Page 2 of Tweedles Reflection (The Crimes of Alice #4)

No one greeted us in the UnSeelie Queen’s hotel room. The bathroom door stood open, the light off. The lingering scent of the queen faded quickly.

“It doesn’t look like Mab is here,” Cheshire mused, his eyes glancing around the room with rampant interest but not straying from my side.

“Thank the Reaper,” I muttered, not wanting to have to explain our presence to the unpredictable fae queen at the moment.

I needed a breather, maybe drink some wine, have a nice bath, before I had to face down how to lie, cheat, and steal the queen’s blessings from the two fae in all the Underground who despised me most.

“What is that feeling?” Cheshire rubbed at his chest, his brows tight together.

“Iron,” I answered. “Unfortunately, the human world is full of iron. It’s in practically every building and transportation. It makes living here...”

“Itchy,” Hatter added.

The others nodded, distractedly scratching themselves before meandering around the room.

“What’s this?” Coby poked at the blank screen of the television.

“We shouldn’t linger,” I warned, but didn’t push them to leave just yet.

Carban stood at his side, his lips twisted to one side. I would have found their interest in the technology of the human world adorable had we not been in the queen’s bedroom. I hated to cut their exploration short, but we needed to leave.

Hatter sensed my impatience and pushed at the twins’ shoulders. “We will explain it all at a later time. Now, it would be best to make haste.”

“But don’t you need to talk to Mab?” Coby asked, resisting the insistence of Hatter’s hands.

Cheshire’s tail flicked behind him, his fingers curled around my waist. “I do believe Alice and Hatter means to show us their home.” He trailed his nose along my jaw line before nipping at my ear lobe.

“You mean the home they made without us.” Carban scowled, shooting me a scathing look.

Ignoring Carban’s accusation, Cheshire guided us forward with a grin. “I, for one, cannot wait to see what this human world has to offer us. I did so enjoy my time here years ago, though I’m sure quite a bit has changed since then.”

Against my better judgement, my lips twitched. “You have no idea.”

Hatter opened the bedroom door, head poking out into the hallway before waving us forward. We stepped into the hallway. I half expected guards to be standing by the queen’s doorway and let out a sigh of relief when we weren’t thrust into a battle of wills.

Going down the elevator was an amusing sight. Hatter and I exchanged a smile at the startled reactions from Cheshire and the Tweedles as the metal box began to move down the building. Their noses twitched as the doors slid open, the smells of the human world assaulting their senses.

I understood how they felt.

When I was human, a hundred or so years ago, I never noticed the mixture of human sweat and pheromones combined with the pollution in the air. After I became fae, it was another new challenge I had to face with my heightened senses.

“What in the Reaper?” Coby cried out, covering his nose. Even Carban grimaced, coughing into his elbow.

“You’ll get used to it.” I reached out to pat him on the back but stopped myself, dropping my hand at the last moment. Cheshire’s sad eyes met mine.

My foot barely touched the floor outside the elevator before Hatter jerked me back by my waist. I twisted to ask him what the problem was when a familiar voice filled my ears.

“We’re reporting live from the Holiday Inn hotel,” the female news anchor who did the seven o’clock news announced, “where one of the fae queens has evacuated from their world. Tell us, Your Majesty, you are one of two queens of the fae world? Is that correct?”

The UnSeelie queen Mab’s raspy voice was too low to hear from the elevator, leaving me to think she wasn’t as close as the loud anchor woman’s voice made me believe.

The elevator doors tried to close on us, but I put my foot out, keeping the doors from closing. I pushed against Hatter’s hands, looking for a way through the lobby without being seen by the queen or the news reporter.

A crowd had grown around the anchor woman, the cameraman and microphone barely visible over the heads of people. I could barely make out the guards around the queen, their spears pointing high above the crowd’s heads.

“Alice,” Hatter whispered, poking my shoulder before jerking his head toward the end of the hallway, where a glass door showed the setting sun. “Let’s go.”

As quiet as we could be, we dashed down the hallway and out the side door.

There were scores of people loitering around the hotel’s entrance, and I knew at any second they would catch sight of us.

Then we would be on their social media app, and everyone in the world would know I was there with four new fae men for the humans to ogle.

The thought of the humans drooling over my males made my fingers curl into claws. A possessive need to shield them away filled my chest, my teeth grinding together.

“Calm, Alice dear.” Hatter’s hand slid into mine, the calm feeling he projected through our bond soothing some of my jagged edges.

“Thanks.” I shot him a grateful smile, then frowned toward the front of the building. “We should get out of here before they see us.”

I dug into my pocket and pulled out my and Hatter’s phones. Water no longer dripped from them, but when I pushed the power button, the screen wouldn’t come on.

“Well, it looks like we are walking.”

Just then a loud honk jolted me. A baby blue sedan skidded into the parking lot, zooming right for us. It pulled to a screeching halt just inches from my feet, brushing the edge of my skirt.

“What’s up, bitches?!” Kat’s bright blue eyes crinkled at the edges as she leaned out of the driver side window. “Anyone need a lift?”

“How did you know—?”

“Questions later, my dear. I believe the horde has caught our scent.” Hatter pulled the backseat door open and practically shoved the others inside.

My gaze slid to the crowd picking out the few who looked this way at Kat’s arrival. Phones were being pulled out. Nudges were nudged. And, within a few moments, we would be hounded by the fae struck humans salivating for some onscreen time with a real-life fae.

