Page 42 of Alec in Wonderland (Rainbow Tales #1)

Bax woke with a smile on his face, sighed, and stretched out an arm to his betrothed.

Mal's side of the bed was empty.

Frowning, he sat up and peered around the room. “Mal?” The Knave climbed out of bed, yawning, and scratched his belly. “Mal?”

He went into the bathroom, then the dressing room. Finally, he ventured across the hall to Mal's old bedroom. It was empty too. All of Mal's clothes were in Bax's dressing room. He went back inside to stare at them, a strange feeling rising in his chest.

Then he saw the scrap of paper tucked into the mirror's frame. It had his name written on it.

With dread unfurling in his belly, Bax snatched the note and opened it. The words made little sense and not in a good way. He read the thing twice. It was from Mal and it was a love letter. But it was also a hate letter. Mal said he didn't mean to fall in love, but he did. He didn't want to lie, but he did. He didn't want to leave, but he did. Mal said his real name was . . .

“Alec,” Bax whispered as memories assaulted him. “Alec. Oh fuck. He's Alec. My Alec!” He shook his head. “No. But yes. I saw it. I knew it. I fucking felt it! But I couldn't let it be true. Because if it was true, everything else wasn't.” His stare went to the toy car, sitting on a shelf beside his hairbrush. Bax picked it up, his chest seeming to compact in upon itself. That little boy who gave him his first kiss. It was Mal. All along. It had always been Mal. No, Alec. And he was on the wrong side. He had come to the fortress again, this time brought by—

“That fucking cat! He's a spy! They're both . . .” Bax's hand trembled too much to hold the toy. It fell from his shaking fingers to land with a clatter on the hardwood floor. But he still held that awful letter. He stared at it. More words. Alec was always so good with words. His words had saved Bax but only to drop him from a higher perch so the fall would crush him. “They're both spies. He made me believe. He made me want . . .” A broken cry split his lips, and Bax's knees buckled. Fury kept him standing. He'd shove Alec's words down his traitorous throat! Alec. His Alec. Not his. Forever had turned into never.

Running out to the balcony, the Knave crushed the horrible letter in his fist and roared, “Alec!”