Page 41 of Escaping Wonderland

Alice had taken one step toward the open gate before halting, her eyes rounded. “What?”

He paused beside her, arching a brow. “It’s Miraxis’s house. I would say he won’t mind if we see ourselves in, but it really doesn’t matter. He usually stays at the Hatter’s.”

“He…won’t come back and find us here, will he? He won’t…take me back there?”

Shadow tightened his hold on her. “No one is going to take you anywhere, unless that someone ismetaking you somewhere.”

No onewould touchhisAlice ever again.

The tension drained from her, and a relieved gleam sparked in her eyes. She nodded. “Okay.”

Her trust in him only strengthened the warmth in Shadow’s chest. When he continued forward, Alice walked with him, no longer hesitant.

The front door was locked, but locks had always seemed to have a difficult time denying Shadow; it clicked open after he rattled the handle a bit, and he preceded Alice inside, holdingthe door open for her. Once she was in the foyer, he closed the door behind her.

Some fumbling in the dark resulted in Alice locating a light switch. She flipped it on, bathing the room in bright, pure light.

Miraxis’s home was pristine; the walls were unblemished white, the floor tiles polished to a shine, the rug lush and fluffy and spotless. Shadow had the sense that everything here had its place, even more so than in the Hatter’s quarters. He’d never been certain if it was a result of Miraxis’s tendencies, or because of the praxian’s long association with the Hatter.

Alice giggled, and Shadow turned to look at her. She was staring down at her feet, wiggling her toes on the tile. Muddy footprints led from her and Shadow’s current positions to the front door.

“I don’t think he’s going to be happy when he gets back,” she said.

Shadow grinned.

Miraxis had been the one to bring Alice to the Hatter, and had led countless others to the Hatter before her, sometimes at the king’s command, preying upon the confusion and vulnerability of newcomers. He seemed particularly deserving of the stress this mess would undoubtedly cause him.

“Shall we see where else we can make a mess?” he asked.

She chuckled and nodded eagerly.

Shadow led Alice upstairs, using a finger to tip the precisely spaced pictures hanging on the walls to odd, clashing angles as he passed them. The stairs led directly into Miraxis’s bedroom. The bed was neatly made, with tight, squared corners and the throw pillows arranged with perfect symmetry.

“Is that ashower?” Alice asked excitedly. She broke away from Shadow’s side and hurried over to the open bathroom door. She moved past the threshold and stopped just within the room.

Shadow followed, stopping at the doorway to watch as she looked down at herself.

Alice pinched the sides of her skirt and pulled them outward; the fabric was dirty and stained. “How many days… How long… Ithinkit’s only been a couple days since I came here, but it feels like forever.”

“Days don’t mean much here,” Shadow said. “Timedoesn’t mean much.”

She turned toward him with a thoughtful look on her face. “Sometimes you say things, like that, that make it sound like you know thereisanother place outside this one.”

End him beyond, only beyond!

Shadow squeezed his eyes closed as an unfamiliar, blurred image danced in his mind’s eye; it was too hazy for him to identify, but it seemed like a place—a place he couldn’t possibly have been to, a place that couldn’t have been real. During that moment, it felt as though his head would split in two, as though his skull was being wrenched in opposing directions.

His jaw muscles ticked, but he managed a normal tone when he said, “If I know there’s another place beyond, I’m not aware of that knowledge.”

When he opened his eyes again, Alice was staring at him, her head tilted at an endearing angle that left some of her golden hair hanging across her cheek. Rather than push the subject, she smiled, turned her back to him, and stepped farther into the bathroom. She shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the clothes rack beside the counter.

“Oh, I can’t wait to get all this mud off me.” Alice glanced at him over her shoulder, and her smile grew. “Could you help me unlace this dress, Shadow?”

Whatever doubts Shadow might’ve had about his reality were suddenly forgotten; they were wholly unimportant compared to the opportunity currently presented to him. With a few longstrides, he entered the bathroom and eliminated the distance separating him from Alice. “I would be delighted to assist.”

Gathering her hair, she pulled it in front of her shoulder and faced forward.

Shadow ran his tongue over his lips as he stared at the back of her elegant neck. His gaze dipped along her spine, which was visible through the ribbon lacings securing her dress. The kisses they’d shared had not been taste enough, not by any means. He wanted to explore every inch of her skin with his mouth. He forced his hands into motion, taking the ends of the silk ribbon bow positioned just above the flare of her hips and the tantalizing curve of her ass, and untied it with oddly clumsy fingers.

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