Page 72 of Cry Madness
Then he shoves me backward. The soles of my feet teeter on the edge of a hole.
And then I tumble.
Tumble for what feels like forever, but in reality, is only a few feet…
…right into an open grave.
TWENTY-FIVE
“Off with her head!”
—The Queen of Hearts,Alice in Wonderland
Ileave the ballroom to take a piss and come back to find Alice gone.
The fuck?
I do see Katherine glued to her husband’s side, but her daughter didn’t come back inside with her, and I beeline over to the odious woman. “Where is she?”
When Katherine fixes that icy glare on me, her contempt is palpable. “Where is who?”
This bitch.
“You know who,” I grind out between gritted teeth.
Up goes an imperious eyebrow, but it’s the smirk that makes me want to punch a hole clear through a wall. “Probably upstairs packing.”
Saywhat now?
“Why would Alice be upstairs packing?” Harrison Wentworth asks his gold-digging wife.
Katherine waves a hand dismissively through the air. “We had another argument, and she decided to leave.” Then she coils her arm around Harrison’s. “Nothing to be concerned about, dear.”
He does look concerned, but Katherine tugs him away toward the bar, likely hoping that drowning him in alcohol will get her out of having to explain herself. Not that it matters. My sole focus is on finding Alice and getting her the fuck out of here. But to find her, I’m forced to navigate through the crowd of these ridiculous people dressed in the most outrageous costumes. Good fucking God, is Richard Jerrod wearing a colonial wig? He looks like an asshole.
When I spot March and Ivory seated together at a table across the room, I veer off my path, heading toward them to let them know that once I find Alice, we’re leaving…
…only to have Scarlett intercept me.
This night keeps getting shittier by the second.
Scarlett reaches for my hand, but I quickly pull it away because I swear to God, if she touches me, I’m tossing her in the pool. If Roman gets mad, oh fucking well.
But either Scarlett is oblivious to my disgust or is stupidly persistent in her pursuit. She wraps that nasty claw, with those crimson talons, around my arm and tries to tug me toward the dance floor. “Come on, Mad, dance with me.”
I yank free of her grasp. “Jesus Christ, Scarlett,” I grind out between clenched teeth. When I attempt to move around her, she hops right back in my path. Annoyed by her tenacity, I bark out an irritated, “What? What the fuck do you want from me?”
This girl doesn’t have a demure bone in her annoying body, so what’s with the bowed head and wringing hands routine? “I thought… Ihoped?—”
“You hoped what, that I’ll magically forget you’ve made an art form out of tormenting Alice? You copied a fucking painting some psycho gave her. What was that, a joke? A warning? What?”
“I didn’t think?—”
“That’s your problem.” I smash my finger against my temple. “You never fucking think. It’s always about you. You, you, you. Anyone dares to get in the way of what you want? Too bad for them because it’s all about you. But I’m not one of your pawns, Scarlett. You can’t play me like you can everyone else.” I lean in close to her, almost touching her nose. “I’ve always seen right through you.”
Oh, my God, with the crocodile tears. “It’s not like that. I want… I hoped… I wish we could at least be friends.”
“Friends? You’ve got to be kidding me. Your goal in life is to make Alice miserable, and you think I’lleverconsider you anything other than my enemy?” I snort out a nasty laugh as I step around her, muttering, “And they call me crazy.”