Page 5 of Tweedles Reflection (The Crimes of Alice #4)

Kat and Chess showed up at my house bright and early. Well, eleven. Anything before noon in Kat’s book was early.

“Hello, hello,” Kat chirped, walking in the front door without a single knock as always. “I come bearing gifts.” She held up a box of donuts and a tray of coffees. Chess hurried in behind her with shopping bags laden over each arm.

“Katherine.” I scowled, taking the box and tray from her, before handing them off to Hatter. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“Nonsense.” Kat waved me off. “I know what it’s like to have sudden house guests. Besides, I’d just gotten the rest of the fae out of my own house. Sans my mother.” She made a disgusted face.

“Where did you put all the fae?” Coby inquired from the couch next to his brother.

We’d been tiptoeing around each other all morning. Or rather I had.

The moment I stepped out of the bedroom in my human clothing, pale pink dress pants and a plume-colored blouse, Coby’s eyes locked onto me and never left. His gaze grew hungry any time they crossed mine. No doubt he’d had to listen to what Hatter and Cheshire had done to me the night before.

We had crossed a line, and I wasn’t exactly sure where we stood now. Were we together? Were we taking it slowly, seeing how we feel again?

Either way, I didn’t have the time or the mental capabilities to focus on the maybe-third part of my love life.

Thankfully, it seemed like nothing had changed with the other Tweedle.

Carban kept shooting me wary looks but otherwise kept his mouth shut. It didn’t seem like he was interested in reconciling any time soon.

That was fine with me. I had enough to worry about than stroking his ego.

“Well,” Kat continued unaware of my spiraling thoughts, “some went to the hotels, but most stayed in the woods around my grandma’s house. It was much easier than finding housing for the nonhumanoid variety.” She took one of the coffees and then pouted when Chess removed it from her hands.

“Your mother is staying with you, isn’t she?” I sipped the hot beverage, ignoring the longing looks from Kat.

Kat collapsed on the free part of the couch with a groan. “Unfortunately, I tried to put her up in a hotel, but she’s all about the baby and how she needs to be close in case something happens. She wasn’t this protective of me when I was an actual child.”

The Seelie Queen was a lot of things, but a doting mother was not one of them.

“Maybe she’s trying to make up for lost time?” I offered and then frowned at the words echoing in my head. Or playing the long game. I tried to shove down the annoyance that filled me, but I wasn’t quick enough.

“Alice?” Hatter cocked his head in my direction, reading my emotions.

I offered a small smile.

Cheshire strolled in a moment later, his chest still bare, looking delectable in his low riding loose white pants.

He took one look at Kat and Chess before he scooped up Kat up in a big hug.

“I can’t believe I am going to be a grandpa.

” He placed his hand on Kat’s stomach, making my friend roll her eyes.

I should feel a bit weird about my lover being a grandfather, but the fae lived long lives. Half the time, you couldn’t tell if someone was their father, brother, or lover. It was mind boggling for sure.

“What’s in the bags?” I asked, leaning against Hatter.

“A change of clothes for the new ones.” Kat gestured to Chess to hand over the bags. “I guessed at your sizes, but figured sweats and t-shirts were safe enough.”

“Uh... I see.” Coby pulled articles of clothing from his bag, his nose crinkling. Obviously, human fashion was lost on him. As a tailor, it wasn’t surprising that he would have a richer taste in clothing.

The twins started stripping right there in the living room. Kat didn’t even pretend like she wasn’t watching them. Every time they took off a piece of clothing, she shot me a sly look. My face heated, Hatter’s arm tightening around my shoulders as I buried my face in his chest.

There was a snort. “Typical.”

I peeked out to see Carban shaking his head, shooting me a disgusted look. I couldn’t find it in me to be annoyed, my eyes falling to the way the grey sweatpants hung on Coby’s and Carban’s hips, a definitive V-shape pointing down to their...

An amused squeak came out of Kat, and my eyes shot back up to their faces. Coby gave me a heated look while Carban’s expression was unreadable. I didn’t think it was possible for my face to burn any more than it already did.

Then Hatter tilted my chin up and kissed me softly on the lips. “Patience, my love.”

Cheshire watched us, his eyes darting to the Tweedles and then back to me, his lips curling up into a wide grin. He hadn’t touched the clothing, happy to just sit and take in the scene.

