I close my eyes, disoriented by the movement all around me. Mirrors line every inch of the ceiling and walls, even the floors. Shadowy figures glide in the reflections.
In our world, mirrors are made by slapping a coat of silvery aluminum paint onto the back of a glass plane. A person can't see anything but their reflection. Here, I can see shadows inside, like they're sandwiched between the layers. Morpheus told me they're the spirits of moths. It makes me wonder about the bugs I've killed back home.
Apparently, in Wonderland, everyone—or thing—has a soul. The cemetery is a hallowed place revered by all netherlings. No one will set foot inside, other than the keepers of the garden: the Twid Sisters.
At the hands of the twins, the dead are cultivated: sown, watered, and weeded out like a virtual flower garden of ghosts. One sister nurtures the souls—singing to the newcomers and keeping the spiritual flora content. The other sister weeds out withering spirits that have languished and turned bitter or angry—something to do with locking them inside other forms for eternity.
The Twid Sisters aren't getting along with Morpheus right now because he refuses to send his dead moths their way. He'd rather let them fly free somewhere between life and death than tie them down in a prison of dirt. So he hides them inside his mirrors.
Some might call that morbid. I see a degree of tenderness there, in his effort to give them dignity. The same tenderness I've glimpsed in our past, and earlier, when he treated my injuries.
The birthmark on my ankle is universal to the creatures of Wonderland—keys to their world and a way to heal one another—and a part of the Liddell curse. I still don't know why, in her old age, Alice lost the marking. Or why she forgot her time in the real world, swearing she lived in a birdcage here instead of having married and had a family. But at least one thing is clear: I'm a part of this realm until I can shatter the curse to pieces.
Heavy boots echo along the mirrored floor and I glance up.
"Jeb!" I race toward him. The floor is slick, and the boots the sprites gave me have little traction. I slip. Jeb drops the backpack, leaps forward, and catches me.
He drags me up until our foreheads touch and my feet dangle above the ground. It never ceases to amaze me how easily he can lift me, as if I weigh nothing at all.
I stroke his clean-shaved face and garnet labret—breathing him in, assuring myself he's all right.
"Did he touch you? Hurt you?" Jeb whispers in the silence.
"No. He was a gentleman."
Jeb frowns. "You mean a gentleroach."
I snort, which melts his severity and makes him smile. He spins me around. "I've missed you," he says.
I tuck my chin against his broad shoulder and hug him tightly. My body's thirsty, drinking up his warmth like a sponge. "Never let me go, okay?" Any other time, that might sound lame. But right now, it's the most genuine request I've ever made.
"Never plan to," he whispers, his mouth close enough that his breath grazes the top of my ear.
When I lean out of the hug, he's watching the moving silhouettes race all around us.
"Gossamer told me about them," he says. "I didn't believe her. The guy's moth-crazy."
I prop my forearms on his shoulders, feet still swinging at his shins. "You should see his room. He has tiny glass houses filled with living ones. He keeps them there until they leave their cocoons. When they're strong enough, he sets them free."
"He had you in his room?" A dark cloud crosses Jeb's face. "Do you swear he didn't try anything?"
"Scout's honor."
He squeezes my waist, tickling me. "Too bad you were never a Scout."
I squirm and smile. "Nothing happened." That's a lie. Morpheus got to me in a big way, showing me a side of myself I can hardly believe exists—one I'm not sure Jeb will be able to accept. But I'm thinking maybe he doesn't have to know about the thrummings in my head or my weird powers. Maybe I can hide my cursed tendencies until we get out of here and I'm cured.
Fingers locked around Jeb's neck, I tug his short ponytail. To help us fit in at the banquet, we're both going in costume. He's supposed to be an elfin knight, so the sprites drew his hair across his ears to cover their rounded tips. I like it this way. His strong jawline and expressive features take center stage.
"Figured they'd put you in a hat," I tease.
"Nah. Those are reserved for worms with wings."
I laugh and nudge his shoulders, unspoken permission to put me down.
He sets me onto the floor. "You look amazing."
"Thanks." I don't tell him my outfit is Morpheus's creation: a peach baby-doll sleeveless tunic with cascades of ruffles that start under my breasts and go all the way to midthigh. Red lace trims the ruffles and complements the red bondage-style belt encrusted with glistening rubies that cinches my waist. Five sturdy silver rings embellish the belt, matching the gray blouse layered under my tunic. The blouse's puffy sleeves cover my arms to my wrists, where fingerless red lace gloves peek out. Gray and peach striped leggings coat my legs like candy canes and disappear into knee-high red velvet boots.
