Page 5 of Knot My Wonderland, Part Two (Fairytale Omegaverse #2)

Chapter

Four

HEART

I struggled against the darkness trying to claim me, the dagger wound in my chest burning like molten metal with each labored breath.

The golden bond with Alice pulsed erratically—sometimes strong with her determination, other times so faint I feared it might snap entirely.

Through our connection, I felt her terror, her pain, the invasive wrongness of whatever poison coursed through her veins.

"Heart!" Chi's voice cut through the haze as he materialized beside me, his hands immediately pressing against the wound to stem the bleeding. "Stay with me. Alice needs you to stay conscious."

I gritted my teeth against the pain, forcing my ruby eyes to focus on his face.

The patterns beneath his skin blazed with frantic energy, silver light pulsing in rhythm with his panic.

Around us, the remaining resistance fighters had subdued David, the Spade King’s shadows wrapped around him like living chains while Varik examined him with a detector that flashed crimson with confirmation of blood magic corruption.

"She's been taken," I gasped, each word sending fresh waves of pain through my chest. "My mother... has her."

Chi's eyes darkened to the deepest teal, his form flickering at the edges with barely contained fury. "I know. I can feel her through our bond, but it's... muted. Obscured somehow."

"A collar," Seth's voice cut through the chaos as he approached, his shadows coiling with cold rage.

"The Queen's Binding Collar. It dampens magical connections, prevents unauthorized use of abilities.

" His dark eyes met mine with grim understanding.

"It's how she controls her most valuable prisoners. "

I tried to sit up, ignoring the protesting burn of torn muscle and damaged tissue. The golden bond fluttered weakly in my chest, carrying echoes of Alice's distant emotions.

"The dagger... remove it," I gasped, golden blood bubbling at my lips.

The King of Spades, materialized from the shadows, his normally impassive face tight with controlled rage.

"The blade is enchanted. Removing it without proper preparation could kill you," he warned, his shadows flowing around the wound to examine it more closely.

"Blood magic corruption on the edge—designed to spread upon removal. "

"I don't care," I snarled, grabbing his wrist with bloody fingers. "Alice needs me conscious. Alive. At full strength."

Seth's dark eyes met mine, something like respect flickering behind his usual calculation. "Then we do this properly." He turned to Varik, who was already rummaging through his chaotic collection of magical implements. "Hatter, the containment sphere."

"Already ahead of you, Your Majesty," Varik replied, pulling out a crystalline orb that pulsed with opalescent light. "Though I should warn you—the corruption will need somewhere to go once removed. Blood magic of this caliber doesn't simply dissipate."

Chi's tail lashed with agitation, his form shimmering between solid and translucent as his anxiety peaked. "I can't trace her exact location. The bond feels... stretched, like it's being pulled through multiple realities simultaneously."

"The Red Court," Seth, the King of Spades, said grimly, his shadows forming intricate patterns as they analyzed the corruption in the dagger.

"She's taken Alice to her inner sanctum.

The palace exists partially outside normal space-time—a pocket dimension she created centuries ago to protect herself from magical detection. "

I coughed, more golden blood spattering across the crystalline floor.

The wound was deepening, the corruption spreading with each passing minute.

Through our weakening bond, I felt Alice's consciousness becoming increasingly foggy, as if something was drugging her, pulling her away from me thread by thread.

"Do it," I commanded, my voice carrying the authority of centuries despite my weakened state.

Seth's hands moved with surgical precision, his shadows wrapping around the dagger's hilt while Varik positioned the containment sphere directly over the wound. The crystalline orb hummed with barely contained energy, its surface rippling like liquid mercury as it prepared to absorb the corruption.

"On three," Seth said, his voice steady despite the gravity of what we were attempting. "One... two..."

He yanked the blade free in one fluid motion, golden blood erupting from the wound as the corruption immediately began to spread outward like black veins beneath my skin.

The containment sphere flared to life, pulling the dark magic into its depths where it writhed and twisted like a living thing before finally dissolving into nothingness.

