Page 26 of Cheshire's Smile
“And this door?” Tick finally spoke. “Is it supposed to be open as well?”
My head tilted to the side. “I don’t know. I can’t make out the name, and it’s not like I knew everyone the queen imprisoned here. Did you check to see if they were in there?”
I reached for the door and then paused, remembering not to touch the metal surface.
“Wh—why would I do that?” Tick stuttered, his tail flicking in random movements.
“Then why bother, if they’re not coming out and you’re not going in? Just leave it. We have to get to the Between and currently, we are not making any progress standing around here.” I turned my back on him and drew Cheshire away from the door.
“But... shouldn’t we...? I don’t know. Close the door?” Tick called after me, still not following.
I lifted my hands and shrugged. “Not my concern. Let them go, lock them in. All the same to me.”
Those locked in the Hall of Mirrors usually belonged there. Me not included, of course. The queen at least was smart enough to lock away the most dangerous of fae.
Though, if it’d been me making the decisions, I would have just killed them. Then I would be dead, too. Regardless, I didn’t have any sympathy for those locked in the Hall of Mirrors. Hypocritical? Maybe. But that’s how I felt.
“But what if they get out and attack the other prisoners?” Tick chased after me. When his hand came close to me, Cheshire growled a warning. “We can’t just leave them like this.”
I pivoted and pointed a finger at his chest. “Look, I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not a saint. The only reason I’m here is to find my males. And that doesn’t include cleaning up another of the queen’s messes. If you’re that worried, then you go close the cell.”
“That won’t matter if they’re already gone.” Tick argued, sending a worried look over his shoulder. “We should find them and put them back in their cell.”
“Nope.” I popped the word and spun around, my hair whipping behind me. “Not my problem. Besides, if they did escape, they aren’t going to get through the metal door to the prisoners. Most likely they went through the portal to the Between. If I were them, I would have disappeared into one of the other realms. Honestly, if they were smart, they would have gone to the Human Realm. It’s so big and chaotic over there, it would be easy for someone to hide. We’d only be wasting our time trying to find them.”
“But—”
“You heard her, fox. Stop your yapping. We are wasting time.” Cheshire clutched me closer to his side, drawing us toward the portal. “Either you’re coming with us or not. Either way, we aren’t waiting for you.”
I didn’t bother to wait for the fox to follow us as we stepped through the portal and into the Between. Bright light burned my eyes. The large white void of the Between spread out before us. Tick stumbled out behind us, bumping into my back.
“Watch it,” Cheshire snarled, shoving Tick back a step.
Tick glared at Cheshire and then stepped around us. “Well, I guess this is where I leave you.”
“Wait,” I called out, but he was already gone, lost to the void. I sighed and shrugged. “Well, if he gets eaten, they can’t blame me, right?”
Cheshire stroked a hand down my hair. “Forget about the fox. He’s not our concern. We have to get to the reception before something realizes we are here.”
I would be lying if a tiny part of me wasn’t concerned about Tick. However, the fox had made his choice.
It wasn’t my duty to keep everyone in the Underground safe. That would make me like a leader or something. And that I was not.
“You’re right.” I nodded, holding his arm with a firm grip. “Let’s go. We’re one step closer to saving the others.”
And into the void we go.
Chapter 12
Every step through the Between echoed through the void. I didn’t know who created the Between. Or maybe it appeared when all the realms were created. A place to pass through them or to keep them from bleeding into the other.
Whatever the case may be, it didn’t keep the Between from being as creepy as the dungeon. In fact, the overwhelming whiteness of it all was worse than the dark of the Bandersnatch. At least, the darkness didn’t burn my eyes.
“How much further do you think?” My nails dug into Cheshire’s arm, reluctant to let him go for even a second.
The Between had a way of getting into your head. Cries of loved ones drawing you away from your path, forcing you to chase them into the abyss. I’d gone this long without losing my head to the creatures hiding there, I wouldn’t fail now.
“It’s hard to tell.” Cheshire lifted his head and sniffed the air. “I can’t smell the guards, so it could be minutes or hours or even days.”
