Malachi smiles like he can hear the scandalous thoughts in my mind.
We stable the horses and hurry to the chambers. I burst through the door, arms wide. “I have returned.”
Gwyneth tackles me to the floor, making me grunt as my back slams into the wood. “You need to stop almost dying.”
“Almost is better than actually,” I point out. Nobody wants to finish that race.
She scrambles to her feet and hauls me up. Sir Sweeps-A-Lot brushes against her skirts in greeting, earning him a grin.
“I missed you too, buddy,” Gwyneth says.
Genie poofs into the room and glances around. “No spiders?”
“No, we left them in the village,” I tell him, and he visibly relaxes.
“Spiders?” Gwyneth asks.
Nash shakes his head as he disappears into his chambers.
“We met a village of villains,” I explain. “Misunderstood ones. They needed a confidence boost.”
Gwyneth blinks. “You staged an intervention with a villain group?”
I grin. “I did.”
“It was impressive, even for Calamity,” Hart grumbles.
“Where’s Charming?” I ask as Theo and Malachi slip into their chambers. Theo throws a look over his shoulder that ignites heat in my core.
Holy Idol balls. Everything inside me wants to follow them. But priorities. We have multiple issues to address.
The sword hums happily from the sideboard.
“Charming is… elsewhere,” Gwyneth says cryptically.
“Elsewhere? You lost him?”
“Lost suggests I want to find him, which I do not.”
I snort. Wait... “And my capons?”
She scratches her temple, and I narrow my eyes. “They followed Charming.”
My mouth drops open. “And you let them?” I will kill Charming if he harms a feather on their sweet heads.
“They were pretty insistent. I think they have taken him under their wing.”
I’m affronted that they would pick Prince Poopfloof over me.
“But I have news,” she says as she strides to the room she’s commandeered. I hope she hasn’t had another bed brought in. She swings open the door and out hops the White Rabbit. He narrows his gaze on me and slides it down to my feet and back again. I feel judged. He should form a judgy group with my sword.
“It’s the rabbit,” the genie whispers in awe.
The rabbit nods at the genie. “Follow me. We are so terribly late.”
“Late for what?” I wonder. We are entering a realm never visited where we know no one. How could we possibly be late? My brain tries to process this alongside the loss of my capons. I guess Charming can borrow them—for now.
Nash’s door swings open, and he lasers his gaze on the rabbit. “You found him.”