The entire ensemble is a calculated effort to make me look wild and untamed, so the eccentric dinner guests will be more receptive to me. To that end, the sprites wove red berries and flowers into the funky, dreadlock-style braids all over my head, then tucked the hairpin from Alison's recliner treasures just above my left temple. For some reason, Morpheus was adamant that I wear it.
I point to Jeb's elfin knight uniform. "I've seen this before. That cross represents the elite of the jeweled elves." The black pants wrap his legs like a well-worn pair of jeans. There's a silver chain linked in and out of two belt loops, forming the illusion of five separate strands, and a cross made of glistening white diamonds on his left upper leg. I slide my fingers along the jewels. "You're not just a knight… you're one of the royal escorts."
Jeb stops my palm at his muscled thigh. His eyes grow intense, the way they did when we embraced on the ocean floor.
I slide my hand free and he clenches his jaw.
Embarrassed, I concentrate on the rest of his uniform. The shirt is long-sleeved, made of something clingy. It's silver with vertical black stripes made of semisheer fabric. I search for his cigarette burns, aching to see them, then notice his spattering of chest hair is gone. "You shaved your chest?"
He looks down at the sheer black stripes. "Actually, there wasn't a mirror in my room. Gossamer did it after my bath, when she shaved my face. She said elves are hairless everywhere but their heads."
Everywhere? I picture him naked—Gossamer touching his abs, among other places. "That sprite saw you in the nude?"
He clears his throat. "More than just her. I think there were about thirty of them climbing on me at one point."
A surge of jealousy scalds me. My fists clench. "Thirty sprites touched your naked body?"
"Chill about the sprites, all right? Flying lima beans aren't my thing. Now, come here. There's something I want to show you." He turns me to face the mirrored wall and stands behind me, chin resting atop my head as he lifts his hands to either side of my face. "Check out your eyes."
My image stares back, transposed over the moth shadows. I noticed the makeup when I first came into the hall. The sprites did an incredible job making it look real. Black eye shadow dips like curvy tiger-stripes beneath my lower lashes. The lines resemble Morpheus's tattoos, just a more feminized version.
"You've been like this the whole time. I noticed it when we first stepped out of the rabbit hole. I thought your makeup had smeared. But then, after the ocean, you still had it. I didn't make the connection until I saw Morpheus without his mask a few minutes ago." Jeb pauses, looking like he might be sick. His thumbs rub the edges of the black designs. "They don't wipe away. And the glitter all over your skin? That's not salt residue. You're starting to look like my fairy sketches, for real."
Feeling nauseated myself, I twine my tunic's ruffles around a finger. That explains why the octobenus thought I was a netherling. "Why didn't you say something?"
"We were too caught up in all the stuff going on."
I turn from my reflection. "So, the curse is getting worse."
"Worse than you think." Jeb gets behind me and smooths his hands down the back of my shoulders. "There are slits in your costume… are wings coming next?"
His callused thumbs stroke the naked skin along my shoulder blades. I can't answer. From what we've seen so far, only some netherlings have wings. The idea of something bursting out from my skin makes me woozy. In fact, thinking about the changes I've already undergone is enough to make me feel like I'm riding some kind of crazy, runaway carousel.
Jeb's harsh scowl stares back at me in the reflection. "Why is it that this curse only affects the women in your family?"
"Alice was a female," I answer, still in a spin over the wings question. "Only a female can undo her messes."
"'Messes,'" Jeb says, his frown intensifying. Gripping my arms gently, he turns me around and stares into my eyes. "When I was with the sprites, Gossamer mentioned what you did to the ocean. She didn't call it fixing a mess. She said it was a test. And even weirder? She seems resentful that you accomplished it… that you're here at all. Something's not adding up. We're not doing another thing to help bug-juice until he's straight with us."
"He's already told me the truth. He told me the steps I have to take." I tell Jeb what I learned in Morpheus's room, though I'm not brave enough to share details about our "melding" moment or the magical chess piece puppet show.
"So, you're just going to take his word?"
"He has noble motivations. His friend's in trouble."
