Page 15 of Cheshire’s Smile (The Crimes of Alice #3)

There was no sweeter sound in the world than the clanking of the chains as they fell off the door to the Shadow Realm. Without giving myself a moment to think too much about it, I pulled the door open and stepped through.

I realized a second too late that I didn’t grab Cheshire’s hand. So it wasn’t surprising that when I fell out of the doorway, I was alone.

Grimacing, I brushed off the brick-colored dirt from my hands and skirt and stood. Smokey purple and white mist filled every inch of the space in front of me. While Kat and Chess had told me about their time in the Shadow Realm, they never mentioned the mist.

With a hand out in front of me, I eased forward. The instant my fingertips touched the edge of the mist, I hissed and jerked it back, holding the offended hand to my chest.

“Yeah, that stuff is a bitch,” a feminine voice announced, laughing a little.

My hair whipped around with my body. My eyes searched behind me, taking in the run-down wooden home covered in vines and moss. In front sat a fae woman lounging on a bench.

Long wavy blood red hair poured down her body pooling around her lap.

A sharp nose and an even sharper chin didn’t take away from the gorgeous fae’s face.

A dark crimson dress clung to her voluptuous form with all the airs of a queen.

Long dark lashes framed dark green eyes that scanned my form.

The twist of her lips told me she hadn’t found much about me appealing.

“Uh, hello.” I stepped toward her, more than happy to get away from the stinging mist. I could only hope that Cheshire had ended up somewhere closer to the palace than me.

The female hummed and stared at her long black painted fingernails. “So, what’s your story? Did you die? No.” She mused sucked her teeth. “I don’t think that’s it. You’re far too... solid.”

“I beg your pardon?” I huffed, my hands on my hips. I was no wispy female by any means, but I would hardly call myself solid.

“Corporeal, my dear.” She waved a hand up and down my figure.

“If you were dead, you wouldn’t be so...

visible.” She shifted in her seat, crossing one long leg over the other.

“So, that can only mean, you were sent here. The question is did you arrive by your own desire or,” her lips curled up in a wicked grin, “are you being punished?”

My arms crossed over my chest, a bit offended by her tone of voice. “For your information, I am here by my own volition. And who are you? The gate keeper?”

Her nose curled up into a sneer. “Gate keeper? Hardly.” She leaned her elbow on the arm of the bench. “You may call me Morgana. Not that you will be here long. I’m sure if the mist or spirits don’t take you, then those shadows that have tainted our lands will.”

My shoulders tensed.

I knew the shadows had been chased to the Shadow Realms. A part of me had figured Eugene and Dorian had taken care of them already. Or at least I’d hoped so.

Something else she said caught me. Morgana? Kat had mentioned a Morgana before. Rumor had it that she was once the queen of the Shadow Realm, but I didn’t know what caused her to lose her crown or why Eugene now ruled the mostly barren land.

If Morgana was as terrible as Kat had told me, I had to watch myself around her. I didn’t want to give Morgana a reason to make my journey harder than it needed to be.

“Well...” I swept my hands down my dress and sighed, sending a wave of magic through it. This dress had seen me through many a trial, and it still saddened me that I had to repair it with magic. Once I was back to proper form, I slid my leg back into a deep curtsey. “I am Alice.”

Morgana sniffed, her nose pointed in the air. “I figured.”

Okay, then. It looked like politeness was not going to get me anywhere with this one.

“Look, I don’t want to waste your time.” I cleared my throat and glanced around. Not that it looked like she was busy with anything other than being a bitch. “I just need directions to the palace.”

Morgana snorted. “Of course, you want to go there. No one want to spend time with the washed-up royalty anyway.” She muttered the last part to herself.

I had a feeling there was more to this female than she led others to believe. She put on a hard exterior which I could understand. Mostly likely, she had become victim to the masses as I had, with nothing left to do but push everyone away.

Parts of me struggled with indecision. I was in a hurry. I needed to find the others before the sickness took them. I didn’t have time to hand hold some ex-fae royalty. And yet...

“I could...” I began, wondering why I cared so much. “Use a guide? Perhaps, you could help me find my way?”

