My arms gave out. My head fell back.
I braced for the crack of my skull against cold stone—but it never came.
Strong arms caught me. Warm. Solid. Safe.
I blinked, struggling to focus. A face swam above me. Sharp jaw. Dark hair. And eyes—piercing blue eyes that cut through the haze like lightning.
The same blue as mine.
My breath caught. Why did he have my eyes?
“What did you do, Alice Ravencrest?” His voice had lost its edge. Softer now. Almost... gentle. Almost like he was afraid of the answer.
I tried to speak. Couldn’t. My lips wouldn’t move. My tongue was lead.
Grump. It had to be Grump. But why was he holding me like I mattered? Why was he looking at me like?—
Like I was someone he’d lost a long time ago.
His face blurred. Those blue eyes—my eyes—faded into shadow.
“Stay with me,” he said. Or maybe I imagined it.
The darkness swallowed me whole.
Chapter Thirteen
Darius
I woke to pulsing pain. My side was bandaged, and I had a hard time breathing. A sour taste coated my mouth, like I’d swallowed a handful of puckerplums.
A grin swirled into existence beside me. Then golden eyes materialized above it.
“Ah, the dead man wakes.” Chester’s grin stretched wider. “Or perhaps you were never dead at all. Perhaps you were simply... elsewhere. Tell me, Hatter—where does one go when they’re busy not dying?”
Everything was a blur. My vision swam, colors bleeding into each other like wet paint. Sound came from far away—muffled, distorted. Was I dead?
I scanned the cavern. Sparkling walls. Stalactites overhead. I knew this place.
“Made it to Nowhere Grotto?” My throat was raw, the words scraping out like broken glass. Why did it hurt so much to talk?
Grump came alongside my bunk. He looked down at me, and something flickered across his face—surprise, or maybe relief hedidn’t want to show. “You’re lucky to be alive, Hatter. You were dying.”
“Meaning?”
Chester’s grin floated closer. “Meaning you were knocking on death’s door, and death was reaching for the handle.” His golden eyes glittered. “But someone knocked louder. Someone pulled you back before he could let you in.”
“Doc worked his magic.” I shifted and pain flared through my side. A sharp hiss escaped my teeth.
“I wouldn’t move if I were you, Hatter.” Grump tilted his head. “And you misunderstand what Chester meant. It wasn’t Doc who brought you back from death’s door. It was Alice.”
“Alice.” My chest tightened. I'd kidnapped her. Torn through her memories. And she'd saved my life anyway. I didn't deserve that. Didn't know what to do with it. “How?”
“The poison was overtaking you,” Grump said. “Doc didn’t think his antidote would work in time. You were too far gone.”
“I don’t understand.”
Chester’s grin stretched, but his eyes burned darker. “Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles. So difficult when the pieces won’t fit. But here’s a riddle for you, Hatter—what happens when a girl who doesn’t believe in her magic suddenly believes so hard she nearly dies saving you?”
