Page 15 of Knot My Wonderland, Part Two (Fairytale Omegaverse #2)
Chapter
Nine
ALICE
I sat in my room, my mind fighting through waves of the crimson fog that threatened to consume every clear thought.
The silver and gold marks on my skin now tinged with red, making me feel sick.
Through our weakened bonds, I could feel both Heart and Chi drawing closer—not just physically, but emotionally, their determination burning through the magical interference like distant beacons in a storm.
The collar at my throat pulsed with increasing urgency, as if sensing my renewed hope.
Each beat sent waves of numbing cold through my consciousness, trying to sever the connections the Queen had worked so diligently to weaken.
But I clung to the memories Aldric had advised me to protect—the first time Heart had smiled at me, genuinely smiled without calculation or manipulation.
The protective way Chi's tail would wrap around my wrist when he sensed my mood shift. The look in Seth’s eyes when he talked to me… .
Just thinking about Seth sent a cord of emotion through me, making me blink at the surge of a bond which flickered to life before disappearing. I frowned not knowing how that was possible, before I heard a loud sound from outside somewhere.
A muffled explosion echoed from somewhere deep within the palace, followed by the distant clash of steel on steel. My heart leaped—Heart and Chi were here, fighting to reach me. Through our bonds, I felt their determination burning like twin flames against the crimson fog clouding my thoughts.
But something else stirred in the magical interference—a presence I hadn't expected.
Cool and calculating, threading through shadows with practiced stealth.
Seth. The Void bond flickered again, stronger this time, and I realized he wasn't just monitoring from afar. He was here, inside the Red Queen's domain. I shouldn’t be able to feel him….I shouldn’t have a bond with him yet.
I bit my lip not knowing what was going on, but not caring as I felt the bond flicker again before disappearing completely.
The sounds of battle grew louder, echoing through the crystalline walls. I pressed my ear against the door, trying to gauge how close they were. The collar pulsed against my throat, its carved patterns warming as if responding to the proximity of my anchors.
Then another sound echoed through, the sound of a big crack, like shattering glass.
I moved to the window, my palm against the window, peering through the crimson-tinted air toward the gardens where flashes of golden light erupted between the twisted trees.
Heart was here. Fighting his way through the Queen's defenses with the desperate fury I could feel burning through our weakened bond.
A soft chime echoed through my chamber, and I turned to see the wall itself beginning to shift. The crystalline surface rippled like water, revealing three figures stepping through what had appeared to be solid matter moments before. My heart lurched with a mixture of relief and terror.
"Alice." Seth's voice was quiet but urgent as he materialized fully, his shadows coiling around the room to check for threats.
Behind him came two figures I recognized but had never seen like this—Vee and Dee moved with synchronized precision, their usual playful demeanor replaced by something ancient and predatory.
They wore matching armor that seemed to shift between solid and ethereal, covered with devices that pulsed with opalescent light.
"Seth," I whispered, relief washing through me so powerfully my knees nearly buckled. "How did you?—"
"No time," he interrupted, his shadows flowing toward the collar at my throat. "The Queen knows something's wrong. Heart and Chi are creating a diversion, but it won't last."
The Tweedles moved to opposite sides of the room, their hands manipulating devices that emitted soft humming sounds. The air around us shimmered, as if reality itself was being stabilized against outside influence.
“Temporal shield active," Vee announced, his voice lacking its usual playful lilt.
"Four minutes, seventeen seconds before detection," Dee added, consulting a crystalline readout on his wrist.
Seth approached cautiously, his dark eyes assessing my condition with clinical precision. "The collar is suppressing your connections and monitoring your location," he explained. "We need to remove it before we can extract you."
I touched the bone-like material at my throat, feeling the carved patterns pulse against my fingers. "How? It's magically sealed."
"Blood magic," Seth replied, his shadows coiling tighter around us. "But not the corrupted version the Queen uses. The original form—blood freely given to strengthen bonds rather than sever them."
The Tweedles moved with eerie synchronization, adjusting their devices as the temporal shield stabilized around us. I could feel it—a bubble of reality that existed slightly out of phase with the rest of the Queen's domain, buying us precious minutes before she detected the intrusion.