Pain exploded through my chest, white-hot and all-consuming, but beneath it I felt something else—the golden bond with Alice strengthening, no longer fighting against the corruption that had been dampening our connection.

The moment of clarity only lasted for a minute before pain spread through me and darkness overtook me.

I woke to the taste of copper and the sound of Chi's voice cutting through the haze of pain.

The dagger wound in my chest throbbed with each heartbeat, but it was the ache in the golden bond that nearly drove me to madness.

Alice's presence flickered like a candle in a hurricane—distant, muted, more wrong.

"Heart, you need to stay still," Chi said, his form solidifying beside the makeshift medical bed they'd moved me to. His teal eyes blazed with fury barely held in check. "The blade was coated with something that's slowing your healing."

I tried to sit up, ignoring the way the movement sent lightning through my chest. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Six hours," Martha answered from the doorway, her scarred face grim. Through the golden bond, I felt Alice's consciousness growing more distant, as if she were sinking into deep water. The wrongness of whatever they were doing to her made my teeth clench with protective fury.

"Six hours too long," I growled, forcing myself upright despite Chi's protests. The wound protested with sharp lances of pain, but I could feel my accelerated healing beginning to work on the damaged tissue. "She's getting further away. I can barely sense her through our connection."

Seth materialized from the shadows, his form more solid than usual—a sign of his own agitation. "The Queen moves quickly once she has what she wants. Every moment we delay gives her more time to complete whatever ritual she's planning."

"Ritual?" Chi's form flickered with alarm, his tail lashing as he processed the implications. "What kind of ritual?"

"Pattern transference," Seth replied, his voice carrying a dark tone as his eyes flashed with worry before he hid it again.

"Pattern transference?" Chi's form solidified completely, his tail going still with shock. "That's impossible. The pattern chooses its bearer—it can't simply be ripped away."

I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the fresh wave of golden blood that seeped through the bandages wrapped around my chest. The room tilted alarmingly, but I forced myself to remain upright through sheer will.

"My mother specializes in the impossible," I said grimly. "If anyone could devise a way to steal the pattern, it would be The Queen of Hearts."

Seth's shadows coiled tighter, betraying his concern despite his controlled expression. "The ritual requires specific conditions—a blood moon, extensive preparation of the vessel, and the systematic weakening of existing bonds."

The implications hit me like another dagger. Through our connection, I'd felt Alice's presence growing more distant, more muffled. Not just from distance, but from something actively severing our connection thread by thread.

"She's already started," I realized, my voice hoarse with rage and fear. "That's why Alice feels so distant—the Queen is methodically destroying our bonds."

Chi's form flickered with barely contained violence, the silver patterns beneath his skin blazing with protective fury. "We need to move now. Every hour weakens Alice's connection to us."

Seth nodded, his shadows forming intricate patterns as he calculated possibilities. "The Red Court inner section of the castle exists in a pocket dimension, but there are still ways to reach it. Doorways hidden throughout Wonderland for those who know where to look."

"And you know where to look," I said, making it a statement rather than a question. The King of Spades had always maintained connections everywhere—including, I suspected, within my mother's inner circle.

"I know of three potential entry points," Seth admitted, his shadows forming a map-like pattern in the air between us.

"The closest is through the gardens—a maze of corrupted flora that serves as the outer perimeter of her domain.

The second lies beneath the Crimson Lake, accessible only during the darkest hour before dawn.

The third..." He paused, shadows flickering with what might have been reluctance.

"The third is through the Mirror Halls, but that path requires a sacrifice I'm not certain any of us are prepared to make. "

"What kind of sacrifice?" Martha asked, her scarred face set in grim lines as she stepped fully into the room. The veteran fighter had seen enough horrors to know that desperate times often demanded terrible prices.

Seth's form seemed to waver slightly, as if the very mention of this path disturbed him.

"The Mirror Halls reflect not just your image, but your deepest fears, your greatest failures, your darkest secrets.

To pass through them intact requires confronting every aspect of yourself you've spent lifetimes trying to forget.

" His shadows writhed with ancient pain.

"Many who enter never emerge, not because they die, but because they become lost in their own reflections. "