Page 16 of Tweedles Reflection (The Crimes of Alice #4)

I slept off and on while I healed. Carban was always there to change my bandages, and Coby came in a few times to help. He offered me a cup of tea that Hatter and Cheshire quickly chastised him for, taking it away before I could make a decision.

“Tea is not what she needs right now,” Carban snapped, shooting a glare at his brother.

“She’s hurting though,” Coby argued, plopping down on the the end of my bed. “It’ll numb the pain.”

“She’s fae.” Cheshire scowled, sitting with Hatter at a small table off to one side. The table had been cleared off, and a steaming pot of tea sat in the middle. “She doesn’t need it to heal.”

I watched them, a small smile creeping up my face.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Carban whispered, his hands busy at work changing my bandages.

“What?” The grin grew bigger.

“Us, all fighting over the best way to take care of you.” Carban glanced over at the others, who were still debating the positive and negative effects of tea for iron burns. “You could have had this, you know?”

“Hmm?”

Carban traced the lines of my face, his eyes had a far off look in them that made my skin tingle. “If you hadn’t helped the shadows, if you’d just stayed with us, you could have had this. Had us.”

“For how long?” I snorted as I pulled away from him. “A few days? Weeks, if I was lucky.”

“So?” Carban countered. “Wouldn’t that have been better than all this?

We would have had you anyway we could have gotten you for however long we could.

Then none of this,” he gestured to the healing burns along my body, “all this pain and suffering, all those who died from the sickness and the shadows? It wouldn’t have happened. ”

I pushed up on my elbows, wincing at each movement pulling on my wounds. “So you’re saying that you’d give up eternity with me to save everyone else?”

The anguish in his face pulled at something inside me. “No, Ally. I’m saying I’d rather have had happy memories until you died than see you suffering now for a bunch of good-for-nothings who don’t deserve it.”

His hand reached out to touch my face, and I grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t.”

Carban opened his mouth then his brows furrowed, his eyes zeroing in on my hand. “What’s that?”

Jerking my hand back, I shoved my hand beneath me. “It’s just a ring.”

His eyes narrowed as he grabbed for my arm. “What’s with the ring, Ally?”

“Nothing, Carban,” I growled, pulling away from him. “Leave it alone.”

“Ally, now isn’t the time to be —”

“Hey, what are you doing to Ally?” Coby finally stopped arguing to pay attention to us. He grabbed his brother’s arm, pulling him away from me.

“She’s hiding something.” Carban fought against Coby, trying to reach me once more.

I scrambled back on the bed, grunting as my newly made skin pulled. The two brothers tussled until Cheshire interrupted.

“Hold on, what’s this?” Cheshire asked and, for a moment, I thought he was talking about us, but then my eyes locked on the little bottle in his hand.

Carban stopped trying to get to me, so Coby released him. All four of them circled around the table, staring at the small violet colored bottle in his hand.

Liquid swished around inside of it. A tag hung from the top of it but I was too far away to read it.

“Drink me?” Coby read with a huff of laughter. “Is this some tea of yours, Hatter?”

“No, it’s not mine.” Hatter frowned, a wary expression on his face. “It wasn’t even here a moment ago.”

A growing ball of nerves grew in my stomach. My hand itched to take the bottle and drink it. I pushed back against the overwhelming feeling and curled up in the corner of the bed.

You can’t hide from this, the Shadow Man’s voice crooned in my head.

“Where did it come from?” Carban asked, fingers touching the edge of the bottle.

As they contemplated the bottle, bone-deep weariness came over me. This was it. The next trial.

I almost laughed. The Underground had tried to break my body. What else could it do?

“It’s mine.” The words came out in a croak, drawing their attention to me. “It’s for me. The next trial.”

Four sets of eyes swung from me to the bottle and then back.

“No,” Cheshire stated firmly. “You’re not drinking this.”

“Cheshire...” I began softly.

“He’s right, Ally.” Coby shook his head. “You don’t know what will happen if you drink this. Fuck, look what the first trial did to you? No, no way you’re drinking that.”

“It’s not up to you,” I argued, shifting away from the wall to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Alice darling.” Hatter dragged a hand over his face. “You’re terrified. Please, just think this through.”

“There’s nothing to think through.” I held my hand out for the bottle. “We knew these trials wouldn’t be easy. You have to let me do this... or you need to leave.”

The four of them gaped at me.

Coby knelt before me, grasping my hands in his. “Ally, please. We just want to keep you safe. You have no idea if that stuff will kill you.”

