Page 40 of Alec in Wonderland (Rainbow Tales #1)

Before he made it across the gardens, Alec ran into Torwen.

“There you are!” Torwen hissed. Then he saw the sword. “Thank all that's good in Wonderland!” Torwen exclaimed. “You found it.”

“Yes,” Alec said. “It was where I thought it would be. What about the Prince?”

“He's gone.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I said!” Torwen waved his arms about. “He's gone. I opened the secret wall and there was no White Prince. The bed was there. The books. But no prince.”

“She moved him?”

“I don't know. It looked odd. And there was still a guard on duty. Oh! And there were trays of rotting food all over the floor.”

“What the fuck?”

“I don't know!”

“All right! Calm down. We've tried our best. We have to go. Hopefully, the White Prince escaped on his own. Maybe he's on his way back to the White Kingdom right now.”

“Hopefully.” Torwen glanced over his shoulder at the keep, then motioned at the wall. “Let's go before we lose our chance.”

Alec looked back too. In his mind, he saw Bax sleeping in their bed, utterly secure in the knowledge of their love. He said that Alec had changed his life. Well, that was about to change again. When Bax woke up in the morning, he'd discover Alec's perfidy at last. And it would destroy any chance of Bax ever trusting another person. His heart would close for good. Forever Alec's, just as Bax had vowed, just not in the way he thought.

“Alec!” Torwen shook him.

“Yeah. Let's go.” Alec ran for the gate before he lost his nerve.

Halfway there, Torwen vanished. Alec opened his mouth to curse, but then he saw the gate guards wander off. With a grin, he ran through the open gate with no one noticing. About ten feet into the woods, bandersnatches surrounded him.

“Stay still,” Torwen whispered in Alec's ear, still invisible. “I'll take care of them.”

“No!” Alec shrieked. “They're with me.”

“What?!” Torwen's head appeared, floating several feet above the ground.

Instead of barking, the bandersnatches stared solemnly at him.

“They're with me,” Alec repeated. “They need help, Tor. These are the Queen's old gardeners.”

“What?!” Torwen glared at the beasts. Then his expression cleared and the rest of him appeared. “They're not attacking me.”

“Because I got through to them. Somehow, I found the men inside the monsters. They're aware now. Enough to control themselves.”

“Holy shit, Alec.” Torwen looked from the bandersnatches to him. “Do you know what this means?”

“Yeah. The Queen is capable of more terrible things than we thought.”

“Yes, indeed. But I was thinking more positively. You are capable of more wondrous things than we thought.” Torwen clasped Alec's shoulder. “You freed their minds, Alec.”

“No, I just spoke to them and helped them remember. I don't have magic.”

“I think you do. I think you've always had magic. I think it's how you wound up here when you were a little boy. The magic sank into you, hiding itself when you went back to the human world. But when you returned, so did your magic.”

“Yeah, right.” Alec started heading away from the Hearts Fortress and the heart he left inside it—his. “Come on, guys. Let's get the fuck out of crazy town. I'm so sick of smelling roses.”

The bandersnatches followed him.

“Alec, you do have magic.” Torwen floated beside him, legs stretched out as if he were lying on a chaise lounge. “If you didn't, Wonderland wouldn't need you. It's so obvious to me now.”

“Whatever, Sir Torwen. You can tell it to Commander Quinlen when we get back. But we need to get as far away from this freak show as soon as possible.” Alec stomped harder through the woods, not knowing why he was so angry. Maybe because it was easier than being sad.