Morgana lifted a perfectly crafted brow.

For a moment, I thought she was going to tell me to leave. Not that I could. With the mist surrounding the small clearing her house sat in, I was a sitting duck.

With a long, drawn-out sigh, she uncurled herself from her seat and stood. “I suppose I could spare some time for the one fae who is almost as hated as myself.”

My mouth fell open. I clipped it shut before I said something rude and made her refuse to help.

Each step she took was smooth and sultry, her leg peeking out of the slit in her dress as she sauntered over to me. “Well, then. Let’s get this over with.”

She stopped by my side and, before I could ask her how we were going to get through the mist, she lifted her hand. A dark red flame burst into life in her palm, and the stinging mist closest to us began to dissipate.

Well, that solved things.

We walked through the mist in an uncomfortable silence. Besides Kat, I’d never gotten along well with other females. Even when I was human, they tended to avoid me. It wasn’t as if I didn’t try to make friends. My sisters and I got along well enough.

However, none of the proper ladies wanted anything to do with the mad Liddell. I could hardly say my reputation has improved since I had become fae.

“So, how was it?”

My eyes darted away from the mist to Morgana. “How was what?”

“Being imprisoned. No. What do you think I mean?” She scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I mean, giving up everything to be one of us. Was it worth it?”

I mused over her question for a moment. It was hardly a difficult question. I had given up my human life, a life of being married to a man who only wanted me for my crazy stories of Wonderland. A life that mocked and belittled me at every turn.

If I had the chance to do it all again, would I choose to become fae?

My mind drifted to the fae males in my life. Hatter with his never-failing love and loyalty. Cheshire’s overwhelming faith in me. Carban and Coby... well, I didn’t quite remember everything about them yet, but I knew they had to be wonderful if I had thought they were worth breaking the fae world.

“My, my, I did not think that would be such a head scratcher,” Morgana mused, waving her hand before us to clear more of the mist.

“Yes,” I said at last. “It was worth it.”

Morgana sniffed. “Probably would have been more worth it if you hadn’t spent the last hundred years locked up.”

I huffed a laugh. “Yes, that would have been preferable.” I scuffed my foot on the ground. “You know, I thought I would do this one simple thing. Make the royals admit their feelings to one another, become fae, and then ride off into the sunset for my happily ever after. But as you can see...”

“Didn’t go quite as planned, did it?” Morgana smiled. It wasn’t a malicious or taunting one. If I wasn’t mistaken, I think it was supposed to be a comforting smile.

“You sound like you have experience in bad decisions.”

Her smile flattened into a scowl. “Yes. I do.”

We fell back into that silence once more except, this time, it wasn’t as uncomfortable as before. I didn’t know what happened to Morgana, but my first feeling about her was spot on. There was more to her story. Someone had wronged her, and no one had listened to her side of the story.

“Fuck them.”

Morgana’s head jerked my way. “What?”

I stopped at her side. “Fuck them. The fae, the humans, all of them. They don’t know us or our stories. We don’t owe them anything. I say, do what you want to do. Everyone else can go to the shadows.”

She stared at me for a long moment and then smiled a genuine smile. “Right. Fuck them.”

Both of us smiling, we continued on our way. After a few minutes, the mist spread open to reveal another house. This one was smaller and less upkept than Morgana’s, if that were possible.

“We can pause here for a breather, if you like.” Morgana stepped into the clearing, releasing the magic in her hand to extinguish the flame.

I quickly fell in step with her, gaze jumping around the area. A curved hill with a worn top sat to one side. My nose sniffed the air. A faint familiar scent filled my nose.

Cheshire.

This had been his home when he was here. My eyes locked on the mirror nearby. A mixture of anxiety and joy twisted in my stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Morgana placed a hand on arm. “You look like you’re going to be ill.”

Oh, yes. I definitely was. But not for the reason she thought.

If this was where Cheshire lived, that meant...

My eyes darted to the door of the house. As if my attention summoned them, the door opened and out stepped the two fae males I’d been looking for.

Carban and Coby.

My long-lost loves.

Based on the flared nostrils and daggers shooting at me through their eyes, Cheshire was right.

They despised me.