He followed a moment later, hopping down the path I’d chosen with a huffy look on his face. “Thisis not the right way. We should go the opposite direction!”
“Why? And to where?”
“To the Wonderland Court!”
I stopped dead in my tracks and barked out a laugh. “The Wonderland Court? But why?”
“You are Alice Queenly, a fae brought up under the supervision of Xavier Doru, vampire lord, are you not?”
Xavier, vampire lord? I’d never heard Xavier described like that—at least not from others.Ioften thought of him as my overlord but there was no way I’d admit that out loud.
“Sure, that’s right,” I said slowly.
“Then you arepreciselywho I seek.” The rabbit put his little paw on his hip. “Word has it that the queen has sent mercenaries to find you. For your safety, we must leave now! We’re already late!” He held up his watch and shook it in my face.
My confusion cleared.
I didn’t know much about Faerie, the otherworldly realm named after the first fae race who had settled there. And I definitely didn’t know a thing about pookas, but I had plenty of experience with hired men.
I’d pissed someone off—a queen.
I was about to tell the rabbit that if some queen sent men to deal with me, then good luck to them. I’d kick their asses. But I swallowed my cocky proclamation when, after a particularly vigorous shake of his watch, I focused on the clock face.
It was eight o’clock.
“Holy shit! Xavier will be furious!” I whirled around and broke into a sprint.
“Alice! Come back!”
I twisted but didn’t stop. “Thanks for the heads-up, but don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself!”
He said something else, but I was already too far away to hear, and wasn’t about to turn around for clarification.
Xavierhatedwaiting, and I didn’t want to piss him off. An angry vampire was the worst.
I was out of breath when I reached Xavier’s building and pressed the call button for his apartment.
He picked up, but said nothing.
“Sorry, I got held up,” I said, knowing it was better to admit the wrong right away.
The buzzer sounded, and I pushed the door open.
Throwing a wave at the armed security guard on duty, I dashed past the front desk, and into the elevator. I pressed the button for Xavier’s floor, leaving my finger on the pad so it could scan my print. One soft beep confirmed my access, and the elevator shot up fifteen floors.
I arrived at the door to the vampire’s penthouse as he opened it. His jaw, normally stone-like, was set even harder than usual, and his eyes narrowed.
“I’m five minutes late and that includes my apology,” I said, trying to sound as if I wasn’t worried how he’d respond. “Deal with it.”
“You’re lucky I need you today, Alice, because I don’t justdeal.”
I gulped.
No, Xavier didn’t deal with unexpected matters well at all. He was a control freak, and someone always paid the price for things that inconvenienced him, no matter how big or small. While he’d never laid a finger on me, I’d witnessed his cruelty among my peers—the other orphans he’d raised into killing machines.
I was glad the younger children in his care were far away, studying and practicing tricks of the trade in the country mansion Xavier owned. Had they been nearby, I would worry about them.
“So, what’s the job?”
