I cradled Alice against my chest, her heart beating against mine.
She was here. Alive. In my arms.
And I'd almost lost her forever.
Fuck. Why had she agreed to the web bracelet? Didn't she know what that meant? If she didn't fulfill her promise to Ari, poison would burst inside her body. She'd die a most painful death—convulsing, screaming, bleeding from her eyes until her heart gave out.
I'd seen it happen before. I never wanted to see it again.
Damn Ari. Damn him to hell.
I unfurled my wings—the snap of them echoing through the night—and launched into the sky. The castle shrank beneath us. The pink banners. The frozen guards. All of it fading into darkness.
I had to get Alice away from here. Away from Alanna.
Alanna would never forgive this. Never forget. She'd hunt Alice to the ends of the realm. Torture her forever. Make her beg for death and then deny her even that mercy.
The only place Alice would be safe was out of this dimension entirely.
The wind howled around us. Alice buried her face in my neck, her fingers gripping my ridiculous pink jacket. I held her tighter.
I've got you. I've got you.
An arrow shot into the air below us—a signal. I recognized the fletching. Archer's.
They were in the Forgotten Forest.
I angled my wings and glided down through the canopy, branches whipping past. The first figures I saw were Flint and Steel, standing guard at the edge of a clearing. They looked haggard—faces gaunt, eyes hollow, bodies bent from the mines—but they were alive.
Thank god. They were alive.
I landed nearby and gently set Alice on her feet, though I kept one arm wrapped around her waist. I wasn't ready to let go. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Flint and Steel hurried toward us.
"Hatter." Flint grabbed me and pulled me into a crushing hug, nearly knocking the wind out of me. "You're free."
He released me, his massive hands gripping my shoulders. "Please tell me you didn't marry the bitch."
"No." I pulled Alice close to my side. "Fate saved me."
Flint's eyebrows rose. "Fate?" A grin spread across his haggard face. "Appropriate name."
Branches cracked. Wings rustled.
A figure emerged from the trees.
The harpy.
Oh. Fuck.
I stared. The creature that should have torn us apart was here—and it wasn't attacking. Alice had actually done it. She'd tamed a harpy.
Alice gasped. "It's her."
She slipped from my grasp and hurried toward the creature—the same harpy she'd freed from Alanna's collar. The one she'd nearly died saving.
"Alice, wait—" I reached for her, but she was already there, standing before the harpy without an ounce of fear.