"Stop humanizing the guy, Al!" Jeb slams a palm against the mirror wall. The moth shadows dart away as if startled. "He's not of our world, okay? And he has this power to get inside your head. I watched you with him in the clearing… you can't think straight when he's around."
The accusation revives my anger about London. "So, you're going to play that card? Me not being strong enough to think for myself?"
"This is different. Look what's happening to you!"
"But I can stop it by doing one more thing. That's all."
"Oh, yeah? From where I'm standing, the more you do for him, the more you become like him."
"No. You're wrong." I tug on one of my braids, wishing I could convince myself as easily as I spout the words. Wishing I could deny that the longer I'm here, the more deeply this place is ingrained in my blood, or that Morpheus is the tourniquet, twisted tightly around my veins.
Jeb grinds his teeth so hard, his jaw jerks. "We're not going to argue about this, Al. That's what he wants. I won't let him do it."
"Do what?"
He wraps the hair I'm playing with around his wrist and tugs me close, bowing his head so our brows touch. "Come between us."
My entire body goes soft and warm at the gruff possessiveness in his voice, but he doesn't have a right to it. "Did you forget? There's already someone between us. You're moving with her to London."
"I was an idiot. To think for one second that being on the other side of the ocean could give me any control."
A fiery knot tightens in my chest and I take a step back. "'Control'? Over what? My life? Reality check, Mr. Oblivious: I'm not your 'kid sister' anymore. I'm done being shelved with all your other responsibilities—somewhere between clipping toenails and changing dirty socks." I shove him aside and start toward the glass chair, determined to wait there for Morpheus.
Without warning, Jeb snags one of the rings in my belt and spins me around. In one smooth motion, he lifts me onto the narrow, crescent-shaped table. My skin trembles beneath his touch as he scoots me all the way against the wall, his hips wedged between my thighs. We're level—face-to-face. The fluttery feeling fills my head—and in the shadow of my darker side, a rush of satisfaction wells up, a perverse thrill that I can stoke his emotions to this gut-deep reaction.
I brace my hands against his shoulders to maintain space between us, but it's only for show. My bluff fades to weak-kneed enthusiasm the instant he snags my wrists and pulls them down, leaning in so our noses almost touch.
"Reality check right back at ya," he says, his breath a hot rush in the chilly room. "I know you're not a kid anymore. You think I'm blind?" His fingers lace through mine, pinning my arms against the cold, smooth mirrors so our heartbeats pound against each other. "You're the one who's oblivious. Because there's nothing brotherly about the way you make me feel."
My brain shuts down. I must've swallowed every moth spirit from here to kingdom come. I can swear they're rippling through my stomach.
Jeb releases my fingers and cups my face in his hands, barely touching me, like I'm breakable. "It's me I'm losing control of. Hundreds of sketches, and I still can't get enough of your face." He traces the dimple in my chin with his thumb. "Your neck." His palm moves along my throat. "Your…" Both hands find my waist and drag me off the table so we're standing toe to toe. "I'm not wasting another second drawing you," he whispers against my lips, "when I can touch you instead." He presses his mouth to mine.
A spark, hot and electric, jumps between us. Shock and sensation shimmer through me, aglow with his heat and flavor. Six years of secret desire. Six years of denying that he's the orbit of my world.
To think, he's been running from me, too.
Adrift in disbelief and pleasure, I freeze. My arms hang limp at my sides, fists opening and closing. Jeb's mouth vibrates against mine in a groan. He coaxes my hands around his neck, bending closer.
He tastes amazing—like chocolate and salt. Familiar yet new and exciting. I clutch my fingers around his neck. The feelings I've been suppressing uncoil and thrash inside me like electric eels, shocking me to life. Every sensory receptor hums, hyperaware. I taste him, breathe him, feel him.
Only him.
My lips follow his, pulsing slow and soft and warm. His labret scrapes my chin, a harsh and sexy counterbalance.
His hands guide my jaw, showing me how to tilt my face. He teases my lips open with his. I run my tongue along his teeth, finding that crooked incisor before his tongue catches mine.
Maybe I'm breathing too hard. Maybe I'm slobbering too much. Maybe I'll never measure up to the other girls he's been with. But it doesn't matter, because of all the things I've experienced on this journey—shrinking and growing, flying sprites, living chess pieces—not a one of them is more magical than this moment.
