Page 18 of Tweedles Reflection (The Crimes of Alice #4)

Out of the fire and into the frying pan. That’s the saying, isn’t it? That seemed to be the theme for my life.

The moment I realized that Hatter wasn’t standing there, waiting for me like the others, I reached out to him through our bond. It was there but faint, and a consuming sorrow filled my chest and heart.

“I don’t need help.” I pushed Cheshire’s hands away as I tried to stand. “Just take me to Mercury.”

“Ally.” Coby’s voice was soft as if I were a jittery creature about to run. “Please, just rest. You’re still recovering from the first trial, and you’ve been out for hours. Who knows what the second trial did to you?”

“I’m fine.” I grunted and pushed to my feet. A wave of dizziness came over me, and hands grabbed me before I tipped forward.

“You’re not fine,” Carban snapped, his hand on my shoulder.

I blew out a breath, manifesting the nausea to go away. “I don’t have time. We don’t have time for me to be anything else. What’s wrong with Mercury?”

Cheshire brushed my hair away from my face. “Pet, Merc wouldn’t want you to worry about him right now.”

“Stop trying to placate me.” My eyes narrowed on him. “Just tell me.”

He dragged a clawed finger hand through his hair and sighed. “We don’t know. One moment, he was fine and then the next, he collapsed.”

I grabbed him by the front of his top. “Is it the sickness?”

Cheshire exchanged a look with the Tweedles. “We don’t know. He doesn’t smell like it, but it doesn’t look good.”

“Take me to him.”

“Alice,” Cheshire started, holding my hands to his chest. The use of my real name instead of a pet name told me how serious he was feeling about this.

“You need to rest. You have one more trial left, and who knows when it will happen? How can you help Merc if you’re too weak to pass the final trial? ”

My fingers curled into Cheshire’s top, jerking his face close to mine as I growled. “Take. Me. To. Him.”

“You might as well,” Coby grunted, crossing his arms over his chest. “She won’t rest until she sees he’s alright.”

“Alright, fine.” Carban stood and, the next thing I knew, I was looking at his backside with my head hanging down to the floor.

“What are you doing?” I cried out, smacking his back. “Put me down.”

“No,” Carban snapped, shifting me up further. “You want to see him? Fine. But you’re going to do it our way.”

Unable to get him to stop, I focused on breathing through the nausea. A door slammed open and then, without warning, I was tossed onto the end of a bed.

I bounced slightly, grabbing out for something to hold onto.

Hands touched my shoulders, helping me get steady. When the world stopped spinning, I blinked, eyes scanning around the room.

Several mannequins filled the room with half-finished projects dressing them. A desk with papers upon papers of designs sat to one side. In the doorway stood Cheshire and Coby, watching me with matching expressions of despair.

My hands pressed on the mattress beneath me, slowly twisting away from them until I could see the lump laying beneath the patchwork-covered blanket.

Silver hair peeked out from beneath the top of the blanket, his top hat sat off to one side. They’d taken his suit jacket off as well, folding it neatly beneath his hat.

“Mercury,” I whimpered, scooching over to his side. I found his hand underneath the blanket and gasped at how cool to the touch he was. My fingers searched for his pulse, unable to breathe properly until I felt his heartbeat.

It took a long moment, one agonizing moment that felt like forever, before I found it. His pulse. Just barely there, but it was there.

“He passed out a little bit after you did,” Carban explained, standing beside me, his hand stroking my hair. “I’m sorry, Ally. He hasn’t woken since.”

Leaning forward, I sniffed Hatter. “It can’t be the sickness. He doesn’t smell like it.”

“We know. Or don’t know.” Coby stepped into the room, sitting gently on the edge of his bed. “At first, we thought it was because of the second trial.”

“You mean, since we’re bonded, the trial affected him too?”

I pulled the cover down so I could see his face. My fingers brushed the hair away from his face. His skin was pale. His face slackened. Not even his eyes shifted in his sleep. If I hadn’t felt his pulse, I would think he was dead.

His face twitched under my touch, and my heart jumped.

“Mercury?” I murmured, reaching out to him through the bond. “Come back to me.”

His eyelids fluttered, head moving into my touch.

“Maybe.” Coby sighed. “It could be the sickness, or it could be something else entirely. We don’t know.”

My fingers stroked over Hatter’s forehead, my heart begging him to wake up. My voice came out a whisper. “What are we going to do?”

Cheshire pushed between Carban and Coby to sit at my side. “Love, there’s nothing we can do about Merc at the moment. We don’t know what caused his fall, but we do know that he wouldn’t want you to sit here by his side worrying.”