As quick as a mouse, I rounded the car and ducked into the passenger seat. The moment I shut the door, Kat locked it, closing her window just in time before several human pressed their faces up against them.

Kat laughed and flipped them off before the car soared forward. Humans dove out of the way. Others held their phones up to watch us go by. I had no doubt that we would be the next trending headline.

As we bounced down the road, Kat chattered nonstop. “I bet you’re wondering how I knew you were here? Well, Eugene called a half a second after you left, giving me the heads up. I figured if you didn’t run into Mab, then you’d need an escape route. Lucky I was right on time.”

“I’m Kat, by the way,” she threw over her shoulder to the others. “Good to see you again, Cheshire. And Hatter?” She clucked her tongue. “You and I are going to have words about you stressing poor Alice out here. My girl has enough to worry about without having to chase you down.”

“My apologies, Kat,” Hatter murmured. “It wasn’t my intention.”

“You two are new.” Kat’s grin broadened, sneaking a sly look my way.

I ignored her look by staring out the window. “These are the Tweedles, Carban and Coby.”

The two of them gave short hellos before settling back in silence, their eyes darting around taking in everything outside as we zoomed past. Every once in a while, I could feel their gazes lingering on the back of my neck, making me scrunch down further in my seat.

“For someone with a literal harem of gorgeous males, you would think you’d be more relaxed.” Kat nudged me with her elbow. “Though, I can’t say I’ve ever seen you relaxed before.”

She shot a look at the males. “Are you not keeping my girl satisfied? I can show you some toys and techniques that will really make her —”

“Kat!” I squawked, my face burning read. “One more word and I’m throwing myself out of this car.”

“Fine, fine. Party pooper.” Kat sighed. “I am glad to see you, Cheshire. It’ll be nice to have one sane grandparent around.”

“Sane? I’m not so sure. Less murderous than the queen? Definitely.” Cheshire’s fingers played with my hair from behind, and it suddenly occurred to me that I couldn’t smell the sickness on him nor had anyone else complained about it.

“You don’t stink.” I twisted in my seat, gaping at him.

“I would hope not.” Kat snorted. “Hard to get freaky if your partner smells like sewage.”

My eyes narrowed. “That’s not what I mean. Cheshire has the sickness. He should stink, at least to those in his aura.” I gestured toward the backseat. “At least one of them should be gagging.”

“Oh, right.” Kat nodded, reaching for a golden ball hanging by a string necklace on the rearview mirror. “That’s because of this.” She rotated the ball between her fingers. “Chess told me about his dad’s stinky problem, so I got together with Pat to make this.”

She held it out to Cheshire to take. “It’ll cover up any sickness so the humans will be none the wiser. Can’t have them figuring out all our secrets, can we?”

Cheshire rolled it around, then sniffed it before placing the necklace over his head. “Thank you, this will make things much more helpful until we get rid of the sickness.”

“How are we on that front?” Kat’s eyes slid toward me.

Thankfully, we turned down the street to our house. I reached for the door before Kat stopped, but she snapped the lock in place.

“Let me out,” I growled.

Kat twisted in her seat. “The rest of you go ahead. Alice and I need a little girl moment. You understand.”

Without hesitation, Hatter opened the car door and gestured for the others to follow. The twins gave me an apprehensive look as if they weren’t sure if they should leave me alone with Kat.

Cheshire pushed them from behind. “Go ahead, she’s the Moderator and my son’s mate. Ally will be fine.”

I stuck my tongue out at Cheshire. “Traitor.”

He kissed the air before leaving me alone with the Seelie princess.

I sank into my chair and stared out the window. Kat had a way of getting information from me even when I didn’t want to divulge, but that didn’t mean I was going to make it easy for her.

“So...” Kat pulled her leg up into her seat, turning toward me. “What’s got your panties in a twist and not on the floor because of those hot as hell fae?”

My face burned at her words. I’d never get used to her nonchalant way of speaking about private things. I hadn’t been human in over a hundred years, and yet I’d only had a year to get used to the more open way human society spoke now.

“It’s complicated.”

“Of course it is.” Kat snorted. “You’ve got four boy toys. Four. That’s three more than normal. Not that I’m judging. You know I’m all for letting your freak flag fly. But seeing you, Miss Prim and Proper, with four lovers? It’s a bit surprising.”

“Yes, well...” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I didn’t know about them until recently.”

Kat was quiet for a moment. “I had no idea the Shadow Man had stolen more than just your memories from you,” she said softly. “That must have been so terrifying.”

I swallowed, nodding as I held back tears. “I know I never want to talk about it. My time in the Hall of Mirrors. You just don’t know...” I sighed and shook my head. “It doesn’t matter now.”

Oh, boo hoo. You got your memories back. Stop complaining.

My fingers tightened around the ring, all my soft emotions turning hard. “What matters now is completing the trials.”

Kat placed her hand on top of mine. “You’re really going to do this?”

I shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t have a choice. Someone has to do it.”

“Doesn’t mean that has to be you.” Kat squeezed my hand. “But whatever you need, I’m here for you. Just tell me how I can help.”

I blew out a long ragged breath. “Tonight, I’m going to sleep. Drink a large glass of wine and pretend like the world isn’t hanging in the balance. Tomorrow, I need your help.”

Kat’s gaze was firm and sincere with her words. “Anything. What do you need?”

“I need to steal something from your mother.”

Kat burst into raucous laughter.