They were heading toward the queen's Still Court.
My chest ached. Those men had followed me. Trusted me.
And now, one by one, the queen was taking them.
All because of her obsession with me. With my hat.
My gaze flickered to the bedroom door. Alice was asleep in there. Unaware that the most dangerous demon stood just below us. If Ari looked up—if he sensed her…
I forced my breathing to slow. Panic would get us both killed.
I couldn't save the twins. Not tonight.
But I could keep her safe. I had to.
I couldn't let him near her.
Since when did I care that much?
Was it the kiss? That moment in the alley when everything shifted?
Had she cast a spell on me without knowing it?
Chapter Seven
Alice
Fire.
It flickered across the living room—the couch, the recliner, the coffee table. Pictures on the wall melted, faces warping. A woman. A man. I couldn’t see his features.
Arms scooped me up. A woman with blonde hair, terror in her eyes. She ran up the stairs, clutching me against her chest.
I was small. So small.
“He’s found us.” Her voice shook. “The king’s assassin has found us.”
King Cormac. Even in a dream, the name sent chills through me.
She kicked open a bedroom door. A little girl’s room—a twin bed with a Snow White doll, stuffed dwarves lined up on the pillow.
My room. This was my room.
“Alice, you mustn’t let him find you.” She threw open the closet and lifted me into a wooden chest. “This is magical. Hewon’t find you here.” Her hands cupped my face. “No matter what you hear—don’t come out.”
“Mommy?”
The word hit me like a blade.
Mommy. She was my mother.
She kissed my forehead, tears streaming down her face. “I love you, little one.”
She closed the lid.
Darkness.
Then—a crash. The bedroom door splintering.