His kisses fade to nuzzles along my face and neck, soft and poignant. "Al," he whispers. "You taste so sweet… like honeysuckle."
"Don't," I murmur, in a daze.
He draws back, eyes heavy and dark. "You want me to stop?"
"No." I've fallen asleep praying for you to look at me like this. To touch me like this. "Don't break my heart."
Moth shadows glide above him in the mirrored ceiling, distracting me from the fierceness of his frown. "I'd cut mine out first."
I believe he would. Stretching to tiptoe, I clasp his ponytail. This time, I kiss him. He responds with a spine-tingling growl, fingers digging into my hips. I skim my gloved palms down to find his chest, seeking the scars. Stopping at the chains on his waist, I grip them until the metal bites into my fingers and back us against the wall. A chill seeps into my shoulder blades from the mirror, but the perfect fit of his body against mine lights my blood with a thousand tiny fires, consuming me.
We're both so into it, neither of us hears the footsteps until a snarl breaks us apart. We turn to find Morpheus standing there with enough rage in his black eyes to send the Devil packing for heaven.
Jeb tugs his fingers from the rings in my belt but keeps a hand at my lower back. I touch my lips; they're throbbing and gluttonous, hungry for more.
"Well, now, isn't this cozy?" Morpheus's voice isn't liquid this time. It grates like rusted nails along my eardrums. He peels off his gloves and slaps them against his palm, wings droopy and trailing the floor like a cape. "Perhaps you might give Alyssa her lipstick back. We haven't time to find more before dinner."
Jeb swipes my gloss from his mouth. I lick my lips, struck by an inexplicable stab of guilt.
Morpheus's lullaby plays softly in my head, melancholy and pinched. The words to the song seem to have been altered to fit his mood:
Little blossom in peach and red,
Trapping boys with your pretty head;
Tease and play, be coy and smart,
For you will one day break his heart.
The lullaby sours to shrieking notes in my ears, making me wince.
Grunting deep in his chest, Morpheus turns to a mirror and brushes his clothes with his gloves. He's wearing a white flouncy shirt under a red brocade jacket that swings at his thighs. It's double-breasted with brassy buttons on both lapels. His pants resemble tights—crushed red velvet. Black lace-up boots stop just at his shins. He could be Romeo straight out of Shakespeare's play if not for the blue hair and wings.
He whips his wingspan to its full magnificence. The jewels at the tips of his eye markings flash with his temper, from red to green. "Don't you know, elfin knight"—he turns back to us—"that it is very untoward for a guard to proposition his innocent charge?"
I frown. What, do I have the word prude stamped across my forehead? "You don't know anything about me."
Morpheus twists his mouth into a wry grin. "Perhaps you were simply pretending, then? To blush like an unblemished peach?"
Jeb drags me behind him. "She's not having this discussion with you."
Morpheus huffs. "A little late for chivalry. Had anyone else seen that display, your masquerade as a knight would have ended before it ever began. Did you forget to tell him about a knight's first order, pet? About keeping his hands and emotions in check?" Morpheus's attention falls to his right shoulder. Gossamer peers out from beneath his hair. She and Jeb exchange a glance.
Morpheus's eyes fall back on me, slicing like onyx blades. All I want to do is bask in the memory of my first kiss. Instead, I'm wrestling the notion that I've betrayed some nether-realm guy I haven't seen in years, and for some reason, the thought of hurting him is unbearable.
Jeb's stance stiffens. "Change of plans," he says. "Al's not going to help you play out this little game, whatever it is. You're sending us back. Now."
Morpheus lifts one side of his mouth in a sneer. He addresses Gossamer again while still staring at me. "Seems you were wrong. You told me the mortal wasn't a threat. Perhaps you underestimated the allure of our crafty Alyssa."
Gossamer studies her teensy feet. Her wings flap slowly, like a butterfly's at rest. "I thought he preferred someone—"
"Shush! That's not your secret to tell!" Morpheus shouts. The volume of his voice knocks Gossamer off her perch. She flutters in midair, hands slapped over pointed ears.
Morpheus touches a finger to his mouth. "Read my lips, loose-tongued little spriteling. Get. The. Bloody. Box. It's time to show our maiden and her toy soldier what kind of welcome they'll receive, should they turn their backs on their one ally."