“Isn’t that the point?” A sardonic laugh escaped me.

The others watched me solemnly.

“You can’t stop this from happening.”

“No?” Carban growled and grabbed the bottle. “No? Well, who said you had to do this alone?” He popped the cork, and tipped the bottle to his lips, jerking a startled cry from me. His brows furrowed, and he shook the bottle.

Nothing came out, even though the liquid was clearly inside of it.

“There’s your answer,” I huffed, holding my hand out once more for it. “You can’t do this for me.” I softened my voice and lowered my hand slightly. “But you can be with me every step of the way.”

Carban stared at the bottle then exchanged a look with the others. A silent, begrudging acceptance seemed to settle over them. He held the bottle out to me, but when my hand wrapped around it, he didn’t release it immediately.

“We’re going to talk about that ring after this.”

“What ring?” Cheshire asked, glancing between us.

They’re getting too close.

Ignoring Carban, I lifted the bottle to my lips in lieu of answering. A shaky breath escaped me before I tipped the bottle into my mouth.

The liquid didn’t taste like anything. I felt it brush along my tongue and swallowed it, but I might as well have been swallowing air.

I lifted the bottle to make sure it was empty. My vision wavered, my eyelashes fluttering, and a light floating feeling filled my head.

A piano played from somewhere, filling my head and body with a warm feeling. My fingers curled and uncurled. The pain in my burns and cuts no longer bothered me.

In fact, I felt fantastic. Better than I had in a long time.

Lifting my head, I felt my lips curl up into a dreamy smile. The walls were covered in pale blue and white wallpaper from my childhood bedroom. Voices chattered outside the white wood door, tempting me to investigate.

Head fuzzy, I followed the sound of laughter, body swaying back and forth to the music. My fingers trailed along the wooden banister, taking one step at a time on my way down the stairs. My long rose-colored skirts swished along my legs with each step drawing me closer and closer to the voices.

“Alice, dearest!” my mother’s voice called out to me from the foyer. Surrounded by several of our mutuals, she lifted a glass to me. “Please come join us. We’ve just gotten started.”

My sisters, Violet and Rhoda, giggled and stumbled into the room. Rhoda’s eyes lit up. “Alice, where have you been? We’ve been waiting for you.”

I accepted a glass from someone and was swept into the group. “I thought I’d never see you again.” I half-hugged her before turning to Violet and hugging her as well.

“Why wouldn’t you, silly?” Violet grinned, looping her arm with mine. “We’ve all been dying to know more about the Underground. Your beaus were just regaling us with the tales of your adventures.”

“My beaus?” I let her lead me through the foyer and into the receiving room. Four familiar figures sat around the fireplace, dressed in their Sunday finest as if the fae males belonged there in my mother’s home in the eighteen seventies.

“Ally!” Coby and Carban appeared at my sides, drawing me into the group. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

“I know.” I laughed and sank into their embraces. “A hundred years. I was there. Or I wasn’t...” I paused, frowning. “What are you doing here? In my mother’s house?”

“What do you mean, love?” Cheshire purred, taking me by the hand, his lips pressing to my gloved hand like a proper English gentleman. “We’re here every day. Can’t have anyone else think they have a chance with our girl.”

“Speaking of which.” Hatter took my other hand. “When will you finally stop this charade and marry us?”

I huffed a laugh. “Marry you? I cannot marry all of you.”

“Why not?” Coby pressed a kiss to the side of my neck, something that was completely improper in present company. “Don’t you love us, Ally?”

My eyes closed as I moaned, unwilling to stop the trek of his lips down my neck. “Please.”

“That’s it, lovely,” Cheshire growled, turning my hand over, his mouth hot on my wrist. “You can have all of us. Just like this.”

“Oh, darling. Do stop leading the poor boys on already,” my mother’s voice broke through my haze of lust. “I can see it now, a big spring wedding, oh it will be lovely. The neighbors would just eat their hats!”

Part of me knew that this was strange. Here I was, in the middle of my mother’s receiving room, being pawed at by my lovers, and not only was my mother unperturbed by it, but she was encouraging me to marry them all. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better world if I had wanted to.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, he appeared.

“How could I compete with them?” Lewis bemoaned, leaning against a side table, talking to Rhoda. “I mean, why in the world would she want me when she could have all of them? What could I possible offer her?”

“That’s right, Ally.” Carban dragged the neck of my dress down my shoulder, kissing the exposed skin there. “He’s not worthy of you.”