My eyes burned with tears as I turned to Cheshire. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Finish what you started.” Cheshire placed his hand on top of mine and Hatter’s. “Then, if it is the sickness, he’ll be healed.”

“And if it’s not?”

“You’ll have all the power of the Underground to fix him.” Cheshire stared at me with such utter devotion and faith that my heart swelled with it.

“Come on, Ally.” Coby helped me to my feet. “Let’s get you fed and rested. You can’t become High Queen on an empty stomach.”

I leaned against him, letting Coby lead me away from Hatter with Carban close behind. Cheshire stayed there at Hatter’s side, his face saying everything that my heart wanted to say.

Instead of taking me back to Carban’s bedroom, Coby drew me into a small bathroom. He sat me on the toilet seat while he turned the shower on.

I stared down at the ground. My mind felt as heavy as my heart.

Why? Why couldn’t I just keep the ones I loved?

First, Lewis and now Hatter. It could be Cheshire next.

His sickness might be mild, but who knew if it wouldn’t get worse?

And the longer we stayed in the Underground, the more likely the twins and even me would catch it.

“You should leave,” I said, the strength gone from my voice.

“What?” Carban grabbed my shoulders, kneeling at my feet. “What did you just say to me?”

Not looking him in the eyes, I repeated myself. “You should leave. Get out of the Underground.”

Coby turned back to me. “Ally, we aren’t going to leave you.”

I shook my head, holding back the tears. “Just look at Mercury. Cheshire. You’re going to be next. You’ll leave me. Everyone leaves me.”

“Oh, I see what this is.” Carban’s fingers bit into my shoulders, “This is a pity party.” He let out a harsh laugh and shook his head. Then his hand was around my throat, pulling me to my feet, his face inches from mine. “You are just... such... a whiny brat sometimes.”

“What?” I gaped at the same time Coby cried out, “Carban!”

“No,” the twin in front of me snapped. “I’m not going to tip toe around your feelings anymore.” His lips brushed against mine with every word. “You fucked up, Ally. And yeah, maybe we did too. But you have a chance to fix it all, and you’re letting a minor setback stop you.”

“Mercury isn’t minor, Carban,” I growled, grabbing at his shirt.

“And what about us?” His other hand came up to tangle in my hair, pulling my head back. “Do we not matter anymore? Is Hatter all that you care about?”

“Fuck you,” I spat out, eyes narrowing. “You know that’s not true.”

“Then maybe stop acting like someone just kicked your puppy and be the queen you’re meant to be.” Carban dropped his hands to the top of my dress and ripped.

My jaw dropped. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you naked.” Carban grabbed a pair of scissors and cut at the ties of my corset, then tossed it aside. With it out of the way, he continued to rip down the front of my dress until it fell down my hips, leaving me in just my thin underwear and thigh highs.

“Lift your foot.” Carban dropped to the ground, pulling one of my shoes off and then the other. He yanked my tights down one at a time before stopping, his gaze sliding up my body to settle on my cotton covered core.

Heat rushed between my legs. I should be pissed at him for ruining my clothes — or yelling at me. Instead, I wanted nothing more than to, as Kat would say it, sit on his face.

Carban closed his eyes and inhaled. When his eyes opened again, they were heated, focused solely on the only place left covered.

“Take them off, brother.” Coby’s voice was a low growl, the warmth of his body against my back. His hot breath brushed my earlobe, sending a shudder through my body.

Eyes locked on mine, Carban’s fingers curled underneath the sides of my underwear. Instead of ripping them off the way he did the rest of my clothing, he slowly slid them down my body. Each inch a tease, a taunt of what was to come.

“Faster, brother.” Coby brushed my hair away from my neck, his mouth lowering to my shoulder.

“Should we be doing this?” I gasped, head leaning to the side to offer him more of me. “Mercury—”

“Isn’t going anywhere,” Carban quipped, dragging the fabric the last few inches down my legs. He lifted my leg, pulling it over his shoulder. His face pressed into my core, not touching me just yet, and I wobbled on my other leg, falling back against Coby’s chest.

“Cheshire?” I breathed, hips pushing toward Carban. “He’ll hear.”

“Let him.” Coby turned my face toward his. “We’ve spent the last few nights listening to him and Hatter have every inch of you. It’s his turn to listen.”

I opened my mouth to argue, except just then Carban’s tongue licked me from back to front before suctioning on my clit. I grabbed a handful of his hair, letting out a sharp cry. “Oh, Reaper. Please.”