Page 71 of Escaping Wonderland

“Shadow,” she breathed before she sagged against him, legs giving out. Only his embrace kept her upright.

“You finally lose one,” the king said.

Shadow glanced at the king. The man’s pistol was raised—aimed at Alice—and a thin, ghostly wisp of smoke curled up from its barrel.

A cold hand clamped around Shadow’s heart, squeezing it until it no longer beat. His knees buckled; together, he and Alice sank to the floor. Nothing else existed as he tipped her back to examine her. Pain contorted her face. A crease formed between her eyebrows, and her skin paled but for a pair of frantic pink splashes on her cheeks. Mouth dry, Shadow lowered his gaze.

Her dress was stained crimson at her stomach, where a gaping tear in the fabric revealed a hole inher. Fresh blood flowed from the wound. Hand trembling, Shadow covered the wound with his palm and pressed down. More blood soaked through the arm of his jacket from the entry wound on her back. A million thoughts careened through his head, smashing into each other to burst in a chaotic, indecipherable jumble.

Her eyes—so big, blue, and beautiful—were glossy with confusion and pain as they stared into his. She drew in a labored breath, and more warm blood ran between his fingers.

“No, no, no,” he whispered as her fingers curled in the fabric of his coat. “It’s not real, Alice. You’re okay. It’s not real, remember?”

“But it hurts, Shadow,” she said in a small, thin voice. “How…how can it be fake if it hurts so much?”

“I can’t kill you yet,” the king called, drawing Shadow’s gaze briefly. The man’s eyes shone with malicious glee. “But Ididkill her. There’s nothing in this world that can save her, not even you. And when the time comes, you won’t be able to save yourself, either.”

Shadow’s fury swelled, but it was impotent; he knew the king wasn’t lying, knew Alice wouldn’t survive this. She’d be gone, and he’d havenothing—not even a name. With the one person whosawhim gone, he wouldbenothing. As more and more of Alice’s blood pumped around his hand, as her hold on him gradually lost strength, as her skin continued to pale, Shadowfelt himself—or whatever unseen force it was that had always held him together—faltering.

She is mine. Mine. Mine! I won’t let her go.

The shadows that always shrouded him—the shadows that had protected whatever remained of him since he’d come to Wonderland so long ago, the shadows through which only Alice had been able to see—dissipated. He felt them evaporate like mist under the bright morning sun, like smoke in a steady breeze, but he didn’t care.

He didn’t want the shadows, didn’t want this place. Didn’t want anything if he didn’t have her.

“You can’t go, Alice. Not without me,” Shadow rasped.

The king’s boots thumped across the floor as he approached, and he growled, “Look at me.”

Shadow held Alice’s gaze, breaking it only to lean forward and brush his lips across her forehead. She didn’t have long, and he didn’t want to sacrifice even a single second he could’ve spent staring into her eyes.

No. This isn’t real. He hasn’t won… There’s still time!

But her blood was all over his hand, and it would always be stained, and no matter how much he’d forgotten and had yet to forget, he’d always remember Alice—and how he’d failed her. His love was tainted, and it wasn’t enough. Wasn’t enough to keep her safe. She wouldn’t come back, couldn’t come back. There was only true death in this place.

“Wake up, Shadow,” Alice whispered. She covered his hand with one of hers, her features tight. “He’s deathless here. Wake up and end himbeyond. You need towake up.” Her eyelids fluttered, and Shadow knew she was using all her strength to keep them open and speak. “I love you.”

“I said look at me,” the king shouted an instant before his boot struck Shadow on the cheek.

The force of the blow knocked Shadow aside. Alice fell from his arms, crying out in startlement and pain, and Shadow’s head hit the floor. He shook off the blows and pushed himself up.

“You?” The king snarled. “All this time, all these system scans, all that searching, and you were a fuckingsleeperall along?”

Shadow quickly and carefully gathered Alice into his arms and covered her wounds as best he could. She curled up, burying her face against his chest, and whimpered between her ragged breaths.

Baring his teeth, Shadow finally looked up at the king, whose expression was an unsettling blend of triumph and hatred.

“Finally got you,” the king said. “There’s no running this time, you son of a bitch. I’m going to kill you in meat space just so I canreallyfeel your blood flowing over my hands.”

The king turned his left arm so his palm was facing the ceiling and tugged up his sleeve, revealing his wrist—and a strange, black device embedded in the flesh there. He tapped the device. A bright light erupted frominsidethe king, expanding and intensifying to consume him entirely. When the light faded an instant later, the king was gone.

The automatons stood in place, unmoving and unresponsive.

Wake up, Shadow.

The king was going to kill him inmeat space. What did that mean? What was beyond Wonderland?

Was Alice’s realbody somewhere out there, slowly dying because of her wound here?

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