She splits into two, three, five – all of them grinning wide, until all I see is that smile, wide and victorious.
“Goodbye, Alyss.”
11 – Alyss
Ow.
Groaning, I roll over onto my side. My head is pounding, my mouth fucking dry like I’ve been licking concrete for hours.
How much did I drink last night?
I pat the bed next to me, searching. Wondering if Chess stayed, if he—
My hand falls into open air.
Wait.
I force my eyes to open, and then close them again. Fucking hell, this is a bad one. Maybe I should go back to sleep—
“Hey. Trouble.Alyss.”
Someone is shaking me. Grunting, I throw my fist out. Someone curses as I groan. “Fuckoff, Chess.”
“Jesus,” he mutters. But it… it doesn’t sound like Chess. Too deep. “C’mon, Trouble. I’m gonna need you to wake up now.”
Frowning, I roll away from the voice. I just want tosleep—
My head bangs against the floor. The iciness of the floor beneath me sends me jerking upward before my body slumps, a moan slipping out at the ache that pounds at my skull.
Warm hands lift me, settle me against a firm chest. “Steady. Take it slow. You were out for a while.”
My breathing deepens as I lean against that chest. My voice is a croak as I try to gather my thoughts, even as they scatter away from me, hazy and dull. “What—,”
Hatter.
Buck.
Red.
Wonder.
Inhaling, I look up.
Buck stares down at me, slightly bushy dark brows furrowed in a grimace. “There you are.”
He doesn’t sound overly happy about it. I force myself to swallow, try to summon some moisture in my mouth as I rasp. “Where are we?”
His mouth presses into a thin line. “Nowhere good. Youreallymanaged to piss her off.”
Transport – Red talked abouttransport.
Buck’s hand lingers as I push myself upright, peering through the ache hammering at my head. “What… what the hell is this?”
The dim room stretches out before me. Rows of beds sit in two lines of six that stretch away to the concrete wall at the back of the…cell?
There are no windows, no natural light at all – nothing to indicate what time it is. Only a thin strip of light flickers overhead, throwing shadows over Buck’s grim expression.
Some beds have people sitting on them. Others are sleeping, stretched out on top of the plain gray bedding. Sleeping, or unconscious.
