Page 24 of Knot My Wonderland: Part Two
But as we turned toward our escape route, the chamber door exploded inward in a shower of obsidian fragments. Captain Aldric stood in the doorway, his frozen-blood eyes wide with what looked like genuine panic.
"The Queen—" he began, then stopped as he took in the scene: the shattered collar on the floor, my skin blazing with restored pattern light, Seth and the Tweedles in full infiltration gear. His perfect composure cracked entirely.
"Captain," I said, stepping forward despite Seth's warning grip on my arm. "Help us. You said Rosalind wouldn't want this—prove it."
For a heartbeat everyone was quiet before Aldric took a deep breath, “Hurry. I will inform the Queen you aren’t here….if you are still around by the time I tell her….” He let the words fall there, letting us all know he couldn’t help more than that.
"Thank you," I whispered, gratitude flooding through me as Aldric turned and rushed away, his footsteps fading down the corridor.
"Fifty-eight seconds," Vee announced, his devices flickering as the temporal shield began to destabilize.
Seth's shadows wrapped around my wrist, pulling me toward the wall where reality rippled like disturbed water. "The extraction route won't hold much longer. We need to move now."
The Tweedles worked in perfect synchronization, their temporal devices creating a stable passage through the crystalline barrier. I could feel the Queen's magic pressing against our pocket of protected reality, her fury radiating through the palace as Aldric delivered the news of my disappearance.
"She's coming," I gasped, feeling her rage like a physical wave through the restored pattern connections. "Heart and Chi—they're in danger."
"They knew the risks…also Valik was sent with them. He has some surprises in store to escape with as little lives lost.” Seth told me, but I could still see a flash of worry through him before it was gone.
Through the restored bond, I felt Heart's triumph even as the Queen's fury erupted. Seth's shadows enveloped me, cool and protective as the Tweedles synchronized their movements, creating a temporal corridor through the crystalline wall.
"This way," Seth urged, his voice tight with urgency. "The passage won't remain stable for long."
I hesitated, torn between escape and the pull of my connection to Heart and Chi. "But they're still?—"
"They have their own extraction plan," Seth interrupted, his shadows coiling more tightly around my wrist. "Trust them, Alice. This was always the strategy—get you out first, then reunite at the sanctuary point."
The temporal corridor pulsed with opalescent light, reality itself bending to the Tweedles' manipulation. Through the restored golden bond, I felt Heart's fierce satisfaction—he could sense my freedom, knew the collar was off.
The Queen's scream of rage echoed through the palace walls, a sound so filled with fury it made the crystalline formations crack. Through our restored bond, I felt Heart's grim satisfaction even as I sensed him and Chi being dragged deeper into whatever trap awaited them.
"Alice, now!" Seth commanded, his shadows practically lifting me off my feet as he pulled me toward the temporal corridor.
I stumbled forward, my legs still weak from days of the Queen's toxins, but the pattern's restored power flowed throughme like liquid strength. The silver and gold light beneath my skin pushed back the last traces of crimson corruption, each pulse making me feel more like myself.
The Tweedles moved with mechanical precision, their devices creating a stable pathway through reality itself. As we stepped into the shimmering corridor, I caught one last glimpse of my prison chamber—the shattered collar still smoking on the crystalline floor as the world seemed to spin around and disappear. The temporal corridor twisted around us like liquid starlight, reality bending and flowing as the Tweedles guided our escape through dimensions the Red Queen couldn't follow. My stomach lurched as we phased between layers of existence, the pattern beneath my skin flaring with each dimensional shift.
"Almost there," Vee called over the sound of fracturing space-time, his devices sparking as they strained to maintain the passage.
Through the restored golden bond, I felt Heart's situation growing more desperate. The Queen's trap had sprung completely—crimson bonds held him and Chi suspended in the throne room while her fury reached volcanic proportions. But beneath his predicament, I sensed something else: anticipation. He was waiting for something.
The corridor spat us out onto solid ground with jarring suddenness. I stumbled, my legs still unsteady, but Seth's shadows caught me before I could fall.
"Temporal extraction complete," Vee announced as we emerged into what appeared to be a cave system. "Location secured."
"The Queen's pursuit algorithm won't detect this pocket for approximately seventeen minutes," Dee added, his devices already recalibrating for our next move.
I collapsed against the nearest wall, my legs finally giving out as the adrenaline of escape faded. The pattern beneath my skincontinued to pulse with restored power, pushing out the last traces of the Queen's corruption, but my body still felt weak from the toxins and magical suppression.
“I will be leaving you here with Vee and Dee. I will go back and make sure the others escape plan go fluidly….or I’ll step in.” Seth told me as he watched me, his shadows flickering around him.
“But…” I didn’t say anything else as Seth moved forward giving my forehead a kiss before the shadows wrapped around him, disappearing and leaving me alone with the Tweedles.
Chapter
Ten
SETH