Gossamer whisks out of the corridor.
"And bring me my Cajolery Hat!" Morpheus calls after her. His command is still echoing when he spins on his heel to study us. Smug, he coaxes his gloves on. "There's a problem with your request, pseudo elf. I can't simply send you back. And Alyssa knows this."
Jeb casts a glance over his shoulder, eyes wide with questions.
"Oh, dear me." Morpheus slaps a palm to his cheek, as if stunned. "Were you too busy to talk about anything pertinent? Or perhaps our innocent maiden was feeling guilty for the money she 'borrowed' from your other girlfriend's handbag, and you, being the noble knight, decided to comfort her."
Jeb turns to me. "Wait… that money in your pencil box. Tae did leave her purse at the shop? You stole from her."
Morpheus leans in between us. "Well, how else was our Alyssa to skip off to London to find me?"
Jeb's gaze doesn't budge, heavy with accusation. "I can't believe you lied to my face. You stole money to get a fake passport and planned to go to London all along."
"Two for two," Morpheus taunts, behind me now. "A liar and a thief. That pedestal's getting slippery, isn't it, little plum?"
I elbow him hard enough that his wings rustle. "I did what had to be done to help Alison," I grind out to Jeb, disregarding Morpheus's smug smile as he walks by in my periphery. "I only borrowed the money. I'm going to pay it back."
Morpheus stops beside Jeb. "She has a point. Motivation always justifies the crime. That's the law of the land here."
"Hear that?" Jeb says, piercing me with the mockery in his voice. "The local cockroach has given you his stamp of approval. And you wonder why I can't trust you to go off on your own."
A tiny fire burns at the base of my throat, an annoying need to justify myself rising like acid. "I had a plan."
"Oh, great plan." Jeb motions to the room around us.
"Like I could have ever seen this coming, Jeb!"
Before Jeb can respond, Morpheus steps between us, gripping us each by the shoulder. "Beg pardon, lovebirds," he intones. "But as much as I'm enjoying this, your quarrel is in danger of upstaging my grand unveiling."
He motions to the door, where Gossamer has returned with twenty other sprites. Five of them carry a red top hat with a wide black band holding a peacock's feather in place. A string of iridescent blue moth corpses drapes the brim like a garland.
The other sprites bring a black bag too heavy to lift, so they drag it across the floor.
"All the guests have arrived, Master," Gossamer says, her tiny voice quavering. She and her companions drop the top hat onto Morpheus's head while the others leave the bag next to our backpack.
"Introduce the appetizers and have the harp play a tune." Morpheus angles his hat. The dead moths tremble with the adjustment, as if they're struggling to escape. "We'll be there shortly."
Gossamer nods and trails behind the others, glancing over her shoulder once before she flits into the adjoining hall.
Morpheus snatches up the bag. As he strolls toward the glass table, his satiny wings skim my left boot. A vibration hums through my birthmark and up my shin before it stops to settle in my thigh, warm and titillating. Frowning, I slide my leg back and tap my boot to ease the sensation. Jeb watches me with disapproval in his eyes.
Morpheus folds down the bag to expose a tall silver hatbox flocked with white velvet. I've never seen anything like it, even in my dreams. Curiosity lures me to the table.
Morpheus gestures to the chair, playing the role of gentleman host again.
"I'll stand," I murmur. I'd like to blacken his already black eyes for stirring up things between Jeb and me just to get back at us for the kiss. Although I'm strangely intrigued that he cares enough to be jealous in the first place.
Jeb settles behind me and squeezes my shoulders—still my protector, even when he's angry. I lean into his body heat, grateful for it.
Morpheus shoots a disgusted glance at us, then drags the box to the center of the table. It's actually made of pewter. White velvet roses cover the sides, and engravings curl across the top of the hinged lid in some archaic language. The longer I stare at the words, the more legible they become. Is that another manifestaton of the Liddell curse? That this language comes naturally to me?
"Time for introductions," Morpheus says, opening the lid an instant before I make sense of the first sentence.
Dark, oily fluid sloshes inside the box. A sheet of glass over the top holds the liquid inside. Morpheus gives the contents a jiggle and a whitish object bobs toward the surface.
