Page 5 of Cheshire’s Smile (The Crimes of Alice #3)

Needing to go to the Shadow Realm was all good and well, but getting there was a whole other story.

Cheshire and I walked out of the palace without being stopped once. My heels clacked on the cobblestone. The sound was louder than ever without other bodies to break it up.

“I can give the queen credit for one thing,” I mused, peering around the empty street. “She knows how to clear out her court in a timely fashion. I don’t think there is one person left in all the Seelie Realm.”

Cheshire hummed next to me, his gaze shifting across the empty town. “It is kind of eerie, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.” A chill went down my spine. Even with no one around, I felt as if someone was watching me. “Let’s make our exit and get to the Between. This place is giving me the heebie jeebies.”

We turned down another street. The portal back to the Between was much easier to reach in the Seelie Realm than the UnSeelie Realm.

Part of me wondered if it was Mab’s doing or Tatiana’s?

Did they think that the Seelie were so much better behaved than the UnSeelie that they didn’t need to be kept in the Underground?

From my experience with the snooty Seelie, they were worse than any UnSeelie I’d ever met. The Seelie would lie and manipulate while pretending to be your best friend. Kat was the only exception I’d come across, but that might be because she wasn’t fully fae.

The UnSeelie might be more... passionate. But at least they’d tell you to your face that they wanted to eat you. I’d rather know the monsters under my bed than have monsters pretending to be my friend.

“This isn’t good,” Cheshire announced with a frown, crossing his arms over his chest.

I came to a stop beside him, head cocked. “Where’s the portal?”

The place in which the shimmery white portal to the Between was nothing more than a brick wall now. Pinching my lips together, I stepped forward and placed a hand on the wall. There was no give. The bricks were solid. No one was getting through it.

I spun around with my hands on my hips. “Well... fuck.”

“Cursing now, love?” Cheshire smirked. “You have changed.”

Frustration made me pull on my gloves harder than necessary. “I blame Kat. But this,” I gestured toward the wall, “is a problem. How are we going to get to the Between now?”

There were only a few ways into the Shadow Realm. The UnSeelie Queen had a mirror portal Kat had used to save Dorian and Chess. Unfortunately, Mab was the only one who could activate the mirror and, if the UnSeelie Court was anything like the Seelie Court, the place was a ghost town.

Mab likely already evacuated to the Human Realm.

Even if Mab was still there — unlikely — she wasn’t particularly fond of me. Asking her for a favor to save someone I loved would likely get me laughed out of the castle.

My other option was the door in the Between.

One positive for me was that the dodo bird, Type and Gripe, weren’t running the reception desk anymore.

If they were there, there was no way they would let me get in there.

I had a feeling they were still pretty upset about my theft of the key from my previous time in the Underground, a key that Kat now had.

It was a moot point anyhow. Since they were missing. Or likely taken by the shadows or even the sickness.

I was betting on it being the shadows since they’ve been gone for over a year now.

My best option was to go through the Between to get to the Shadow Realm. It was the most straight forward path to getting there. There was another option but... I didn’t want to think about it unless I had to.

With the portal out of the Seelie Realm sealed up, there was no way to get to the Between unless I wanted to go the long way around through the UnSeelie Realm first. But, if the queen sealed this portal, then she probably sealed the one to the UnSeelie Realm too, leaving us completely stranded.

“You could always go the back way.”

Cheshire and I tensed, turning toward the voice that had answered my unspoken question. A little orange snout peaked out from behind a building.

I squinted and stepped forward. “Tick? Is that you?”

The orange fox slipped out from behind the building. He adjusted his vest and gave a flourished bow. “At your service, my lady.”

“What do you want, fox?” Cheshire growled and tugged me back to his side. His hand clutched my side possessively.

Tick padded forward with a smirk on his lips. Did foxes have lips? Either way, he definitely was smirking at Cheshire. “I’m here to see my fiancé, of course.”

I did a double take. “Fiancé? Who? Me?” I glanced up at Cheshire and then back to Tick. “I swear I have no idea what he’s talking about.”

Cheshire snarled at Tick, forcing the fox to stop in place his hands up in defense.

“Now, now. We’re all friends here and some more than friends.” Tick leered at me, licking his chomps.

“Back off, fox, or I’ll make you.” The hand on my waist tightened, and a stirring warmed in my lower region. Cheshire’s nostrils flared, his eyes darkening at he looked down at me. “Later, lovely.”

I pulled my lower lip between my teeth before turning a glare at Tick. “Stop making up stories.”

“Oh, my lady.” Tick let out a low growl. “Don’t tell me you have forgotten our time together.”

I stayed silent.

“You wound me,” Tick sighed. “Maybe this will help jog your memory.” His nine tails wrapped around him.

His fur receded, and olive, muscular flesh replaced it, his vest straining against his chest as tight brown leather pants encased his legs.

