Page 22 of Dark & Darker Still (Vane and Roc: Origin)

Twenty-One

Alice

They don’t bother knocking.

The door bursts open and slams into the wall, the glass pane rattling in its frame.

Callista is first inside followed by several of the higher-ranking guards of the Lorne Palace.

I swallow and step back.

Since Madd made me that hat years ago, I’ve been the only one to use it. No one really even knows it’s magical. So up until now, I’ve never had the chance to see what it feels like to be in the same room as someone who is invisible.

I can sense Lainey almost like she’s one of the spirits that haunt me near the full moons.

She isn’t solid. I can’t see her. But I can feel her. And I swear I can hear her breathing.

And if I can hear her…

Callista steps forward. “I wanted to believe you were smarter than this, but then I remembered you’re a spade. I shouldn’t have been surprised.”

A lump forms in my throat.

She’s right though. I should have been smarter than this. I keep making all of the wrong decisions.

“What do you want, Calli?” I ask, pretending I don’t already know.

“Where is she?”

The guards fan out and disappear down the hall, down to the basement, up to the second floor.

All while Lainey hides in plain sight just behind me in the corner of the kitchen.

“We just want some insurance,” Callista goes on. “Just until we can get to the bottom of this. We’re missing a princess. I’m sure you know how serious that is.”

I hear an intake of breath behind me.

Callista follows the sound, her gaze skittering over my shoulder.

I don’t move. Don’t dare betray what I’m trying desperately to hide.

“Alice,” Callista says as she edges around the worktable. “Vane and Roc can’t weasel their way out of this one. Help us and I can help you.”

“I don’t want your help.”

I steel myself for whatever comes my way. I owe it to Vane, Roc, and Lainey. I’ll give my life to protect her.

Callista takes another step. I want to position myself better, so I’m between her and Lainey, but the movement would be too obvious, so I root myself to the floor.

“You know, I told the royal family they shouldn’t trust the Madd brothers. Not only because of what they are, but because of the company they keep.”

I swallow as my heart races in my ears.

“Never trust a spade from Wonderland, I told them.”

She steps into me, draws a blade from a hidden sheath, and points the tip at my throat, running me back until I hit the opposite counter.

A breath gusts out of me.

Callista watches my face, scanning my expression, deciding something.

Lainey remains hidden.

One of the guards returns to the kitchen. “All clear,” he says.

Callista nods and removes the blade from my throat. She glances absently at Ms. Ollen on the other side of the kitchen, wringing her hands in front of her.

“I see how it is now.” Callista smiles, pivots, and throws the blade across the kitchen.

The dagger sails through the air right at Ms. Ollen.

“No!” Lainey shouts, tearing the hat off and popping back into sight just as the older woman catches the dagger mid-air.

Ms. Ollen, the sixty-something-year-old woman, holds the dagger by the hilt, the blade pointing at her face.

Lainey breathes out. “How did?—”

“Run!” the older woman shouts and spins the blade around, lobbing it back at Callista.

The witch is fast, and grabs a nearby pan, lifting it like a shield so that the blade clatters into it and clangs to the floor.

“Go, Lainey!” I shove her toward the back door and out into the night.

She starts running to the south, back toward town. Several of the guards spill from the house, close on our trail.

We race across the rolling hills until the village’s light comes into view.

“To the cemetery!” I shout because it’s the best chance we have. It’s not a full moon and I barely have control over my power, but maybe if I dig deep enough, I can summon something to stop Callista and the guards.

At the edge of the village, Lainey veers left, cutting across the main road and winding around the little shops. The cemetery is just beyond the blacksmith, beneath the giant oak tree. It’s not as big as Wolbridge, but it’ll have to do.

The arched wrought iron gate rises up in the darkness. A single lantern hangs from a post just outside of it, the flame flickering in the breeze.

The thudding footsteps of the guards grow closer.

But just a few feet from the entrance, my knees buckle.

It’s been a very long time since I felt the effects of Wonderland magic. It’s not the same as the magic in the Seven Isles. Wonderland magic is headier. Wonderland magic makes your ears ring and your vision spark.

I sway.

Lainey stops when she hears me fall. She turns back to grab me. Her mouth is moving, but I can’t hear her words over the loudness in my head.

Get up.

Get up.

Everything is heavy. Like my veins are full of lead and my bones full of sand.

Callista circles around to my field of vision.

Several guards grab Lainey, capturing her between their meaty hands.

My tongue goes numb. My mouth dry. I pitch to the left and the ground rushes up to grab me.

Out of the darkness emerges both of the Lorne Princes. They are pale in the waning moonlight, eyes hollow, faces grim.

“An eye for an eye,” Crown Prince Evren says, but his voice is far away, like I’m underwater.

“Alice!” Lainey shouts.

And then everything goes dark again.