Wicked Wonderland by Eva Chase

Author:Eva Chase [Chase, Eva]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ink Spark Press
Published: 2018-12-26T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Lyssa

They’d cleaned the blood off the club’s floor. I guessed that wasn’t too much to ask. Swaying up and down the miniature hills and valleys made me more queasy than exhilarated tonight with those images in my head—with all the knowledge I’d gained.

Wonderland had come so much more starkly into focus in the course of a day, but not for the better.

I hadn’t really expected to find the same sense of freedom I had before. That wasn’t why I’d come. I snatched a shot glass full of swirling neon pink liquid from a passing tray and used that as an excuse to ease over to the wall with Chess, who’d volunteered as my dancing partner even though I wasn’t planning on making a run for the mirror tonight. I could only picture the look Hatter would have given me if I’d asked him, and Theo had enough on his plate. Chess had actually appeared to enjoy the atmosphere here.

“Give me the whole run-down,” I said to him now. I sniffed the neon drink and winced at the acrid mint scent. “How does Caterpillar fit in with the Queen of Hearts and her crew? It helps her the way he keeps this party going every night, right?”

Chess leaned his brawny shoulders against the wall with a languid nod. The flashing lights reflected off his eyes as he considered the crowd. The blare of frenetic bass covered our conversation. I could barely hear him standing right next to him.

“Caterpillar answers to the Queen,” he said. “She gives him control over this establishment and various luxuries, and he keeps the Clubbers happy and hazy. He has to toe the line too. His head could roll as easily as anyone’s if she took a disliking to it.”

“Why does he have that mirror?” I asked. “What ingredients does Rabbit constantly need to get from my world?”

Chess made a whirling gesture. “Drugs stuck in time don’t have the same potency. Rabbit retrieves a little substance, a little spice from the Otherland to ensure each night’s batch of drinks and edibles will dope the dopes to the desired effect.” He gave me a slanted grin. “We’re hooked on you, you might say. Are you going to drink that?”

I handed him the glass, and he tossed it back. His grin stretched wider when he looked at me again. “Not bad. Don’t worry—even if I lose my head, I’m very good at finding it again.”

I made a face at him. “I’d rather you kept it to begin with.”

“Ah, we’ll all lose our heads the old-fashioned way if we can’t take a little pleasure when it’s offered.” He grasped my hand and tugged me back toward the floor. “Dance with me, lovely.”

He gave himself over to the music, his muscles rippling beneath his shirt and slacks. With his expression soft and open, he’d have looked cherubic if it weren’t for the glint of fangs when his lips parted. A stray thought flitted through my mind. What would those pointed teeth feel like teased over my skin?

I still couldn’t get caught up in the melody.

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