"Hurry," Vee warned, his eyes tracking something invisible to me. "The Queen has sensed something's wrong. She's calling for you."
Seth produced a small obsidian blade, its edge gleaming with a silvery light that made the collar at my throat pulse in response.
"This will require blood from those bonded to you," he explained, his voice calm despite the urgency of our situation.
"Freely given, with intent to strengthen rather than sever. "
"But Heart and Chi aren't here," I said, panic rising as I realized the implication. "They're creating the diversion."
"They provided their contributions before we separated," Seth replied, producing two small vials from within his shadows. One glowed with golden light, the other shimmered silver—blood from my anchors, willingly given for this moment.
"And the third?" I asked, somehow knowing there needed to be three.
Seth's dark eyes met mine, something vulnerable flickering behind his usual calculation. "The Void bond," he said quietly. "It's not fully formed, but it exists. Enough for this…”
“I thought that bond couldn’t form before the other two.” I asked, trying to figure out how this happened.
Seth gave a small smile, “It isn’t. But it seems like you my dear Alice like to go against the normal. The bond isn’t fully formed, just a whisp of what could be…..” He tailed off but another loud noise echoed through the air making him pause.
"We need to hurry," Seth said, drawing the obsidian blade across his palm. Dark blood welled up, almost black in the crystalline light, pulsing with void energy that made the air around his hand shimmer.
"Three minutes, forty seconds," Dee called, his fingers dancing across temporal controls.
Seth combined his blood with the vials from Heart and Chi, the three substances swirling together in a small crystal bowl—red mixed with gold, silver, and midnight black creating patterns that seemed to move with purpose and intelligence.
"This will hurt," he warned, his shadows coiling protectively around me. "The collar is designed to fight removal."
I nodded, steeling myself. "Do it."
The Tweedles moved closer, their devices humming louder as they reinforced the temporal shield. Seth dipped his fingers into the combined blood, tracing patterns around the collar that mirrored the
The moment Seth's fingers touched the collar with the combined blood, pain exploded through my nervous system like liquid fire. The bone-like material began to smoke and crack, its carved patterns flaring with desperate crimson light as it fought against the ritual designed to break its hold.
"Hold still," Seth commanded, his voice tight with concentration as he traced more complex patterns around my throat. The collar's resistance intensified, sending waves of agony through my skull that made my vision blur and darken at the edges.
Through our bonds, I felt Heart and Chi's fury spike as they sensed my pain.
The golden thread between Heart and me flared brighter than it had in days, his protective rage burning through the magical interference.
Chi's silver connection pulsed with concern, his essence reaching across space to anchor me against the collar's final, vicious attempt to maintain control.
"Two minutes, twelve seconds," Vee announced, his temporal devices flaring as the temporal shield strained against outside pressure. The Queen hadn’t sensed the intrusion yet, but she would soon
"Almost there," Seth murmured, his shadows flowing into the cracks forming across the collar's surface. The combined blood - gold, silver, and void-black - seeped deeper into the bone-like material, dissolving the Queen's enchantments from within. "When it breaks, be ready to move immediately."
I nodded, tears streaming down my face from the pain but refusing to cry out. Through the weakening crimson fog, I felt my connection to the pattern strengthening - silver and gold light pulsing beneath my skin, pushing back against the corrupted red lines the Queen had worked so hard to establish.
The collar gave one final, vicious pulse of resistance, sending a wave of agony through me before the collar fell to the ground and I felt relief.
I gasped as the sudden release flooded my system with raw power.
The pattern beneath my skin blazed to life, silver and gold light purging the crimson corruption in waves that made the air around me shimmer.
The bonds snapped back into place with almost physical force—Heart's golden connection burning like a supernova, Chi's silver thread crystallizing into something unbreakable, and a whisper of void-black that pulsed with potential.
"Alice?" Seth's voice seemed distant through the rush of returning magic. His shadows coiled protectively around me as I swayed, overwhelmed by sensations too long suppressed.