The Mad King (The Dark Kings #1)(96)

Alice smiled. “The best.”

Beany—a.k.a. Mr. HPD—grabbed Tabby’s shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. Alice closed her eyes. Tabby would be okay—she’d found her man. They were going to marry next year. For a second it hurt, hurt so bad Alice’s jaw trembled. They’d have beautiful kids, a beautiful life.

Tabby wiped her nose with a tissue. She glanced at Beany, then back down at Alice. “You should know we’ve renamed the shoppe. It’s now going to be called Alice and Hatter’s Cupcakery and Tea Shoppe.”

Tears lodged in her throat. She wouldn’t cry. It would kill Tabby to think she didn’t love it. She did—it was a comfort to know in a small way she’d always be a part of the place that’d brought her so much joy.

Alice had opened her mouth to say thanks when a stab of pain shot down her spine and broke her out in a clammy sweat. She hissed.

“Does it hurt, sweetie?” Her mother’s voice was soft as she gently pushed Tabby aside to grab Alice’s hand. Alice nodded, fighting the nausea, the need to puke up food she’d not eaten in days. Her mother’s hands were warm. Loving.

The machine beeped as her mother increased her dose of pain medicine. It wasn’t enough, never enough to fully blunt it. She trembled when the worst of it passed, opening weary eyes.

Her mother’s face, lined with wrinkles but so like her own, smiled down at her. Alice closed her eyes. Doctors said it would be any day now. They kept saying that. Kept whispering, thinking she couldn’t hear, but she heard.

A part of her wanted to go now. But something kept her hanging on. More than the dreams of him, more than the memory still as clear as a picture in her mind. She had to wait, and so she did, astonishing her doctors, family, and friends. But soon she wouldn’t be able to hang on.

Alice took a rattling breath. The cancer metastasized on a daily basis. It was in her lungs, blood, spleen, kidneys, you name it... it was there. At first doctors had suggested surgery, but she knew it would be like trying to put a Band-Aid on an arterial bleed. Useless. Eventually, the doctors had decided to “control the pain.” She’d known what that meant: it was over. No more hope.

“Alice.” Her mother rubbed her fingers over Alice’s bald brows. “Tutu is here. She wants to speak with you.”

Since returning, Alice had refused to meet with her great-grandmother. Not because she was still angry, but because seeing her would make her remember him.

“Please talk with her,” her mother pleaded. “She’s old and travels down here every day only for you to say no.”

Alice didn’t say anything but gave a gentle nod. Her mother gave a swift smile, glanced over her shoulder, and nodded.

“Love you, Alice,” Tabby whispered, leaned in, and gave her a kiss on the cheek as Alice’s father wheeled her great-grandmother into the room.

Her frail great-grandmother—covered in wrinkles and liver spots—looked the epitome of health compared to her. Filmy brown eyes studied her. Tutu let out a heavy sigh.

Alice looked up at the ceiling, unable to meet Tutu’s scrutiny.

“The fairy—” Tutu began.

Alice sucked in a breath.

“She came to you.” It wasn’t a question but a statement.

Alice’s heart bled anew. She bit her bottom lip as the tears she’d refused to cry in front of Tabby finally came. She nodded.

Tutu was near blind, but even so, Alice felt that heavy gaze to the depths of her soul. “Go back. Call her to you and go back, Kuuipo. Wonderland will heal you. Will save you.”

Alice let the tears fall, uncaring who saw them. “I... I can’t. Wonderland said no.” She sucked in a hard breath, trying in vain to fill lungs that refused to fully inflate.

Tutu patted her hand. Her skin was so soft. “They did this to you. They owe you.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Hatter didn’t do this. Neither did Danika. My. Time.” She huffed, no energy left in her body to feel anger, spite, or jealousy toward the woman who’d ruined Hatter for so long.

Tutu’s lips pressed into a thin slash, and for a moment Alice saw the stubborn jaw, the legendary angry glint in her eyes.

“I... I loved him. Won’t go back.” She sucked air, needing to get this out, working harder than she’d worked in days but knowing she had to tell someone the truth. “Not for healing. Never want him to think it wasn’t for... love.”

It was out, and maybe that’s what she’d been holding out for, because now Alice was tired—dead tired, ready to let go.

“Love him... so much.” The last words ended on a ragged whisper.

***

Danika had to find her. Alice had to know the truth. Why Hatter hadn’t followed. How it’d been the Hatter and not her that’d needed to confess his love.

Her wings fluttered. Maybe there was still hope. Danika waved her wand with a jerk, transporting herself back to Earth. She would fix this.

The briny smell of ocean water greeted Danika as she stepped through dimensions. Palm trees swayed in the gentle breeze. People shuffled about and kids squealed, running through Waikiki’s waves. Earth wasn’t all bad.

But when she walked past the bakery, she frowned. The lights were off and the store empty. It was only midday.

Danika knocked on the door. No one came. She wiggled the lock. It didn’t budge.