A long orange mane of hair flowed down his back as amber eyes crinkled while he smiled.

His tails swept back and forth behind him.

Something prickled at the back of my mind. I recognized this fox... or man... fae. I knew him from somewhere. Unfortunately, the memory was lost to me.

“There is no memory to jog.” I shook my head and frowned. “If there was something between us, I don’t remember. Hazard of being imprisoned in the Hall of Mirrors.”

Tick’s lips curled down. “You... you really don’t remember me?”

“You heard her,” Cheshire purred, curling one of my locks around his clawed finger. “She doesn’t. Go away, fox.”

Cheshire tried to lead me away, but I held firm. I put a hand on his chest to try to calm him. “Hold on now, Cheshire. I might not remember him, but we need him.” I turned my attention to the fox. “Where’s this back door?”

Tick’s somber face instantly brightened. “Of course, my love. It would by my pleasure to show you.” He offered me his arm.

Cheshire growled in warning.

Tick dropped it with a sigh. “This would be much easier if you remembered me, wife.”

His words only made Cheshire snarl once more. I patted his chest and drew Cheshire forward. “Don’t mind him. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Oh, on the contrary,” Tick began as he led us back through the streets of the Seelie Realm, “we had a deal. If you could solve my riddle, I would tell you where that pesky Opalaught went.”

He peered over his shoulder and grinned. “You failed.”

I pulled away from Cheshire, making him growl. I waved him off and hurried to Tick’s side. A spicy aroma poured off him, filling my senses and heating things low inside me. That memory tickled at my mind once more.

A foggy memory pushed at me. I was chasing someone. Tick said it was an opalaught. It couldn’t have been Trip and the only other opalaught I knew was... Watch.

That’s right!

I chased Watch into the Underground and somehow I ended up in Tick’s home instead of Summerville. The scene played out through my head. It was hazy as if it were a dream and not a memory. But one key point stood out above the rest.

I jerked back to a stop with a scowl. “I remember you now.”

“You do?” Tick grinned and closed in on me, curling a hand around my waist. Before he could draw me near, Cheshire ripped Tick away from me and shoved him against the nearest wall, Cheshire’s clawed hand around the fox’s throat.

“Do not touch what doesn’t belong to you, fox.” Cheshire’s skin flashed between pale and purple, his pending transformation hinting at the rage billowing inside of him.

Tick laughed, not at all intimidated by Cheshire.

“It’s alright, Cheshire.” I placed a hand on Cheshire’s shoulder, shooting a glare at Tick. “You are a cheat and a liar.”

Cheshire shoved off the fox with a huff, instantly pulling me back to his side. His hand swept up and down my side, as if he couldn’t stand not touching me right now.

Tick rubbed his throat and chuckled. “So you do remember me. How wonderful.”

“I remember you drugging me and then trying to con me into marrying you. However, I also remember you didn’t think I was old enough for you. Let me guess, now you think I’m old enough?” I arched a brow with a sneer.

The fox leered at me, his tails twitching. “Oh, yes. I would be honored to have the great pretender as my wife.”

Magic crackled beneath my skin. Without warning, I threw it at Tick, lifting him up off the ground by his neck. “My name is Alice. Not Bad Lady. Not the great pretender. Alice. And the only thing you will have the honor of is being ripped apart by me.”

“No — ack — Hold on...” Tick struggled against my hold. “You... need me.”

A low rumble came from Cheshire, his nose trailing along my cheek. “You have no idea how much I want to be inside you right now, pet.”

I turned my head, our nose brushed together. “Does violence turn you on, pussy cat?”

“I will turn you over my knee if you call me that again.” His rumble turned into a growl.

My lips ticked up a thrill running down my spine at his words. “Promises. Promises. But first...” I turned back to Tick. “What to do with him?”

“Kill him.” Cheshire’s hot tongue slid up the side of my neck before nipping at my ear. “Then I’ll prove I’m a fae of my word.”

I squirmed in place, tempted to do exactly as he asked. The fae had a hold on my body in a bad way.

There was just one problem. I sighed.

“I can’t.” I glared at Tick. “Unfortunately, he’s right. We do need him.”

Cheshire pouted. “Do we? Really?”

Lessening my grip on Tick’s neck, I lowered him back to the ground. Tick fell to his knees, gasping for air, and I squatted down in front of him.

“You listen to me well. You will lead us through this back door of yours to the Between, and the Seelie won’t find your dismembered body decorating their pretty town center.”

“Oh, love,” Cheshire groaned. “Keep talking like that and you won’t make it to the Between without me inside of you.”

Ignoring Cheshire, I focused on Tick. “Do we have a deal?”

Tick huffed and sighed. “Do I have a choice?”

My lips curled into an unpleasant smile. “No. You don’t.”