Hatter's Heart - Erin Bedford Page 0,10

you are the most important person in all of the Underground, and you are drinking before noon. Are you sure you’re not an alcoholic?”

“Pfft.” Kat downed her glass in one go, letting out a loud gasp at the end. “I haven’t stopped drinking and if you had to live with my mother, either of them, you’d drink too.”

I sniffed and shrugged. “True.”

Mop exchanged a friendly hug with Kat before sitting on the couch.

Trip’s greeting was a little different.

“Lady, Lady! Trip has missed Lady so much, Trip has!” The Opalaught wrapped his arms and tail around Kat’s leg and hugged her tight.

“I’ve missed you as well, Trip.” Kat patted him on the head softly. “But you know, you just saw me three days ago.”

“Trip knows. Trip wishes Trip never had to go back, Trip does! Trip wants to stay here with Lady.”

Kat peered down at the Opalaught and then cast a helpless look toward me. I scrambled to find some reason to keep the Opalaught from moving into Kat’s home but was coming up blank.

“Good morning all.” Chess saved the day by walking into the room with an identical glass as Kat. He was such a bad influence on her. Or was it she on him? I didn’t know either way, they were ridiculously in love and it made me a bit nauseous and completely jealous at the same time. Not that Mercury and I weren’t in love, but we didn’t have the same kind of relationship Kat and Chess had.

“Chess,” Kat’s relieved voice permeated through the room. “I was wondering when you were going to drag yourself out of bed.”

Chess’s tail wiped around his ankles, the heat in his eyes still as strong this morning as it was yesterday. “Someone wore me out, any idea who that might be, pet?”

I stepped between their sultry stare down. “Can we focus on the topic at hand?”

“And that is?”

Before I could answer Kat's question, Mop jumped in.

"It ain't nothin' fer ye to worry about. Alice just bein' Alice." He shot me a warning look. "We can handle it. Ain't that right, Trip?"

Trip pulled on his ears and averted his gaze. "Trip and Mop keep Alice company. Hatter said. Hatter said."

Kate glanced between the two of us, frowning.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I narrowed my eyes on the two tricky Fae. "Yes. That's right. Hatter has asked the two of them to accompany me and help me in any way necessary."

Mop glared stubbornly at me.

Chess crossed one leg under the other and leaned against the doorway, not missing a single thing. "Where is dear Hatter?"

I snorted. "That is the question, is it not?"

Kat's eyes widened, her shoulders tense and her jaw tight. "Hatter's missing? How long has he been missing? What do you know? Was there a struggle?" She paused and looked around at us with growing panic. "Well, don't just fucking stand there. We've got to find him!"

Instantly, Chess pushed away from the door frame and came up behind Kat, wrapping his arms around her. "Calm, love. Deep breaths. That's it." He murmured the words in her ears, but they were as clear to me as if he had said them in a normal volume.

It was wonderful how Hatter could so easily calm Kat with just his presence. Kat did have a tendency to overreact so having Chess there definitely made things easier. On the plus side, since they had a heart bond he also knew exactly when she needed it.

I could use something like that, then maybe I would know what Hatter was feeling right now.

With Kat finally not shouting at us, I quickly explained what happened last night and what Hatter had told Mop and Trip this morning.

Kat hummed and cocked her head to the side as she thought. "And he didn't say anything to you about leaving again this morning?"

"No-," I started to say but stopped and frowned as I remembered something. "Though, he was acting a bit odd about savoring me. As if he wanted to remember me?"

Kat wagged her brows at me, a smirking quirk of her lips. "Savoring you, huh?"

I blushed and ducked my head. "Stop it."

Thankfully, she relented on the teaser and sighed. "Fine. You're right. This is hardly the time." Scratching her head and adjusting her ponytail, Kat pondered for a moment. "I honestly couldn't tell you where he went. I mean, you know him better than I do. Where do you think he went?"

Tugging on my gloves, I shook my head. "The only