Alice
I caught my reflection and winced. God. My hair looked like birds had nested in it. Dirt covered my nose, my cheeks—basically everywhere. My clothes were filthy.
Thanks for that, Hatter.
The man moved like the Flash on caffeine. No wonder I looked like I’d been dragged through a dust storm.
But he’d still kissed me. Even when I looked like a disaster.
I needed to feel human again. The bathroom was small but clean. A narrow shower stall, a toilet, a porcelain sink with brass fixtures that looked antique. Fluffy towels hung on a rack near the door.
And oysters. Everywhere.
Oysters on the wallpaper—rows of them in muted blues and greens. Oyster-shaped soap in a dish by the sink. The mirror frame was carved to look like an open shell, and even the towels had tiny oysters embroidered along the edges.
I shook my head. Wally and Carpenter weren’t just obsessed. They had a problem.
I found a comb in a drawer and dragged it through my tangled hair. I winced. It was like spiders had woven iron webs in there, threatening to snap the teeth right off the comb.
I turned on the water—even the faucets were shaped like oyster shells—and splashed my face.
A tap on the door.
I cracked it open an inch.
Hatter stood there holding a bundle of fabric. “Wally brought this for you. Undergarments are tucked inside.”
“Thank you.” I took the dress from him and closed the door.
Dark blue bodice, flowing skirt, laces up the front. It looked like something from a Renaissance fair.
Great. I was going to look like a wench at a turkey leg stand.
But they were clean.
I ran my palm over the dress. Soft as a feather. I smiled. It was thoughtful of Wally to find this for me. The color even matched my eyes. Had he done that on purpose?
But when I spotted the undergarments folded beneath the dress, my smile faltered. Where had those come from? Had there been other women here before me? Other captives who needed a change of clothes?
I stripped down and stepped into the shower. The warm water hit my back, and I groaned with relief.
My thoughts drifted to Hatter. Who was he really? Why was his name such a secret? Tinker Bell had told me once that names held power. Maybe there was something to that here.
He was handsome—I could admit that much. And I hated that I noticed. Hated that my pulse quickened when he looked at me with those beautiful silver eyes, even after everything he’d done.
Then again, maybe silver eyes were common in the Elder Dimension.
The water cascaded down my back, loosening the tension in my shoulders. I reached for the shampoo and breathed in—something floral with an unfamiliar spice beneath it. I worked it through my hair, and the tangles slowly came undone, as if the soap itself was magic.
There was still a dull ache in the back of my skull. I’d been hurt before—badly—but nothing like this.
The hat hadn’t touched my body. It had gone straight into my mind, tearing through my thoughts, dragging out secrets I didn’t even know I had.
Dark magic. It had to be.
I never wanted to wear that thing again. And now I understood why the queen wanted it so badly. The damage she could do with something like that—the secrets she could rip from her enemies, the minds she could shatter.
No wonder she was hunting him.
