Hatter's Heart - Erin Bedford Page 0,45

from side to side as I tried to figure out how I'd even gotten there. Cheshire rubbed against my leg, his snout pushing under my skirt.

I shoved him away with a scowl. "Snap out of it, you idiot." When Cheshire kept insisting on licking my thigh, I reached out and pinched his ear between my fingers, giving it a twist.

A low roar filled the clearly.

"What was that for?" Cheshire snarled at me and then blinked. "How did we get here?"

"My thoughts exactly." I turned away from him. "Now for Chess." I froze at what I saw, my face going beat red.

"What is my son doing with that Satyr's horns?" Cheshire angled his head to the side his brows drowning down. "Should we stop him?"

"We should stop him," I quickly answered and stepped away from him. Thankfully, the pipe didn't affect me this time as I stalked toward Chess and the satyr.

The Satyr paid no mind to me his eyes rolling back into his head. I grabbed Chess's tail and gave it a good yank.

"What the mother fucking pixie fuck!" Chess glared at me but then looked down in the position he was in wrapped around the Satyr and quickly backed away. "Piper! When did you get another pipe?"

The Satyr groaned and lowered the wooden instrument. "Oh, come on I was almost there."

I made a gagging sound.

Chess reached out and tried to grab the pipe, but Piper was too quick, hoping away quickly. "Come now, you know you're not allowed any instruments after last time. Give it up."

Piper pushed his lower lip out in a pout that only made him all the more disturbing. "But with Romp out with the sickness I have no one to help feed me. I had no choice."

I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest. I remembered him now. "Feed you? More like raping. You aren't worthy to live let alone have a pipe. You should count your lucky stars. The Moderator didn't knock you down right then and there. In fact," I cranked my fingers and pushed power into my hands, "I elect we take care of you right now."

Piper cowered away from me, clinging to his piper as I reached out to grab him.

"My son was right...you have changed."

Cheshire's words made me pause.

"What would you know if it?" I scowled at him. "You claim to know me, but I have never been anyone but who I am. A little alone time did not change the basis for who I am."

Cheshire hummed, thinking. "The Alice I knew would have been appalled to lift a hand against anyone even someone deserving of it such as the Satyr."

Tired of this game we were playing, I grabbed Piper by the throat and lifted him in the air staring hard at Cheshire the whole time. "The precious Alice you know think you know doesn't exist anymore. That Alice was destroyed when she used her new Fae powers against her finance to drive him mad for daring to betray her." I squeezed the Satyrs throat until he dropped his pipe and began clawing at his neck.

Chess snatched up the pipe with a frown.

Dropping my hand and turning to Cheshire, the Satyr crashing to the ground as I said, "You. Do. Not. Know. Me."

I didn't wait for him to respond as I stalked away. I kept moving away from the clearing and toward the setting sun. The way into the Underground laid where the sky ended, and the Labyrinth began. I didn't know how I was going to get out through there, but I had to try. We couldn't very well go back to the castle. There wasn't time.

Not checking to see if the others were following me, my footsteps stomped along the stone ground with more force than I meant.

A small Fae creature, similar to a mouse, popped his head out of the wall. "Hey, watch it. Some of us are sleeping."

Stopping in my tracks, I almost apologized then caught myself. "I will step more lightly. Have a good night."

The creature scowled at me and ducked back into his hole.

Sighing, I leaned against the wall and sank down into a squat. My fingers dug into my hair and I tried to figure out what the heck I was doing.

I should be at home with Mercury. How did I get dragged into all this madness again? This is all the Seelie Queen's fault. If she hadn't put Mercury in the Bandersnatch—

Her fault? Don't you mean, your fault.

No, it's