It reminds me of a Magic 8 Ball I once saw at a garage sale. The black plastic ball had a window inset. Blue fluid filled the core, and a white die would drift up to the window, marked with phrases on every side. All you had to do was ask the ball a question, roll it around in your hands, and then turn it over. Your answer would appear in the window on the die… everything from Most Likely to Ask Again Later.
Only this floating object is almost the size of a honeydew melon and oval shaped. Thick whitish strands swirl around it, attached to it. Morpheus gives the box another shake. The orb spins to reveal a face.
It's a head!
Yelping, I battle the bile rising in my throat.
Jeb curses and tries to turn me to him, but I can't look away. The liquid must be some kind of formaldehyde. Why would Morpheus have a pickled head in a pewter hatbox? What kind of psycho is he?
"Wake up, fair one," Morpheus whispers, a strained tenderness to the request. I watch, mortified, as he taps a finger along the glass, tracing the face's closed, crystallized lashes. When the eyes flip open, I almost jump out of my skin.
The thing's alive.
Recognition dawns on me from the chess piece reenactment. It's the Ivory Queen, even more beautiful than her jade counterpart, as delicate and pale as moonlight. Black tattoolike marks line both temples in a network of veins, as if dragonfly wings were pressed onto a stamp pad, then transferred to the skin. Her eyes are so light blue, they're almost colorless; long lashes curl upward on each blink. They're just like her eyebrows, silvery and crystalline as if coated with ice. At the outer corners, two black lines dip down to her cheekbones and end in teardrop shapes; it's like she's weeping ink. Pale pink lips—as curved and lovely as a heart—open to an adoring smile as her gaze falls on Morpheus. She tries to talk.
He leans close, sweeping his gloved palm lovingly across her encased cheek. She tries to talk again but can't be heard through the liquid and glass.
Jeb and I stand there, imprisoned in our own silence.
Morpheus breaks the hush. "This is a jabberlock box. It can hold an entire being within, though only the face appears. You've heard the saying, 'Off with their heads,' from the book you carry?"
I glance at my gloved palms, thinking about my scars. That's not the only place I've heard the words, and Morpheus knows it. Is this what Alison meant, when she said she didn't want me to lose my head?
"Well, this is the origin of that phrase," Morpheus finishes. "Little Alice took it much too literally. It used to be a standard punishment here in Wonderland. Though it's now considered barbaric. It's worse than any prison, for its occupant can be seen but not heard. Their jabbers are locked away."
The box shakes under Morpheus's hands. The queen's features change from adoring to desperate. She thrashes back and forth, and bubbles churn the surface. Her hair swirls like albino sea grass. Morpheus wraps his arms around the box to keep it from bouncing off the table. When her mouth stretches in a muted scream, he slams the lid shut. His complexion pales. He rewraps the box in the bag before I can see the inscription again.
Smoothing his cuffs over his gloves with trembling fingers, he sighs. "I didn't wish to upset her. She's at peace when she's left alone. But if she's not freed soon, all her memories will be lost forever."
"You care about her," I say with an unexpected twang of envy. In my long-lost memories of us as children, it was always just the two of us. We "got" each other on every level. Morpheus made me feel adored, special, important. I never considered him doing the same for someone else as a man. "Morpheus, what is she to you?"
He doesn't answer. Not aloud, anyway. His expression is hazy and troubled, and the jewels around his eyes twinkle from silver to black, like stars peering down on a storm-swept night. Alice's confession from the trial comes back to me: "Ivory was, in fact, very fond of Mr. Caterpillar." Judging by how Morpheus looked at the queen just now, by how she looked at him, he returned to her castle after his metamorphosis.
I imagine his elegant fingers tracing her skin, his soft lips on hers. That stab of envy evolves to something much uglier—a covetous twist of emotion I can't even put a name to. What's wrong with me? Why should I care about Morpheus's love life, when I've finally kissed Jeb after all these years?
Morpheus's wings flap wide, then close again. The dreamlike fog draping his features is replaced by suppressed rage. "In this realm, the mirrors are gateways. But the hall in which we stand leads only to other parts of Wonderland. The gateways back to your world are inside the White and Red castles, and they are connected to the queens. Ivory's portal is frozen due to her state and will remain so until she's freed by the person who put her into this box. That leaves only the Red castle's portal. I understand you've already met Rabid White."
I gulp and nod.
"So you know how well received you would be in the Red province. Set foot there, and you could end up in a box just like this."