Kat, however, was not so happy to watch silently. She practically vibrated with energy, bouncing on her toes, her eyes darting between all of us. Kat opened her mouth to say something, but Chess covered her mouth with his hand, pulling her back against his chest.

“We should get going.” Chess glanced down at Kat with a warning look. “I don’t want to leave the queen alone in our home for too long.”

Kat tried to talk through his hand and, when that didn’t work, she did something to his hand that made him growl and hold her tighter to him.

“If we’re licking, then I know something else you can—”

This time, Kat twisted in his grip and covered his mouth with her hands. “And that’s where it’s time for us to go.”

“Wait.” I pulled out of Hatter’s arms. “We need to talk about the trials.”

“Oh, right.” Kat’s brows scrunched together. “So you’re really going to go through with it? Be the High Queen and all?”

Crossing my arms under my breasts, I shrugged. “I don’t really have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” Carban said in a tone that told me he wasn’t just thinking about the trials ahead.

Ignoring his obvious inability to let things go, I turned back to Kat. “I can’t even start the trials until I get all three blessings from the queens. I already have Morgana’s.” I pulled the stone out of my pocket showing Kat and Chess what I was looking for.

“Ew, Morgana.” Kat took the stone, turning it around in her hand. “How’d you get this from her? Please tell me it involved her bleeding and preferably crying.”

To say that Kat didn’t like Morgana was saying it lightly, though Kat’s experience with Morgana was more on the violent side than the bored lonely queen that I encountered. I didn’t expect us to be having a girl’s night together any time soon.

“Actually, she just handed it over to me.” I took the stone back, slipping it into my pocket.

Kat’s brows rose. “Really? That’s surprising, not just because it’s Morgana. Gross. But because no fae in the history of fae has just handed something over without wanting something in return.”

“Well, I think it’s had something to do with Dorian—”

I chucked a donut at Cheshire’s head, shooting him a glare that made his jaw clip shut.

Kat’s head tilted to the side, her expression quizzical.

Chess cleared his throat and rubbed a hand down her back. “You were saying something about the other queens’ blessings?”

“Anyway...” I gave Cheshire a warning look to keep his mouth shut.

Kat and Dorian’s history was filled with enough tragedy, and I wasn’t sure how she would feel knowing that the female who had tried to kill her and her ex-fiancé were.

.. well, I wasn’t quite sure but there was something going on there.

“I need to get your mother’s and Mab’s blessing before I can even start the trials. Which is where I need your help. There is no way your mother is going to just hand it over. If she knew I was doing the trials, she might actually break her no killing fae rule.”

“So... you want me to distract her?” Kat arched a brow then gave an unsure look to Chess before nodding. “Sure, yeah, I can do that. I’ll just... talk about the baby. That always gets her going on a wild tangent. But do you have any idea where it is?”

“Not a clue.”

Kat nodded. “Going in blind. I like it. Well, I’ve never seen anything like that blessing but it’s probably in that mess of suitcases she has in the guest room. So when do you want to do this?”

I sighed, exchanging a look with the others. “Sooner rather than later. Maybe this afternoon?”

“What’s the rush?” Kat cocked her head. “I know there’s the sickness and all, but you just got back. Take a break. Maybe play some... twister?”

Ignoring the way she wagged her brows at me, I spoke quickly. “Well, Hatter had the sickness, and we don’t know if it’s going to come back.”

Kat looked taken aback. “Wait what? Hatter had the sickness? I thought there wasn’t a cure. How did he get rid of it?”

“Long story short, we’re now heart bonded like you and Chess.” I patted Hatter’s chest with a small smile.

“Oh, well,” Kat pouted, peering up at Chess, “that’s great. You know, you’re all heart bonded now just like us and, well...”

I huffed, rolling my eyes. “You aren’t seriously upset that you’re not the only ones with a heart bond now, are you?”

Kat opened and then closed her mouth a few times.

“I think that’s our cue.” Chess wrapped an arm around Kat and drew her toward the door. “It’s alright, pet,” he murmured in her ear. “It doesn’t make our bond any less special. I’ll show you exactly how much as soon as—”

The door shut behind them before I learned any more about Kat’s sex life than I wanted.

Silence fell over the living room. I’d never been so uncomfortable in my own house.

“So...” Cheshire began with a mischievous grin. “What’s going on with you and Coby?”

I locked eyes with the Tweedle, a smug look on his face.

“I have to answer some emails,” I stuttered out before I did the mature thing and ran out of the room.