And Alice was the key.
Chapter Forty-Four
Alice
Bunny's kids ran around the harpies like they were characters from Disney. I smiled despite everything—a small moment of innocence in the middle of chaos.
I took a step to join them, but my bracelet jangled and the medallion warmed against my wrist. It was trying to tell me something.
The hair on my arms stood straight up. There was magic nearby, but it didn't feel evil. It felt... familiar.
I looked at Darius then scanned the Forgotten Forest, but nothing seemed off. Just twisted trees and lengthening shadows.
So why was my magic reacting?
“Alice?” Darius slipped his hand around my waist and pulled me against him. I felt like I belonged there. Safe. Home.
“What?”
“Do you recognize this place?”
I shook my head slowly. “No. Should I?”
He brushed his lips over mine. “This is where you fell into the Elder Dimension.”
“It is?”
I looked around, trying to match this place to my memory. I'd been terrified that day. Alone. Falling through the sky into a world I didn't understand. I never could have imagined it would lead me here—to him.
He nodded and looked up at the sky. “This is where I caught you.” He gestured with his hand toward a tree that had a broken branch. “And that’s where we landed against the tree.”
But then he looked up, and I followed his gaze. Clouds swirled slowly in a circle—a lazy spin that seemed centered directly above us.
“I never noticed the clouds doing that.”
“They don’t move like that.” Darius’ arms tightened around me. “They’re reacting to something.” His silver eyes locked with mine. “You.”
"Me?"
"Alice, I believe in you. You can open the portal."
"But, Darius, I freeze time. I don't open portals."
I wanted to do it—god, I wanted to get us all out of here. Alanna would be hunting us by now. Every second we stayed was another second closer to being captured. But wanting something and being able to do it were two different things.
"Yes, you can," a voice said behind me.
I turned around. Grump stood a few feet away, his massive shoulders slumped. My chest tightened. He seemed so…broken. There was sadness in his eyes—the kind that comes from old wounds reopened. Something beyond the battle and the escape.
I clasped his hand. "What's wrong?"
He tightened his grip, his jaw working. "The portal opens through love." He opened his mouth then shut it again, as if the words were caught in his throat. "That's how I got Corina out of here. I closed it with a spell to protect her."
My mother. He was talking about my mother. I had a thousand questions—but the pain on his face stopped me. Whatever this memory was, it was tearing him apart.
Darius tensed beside me. "How do we open it? We have to get Alice out of here."
"I know." Grump reached beneath his tunic and pulled out a medallion hanging from a leather cord around his neck. His fingers trembled as he opened it.