An image of me or Jeb locked in dark liquid flashes into my mind. Jeb must feel my shiver, because his grip on my shoulders tightens. "So who put Ivory in there?" he asks.
Morpheus removes his hat and sets it next to the bag, leaving his hair a mass of glowing blue tangles. "After Queen Red was exiled to the wilds, she was never seen again. Her stepsister, Grenadine, married the king and became Queen—a woman so forgetful, she could never handle wearing the crown. And now her king wants to give her two." Morpheus drags a glittering diamond tiara from the bag. "I've a spy stationed in the Red castle. When the White Court came to me with news of Ivory's fate some weeks ago, I sent word for my contact to steal the jabberlock box. I'm harboring Ivory here, along with her crown, to keep them safe from Grenadine and King Red. If they control both the Red and White portals, good luck ever getting home." He tucks the tiara away again. "All this will be ameliorated once Alyssa finds the vorpal sword. It's the most powerful weapon in Wonderland. I can use it to force them to grant Ivory's freedom. Her portal will be open to you then."
Jeb levels his gaze at Morpheus. "Let me get this straight. You lured us down here with promises to save Al's mother, knowing all along we'd have no way home until we freed your freaking girlfriend."
Morpheus lifts a finger. "Seeing as we're laying out the facts, let's not forget that you weren't invited to begin with. If this is too much for your delicate constitution, mortal dreg, you're welcome to stay safely tucked away in my guest room until it all blows over."
"I go where Al goes, dances-with-bugs. And just so you know, if anything happens to her, I'll pin you by your wings to a corkboard and use you for dart practice."
Jeb and Morpheus's standoff is only background noise. I'm here to break the curse for Alison—that's all that matters.
Only, I should never have dragged Jeb into this. If I could just have an instant replay.
Something the flower zombies said nudges my memory. Something about time moving backward in Wonderland. What had they meant by that? It's obviously not a literal truth. Time has been moving forward since Alice's visit, or things wouldn't be in such a state.
A sense of urgency rolls over me. Alison goes for electroshock on Monday. "I need to get to that tea party and wake up the guests."
Jeb looks at me. "And how are you supposed to do that? Give a magical kiss to the half-baked hatmaker?"
Morpheus secures his hat on his head and tilts it. "'Half-baked'? Herman Hattington's skills happen to be exceptional. No one can custom-fit a hat like he can. And as for a kiss waking him? Wrong fairy tale, Prince Charming. Although I assure you"—Morpheus grazes my temple with his thumb—"our little luv is going to bring us all a happily ever after."
Jeb catches Morpheus's wrist in midair. Their gazes meet.
"No touching," Jeb snarls.
Morpheus jerks his hand free. "Our dinner guests know why Alyssa's here. Since they've been missing their excursions to the human realm, they're willing to welcome her in hopes they'll get the white portal back. But should they realize you are an outsider who dropped in without an invite, they'll not be so accepting. For your own preservation, you must be convincing as an elfin escort. Elfin knights are even-tempered and dispassionate. Time to pretend you have such virtues."
I sense the tension in the air as Jeb struggles to contain his temper. The two face off, staring each other into the ground.
I shove an arm between them. "Shouldn't we get to the banquet?"
Frowning, Morpheus fishes Alice's white gloves from his lapel. The grass stains and dirt have been washed off. "We'll need the lace fan." He directs the command to Jeb, who pauses as if he might deck him. I tug on his elbow—a muted plea.
Jeb stalks down the corridor to retrieve the backpack.
Morpheus and I study each other in electrified silence. I can't decide what upsets me most: my evolving netherling traits… the ticking clock on Alison's treatments… the jabberlock box… why Morpheus seems to care that I kissed Jeb when he's involved with someone else… or, worst of all, why it upsets me to know about his love for Ivory.
The thoughts scatter around me like broken glass when Jeb returns.
Morpheus tucks the fan inside his lapel along with the gloves. "Leave your baggage here. If anything goes awry during dinner, come immediately to this hall. It is isolated… nigh impossible to find unless you know the secret entrance. Gossamer will see that you're sent to the tea party should we have any unexpected guests."
"Unexpected guests?" I ask.
"Guests of murderous or malicious intent. You are, after all, a fugitive from the Red Court." Morpheus rubs his hands together as if relishing the thought of trouble. "I'm famished. Let us feast."
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