around one of the spines on the Jabberwocky’s back, and I clutch to it hard. I slam into his rough scales, and it knocks the air from my body.
He roars the moment I touch him and immediately, goes into a barrel roll. I hang on for dear life as we flip through the air, focused only on staying on his back. Flam said he would catch me, but I’d rather not test that theory yet. My fingers slip the barest fraction just before he stops the roll and goes right into a nosedive. My stomach flips, the air rushing past us, slapping at my face so painfully that it makes tears leak from the corners of my eyes. I don’t panic. Instead, I pull myself to the next spine, closer to his neck and to where Cheshire is clasped in his claws. My fingers close around another spine.
The Jabberwocky gets so close to the ground that I think his plan is to crash into it before he shoots into the air again, straight up. He intends for it to throw me off, but it only makes his spines act like a ladder. I scale five more of them before he realizes his mistake and evens out.
He turns his neck around and meets my eyes, the sickly glowing yellow swirling with hatred. He must realize he isn’t going to shake me, so he attacks the only thing he can.
Cheshire.
I watch in horror as he curls a claw inward, piercing Cheshire’s chest. His shout of pain rends the air and cuts off. There’s a sickening gurgle from his lips, and I scream, trying to get closer, but I’m still too far away. We might as well be miles apart. The Jabberwocky smiles at me, his forked tongue flicking out as if he’s mocking me, and he realizes exactly how to hurt me. He won’t throw me off. I’m too determined and have Flam hovering just out of the way to catch me if I fall. So, he attacks me another way. Cheshire is limp in his hand, his head lolled back and moving with the wind. The Jabberwocky leers at me, so confident so high in the sky.
He drops Cheshire.
I don’t hesitate. I don’t take a moment to think about the stupidity of it. I dive over the side of the Jabberwocky, my gaze focused completely on Cheshire, as he falls, unconscious, below me.
I press my arms into my body, making myself as aerodynamic as possible, as I speed down, down, down, the ground growing closer and closer. When I draw near Cheshire, I reach out my arms and wrap them around him, seconds before Flam dives underneath us. I grunt in pain as we land on his back, instantly reaching out for the spines in his feathers. I wrap myself tightly around the spine and Cheshire, determined to keep us onboard. Flam heads for the ground, fast enough that my stomach flips and roils, but I hold it down.
Cheshire isn’t moving. His chest isn’t rising and falling.
He can’t die, I remind myself, but it does little to curb my panic.
The moment Flam touches down, I slide from his back in time for the Jabberwocky to slam down to the ground in front of us, crouched like some sort of gargoyle.
“Take Cheshire!” I yell at Flam. “Keep him safe until he can heal.”
Flam dances away, with Cheshire in his claws, out of danger. I raise my hand into the air, calling for the Vorpal Blade again. Just any sword won’t do. The Jabberwocky must be taken down with this one. It flies from where I left it, where Alice had fallen, and it slides into my palm just as I charge at the hulking beast slithering towards me. It’s still coated in the Red Queen’s blood.
I dive out of the way just as his hand swipes past in an attempt to catch me in his claws. The quick reflexes the Hatter has fostered since I arrived in Wonderland kick in, and I’m already diving out of the way of another attack. His tail tries to slam into me, but I duck under it, and jerk sideways in order to avoid his stomping feet. The Jabberwocky isn’t as useful on the ground, his size a weakness. I’m able to dance just out of sight, to keep him from skewering me.
“You cannot win!” the Jabberwocky snarls. “I will have this world, and every world with it!”
“We’ve already won!” I snarl and thrust the sword into the soft underbelly above me.
He roars in pain and fury, stomping his feet, trying to squish me like a bug. No dice, dumbass. I’m already gone.
I twist from the other side, stabbing the sword in again. The sound it makes as it slices through skin and scales makes me cringe, but I yank it out with a squelch and dive again.
Flam roars behind us, distracting the Jabberwocky for the second I need. He looks in Flam’s direction. I dive underneath and come up right under his neck, before slamming the sword home in his chest, right where his heart should be. He growls with pain, but he doesn’t drop like I expect.
&
nbsp; The Jabberwocky laughs when I back away, pulling the blade with me.
“My heart is on the other side, stupid girl.”
Great. That would have been a nice bit of information to know before I came to battle.
His claw swipes out faster than I can track and throws me backwards across the flattened grass. I grunt in pain when I slam down, certain something must be broken. The Vorpal Blade flies from my grip to land precious feet away. Darkness dances at the edge of my vision, threatening to take me under, but I push myself to my feet, and face off against the monster before me.
“Why fight so hard?” he asks, tilting his head, a sinister grin showing his fangs. “This isn’t your world. Just let it die.”
“I refuse to let a bully win,” I growl, opening my hand for the Vorpal Blade. It comes to me without hesitation, and I drop into a fighting stance.
He growls, and lowers himself in a crouch, ready to storm towards me. “I’ll enjoy using your bones like toothpicks.”
Before he can rush me, shouts and yells fill the air, and I look around in confusion. The remains of our army swarm from the trees and the field, their weapons raised as they circle the Jabberwocky.
He snarls and beats his wings, trying to lift into the air before any of them can climb onto his back. I watch in amazement as Hatter and White come out of nowhere, and lasso a massive chain around the Jabberwocky’s neck, jerking him to a stop. Symbols etched into the metal glow a brilliant green as they work to yank him back down to the earth. He touches down with a fearsome roar, fighting against the restraints.
“What the fuck?” I mumble. Anger fills my body the likes I’ve never felt before. This beast, this monster is the sole reason for hundreds and hundreds of deaths–no, thousands! –and he’s hurt my mate in the process. I snarl and sprint into the fray, between the soldiers moving forward until I’m in front. The Jabberwocky’s eyes roll until they meet mine, fear reflected there for the first time. He realizes his mistake, thinking that this world is his for the taking. Wonderland belongs to the creatures, to the beasts, to the forest. This is no place for the likes of him, and now he will understand.
Feral as a Cat (Sons of Wonderland Book 3) Page 22
