The guards shift to the side, opening up the doorway.
“This is where you leave me,” the hatter says as he wraps me in his arms. Oh wow, he’s a hugger. I did not see that coming. “Beware of queens offering sweet smiles, and when you have found yourself, come find me once more. Then you’ll know who you are.” He releases me before grabbing Gwyneth and offering her some whispered words. She frowns as her eyes catch mine. I raise a brow.Yes, he’s next level crazy.
Sir Sweeps-A-Lot and the genie follow us as we stride out of the ballroom. My gaze sweeps up the hallway we came down before settling on the stretch of corridor to the right. We’re in the hands of a cat who enjoys riddles, but what choice do we have? We could never search the entire castle in a turn.
“Any hints?” Malachi asks.
Chess twirls through the air. “Follow the thread of madness, and it will lead you to where the truth hides.” He turns right and floats down the hallway, and we rush to keep up with him, taking twists and turns in our stride.
“I thought you said you know where our exit is?” Hart growls.
“It moves,” Chess says with a sigh. “You are too slow.”
“Then predict where it will move to next and take us there,” Theo demands.
Chess rolls his eyes. “Nobody can determine that.”
Nash throws open a door and freezes. A salty breeze washes over us and blows his hair back from his face. He slams the door closed. “Impossible,” he whispers.
“Not impossible, improbable. I thought you were smart,” Chess says. “This way.”
Another door ahead lifts from the ground and slides up the wall. Chess hovers there for a tempo. Malachi jumps and pushes the handle down and open. Night sky greets us, but not like any I’ve seen. It’s an expanse of stars with a blue and green globe in the center. The door whispers closed, and we stand in silence fora moment. I think we witnessed something monumental, but my brain can’t fathom what.
I shake my head. “We don’t have time to contemplate what exists beyond our realms right now.” Maybe later. Or never.
A clang of metal sounds behind us, and I spin to find a trio of guards stomping toward us. “What are they doing? It’s not been a turn. There were no trumpets.”
“You failed to set boundaries. They’re hunting the hunters,” Chess informs us.
“Shit,” Gwyneth grumbles.
We break into a run, following the damn cat. “In here,” he hisses over the top of a door. We spill into the room and close the door. A long table set with dozens of cups, cakes, and creepy crawlies sits in the middle of the room.
A frog in a suit looks up at me. “Tea?” he enquires.
I shake my head. He shrugs, and his froggy companions continue their feast. One of them faceplants into a cream cake. What a waste.
A cup goes flying over our heads as the hare appears from under the table. “It’s her, it’s she. Does she know who you are?” he rambles.
The genie floats above the table. “He speaks nonsense,” he says, as if it isn’t already obvious.
The hare lifts a plate and scowls at the contents. Oh my Idols, not the sausage. He throws the plate at the wall, making me gasp in horror.
“That’s a travesty,” I snap.
“Trust you to get incensed about sausage,” Hart mutters.
The scene freezes, and the plate lifts from the floor, the smashed cup reforms, and in a blink, the scene resets. The frog at the head of the table lifts his cup. “Tea?”
I shake my head, stride to the table, and snatch a slice of sausage from the plate. I’m not letting good sausage go to waste.
“This way,” Chess demands as he hovers over a doorway that formed out of nowhere. It’s not even against the wall, but floating next to the table in the middle of the room. “I’d be quick if I were you, because that sausage you swallowed won’t feel half as good coming up as it did going down.”
“Don’t encourage her,” Nash grumbles as he swings open the weird door and leads the way. I clutch my stomach. I am not giving up my sausage.
We dive through the doorway and tumble into the dark room. Charming is the last of us through before the door disappears.
Footsteps hammer outside of the room. “Are you leading us to our doom?” Theo whispers as we huddle in the small room. “Because I am happy to show that one can indeed swing a cat in a room this size.”
