Chassie can't hear me, I'm alone in Wunderland, and so it's back to square one.
First things first, Addie.
First things first, always.
So I start to walk.
The hallway gets weirder as I walk farther in, and it no longer feels like I'm walking a straight line. Sometimes it seems I'm walking up, other times it feels like I'm walking down, and then I'm walking sideways. It goes on and on like this until...
Finally!
A familiar-looking glass table seems to pop up out of nowhere, and I run towards it. If this goes exactly the way it does in the book, then I should find...
Huh.
There's supposed to be a key, but I don't see it anywhere, and come to think of it...
The way things went down with the original, fictional Alice, she needed a key to unlock a three-inch door, but...
Weird.
I look everywhere, carefully and thoroughly, look around several times over even, but nothing jumps at me. Everything's your average-sized, could've-fooled-me-into-thinking-I'm-still-in-the-real-world kind of door.
So...
I glance back at the table. There's a bottle with a Drink Me tag at least, but it's empty, and that's not how it was in the books either. Curiouser and curiouser is all I let myself think as I crouch down to take a peek under the table—-
Found ya!
I reach for the small, intricately carved chest and place it on the table before flipping the lid open. There's an assortment of cookies inside: oatmeal, chocolate chip, and then...
Aha!
Hidden at the very bottom are three cookies, with fondant letters in pink written on their crisp golden surface.
Take Me?
I don't think so.
Kiss Me?
Uh...thanks, but no thanks.
Eat Me?
I reach for it right away. It's what Alice got in the books as well, so...should be safe, right?
I pop the cookie into my mouth...and almost choke on it a second after as a door opens and a familiar, devilishly handsome were-tiger walks in.?? Red Velvet ??IT'S THE FLAVOR OF the Eat Me cookie, and I find myself absently dwelling on its taste while I stand frozen like a dummy, heart beating faster and faster as the shifter comes closer and closer and closer...
Until he's this close, just so darn close I can see the familiar wicked gleam in his moss-jade eyes, and...
"Sup, dude."
My nerves have gotten the better of me, my voice coming out all stiff, and I don't blame him at all when his lips curve in a sexy little smirk.
Honestly, I just want to sink into another rabbit hole right now.
Sup, dude? Really, Addie? Really?
I want to face-palm myself to death just remembering it, and when I hear him clear his throat, I just know—-
"Sup, sis." He returns my greeting in a mockingly solemn voice, and it's as irritating and amusing just as I imagine it.
"Very funny," I manage to grumble even as I fight off a smile.
"It is, isn't it?"
I want to say something snarky, but the moment I see the way his gaze starts traveling hungrily down my body...
Oh...shit.
I feel hot and bothered, faint and breathless, and there's this one moment I feel so, so tempted to just do what I've most secretly wished to do.
Throw my clothes off, throw myself at him, and throw away whatever sense I have left.
But since I can't afford to do any of those things, I force myself to back away instead. I have to remember that there's more to this guy than meets the eye. Like two other guys more, and that alone is just...
Nope.
It's just way too complicated, so I simply lift my chin and ask, "How do I get out of here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."
"I don't much care—-" I stop speaking, realizing too late that he just used a Cheshire Cat line straight from the book...and I actually responded just like Alice did in the book.
I turn to the shifter, wondering if he did it deliberately—-
A flash of Cheshire grin, and it's all I need to see.
Grrrr!
I'm just dying to growl my irritation out of him, but what would be the point when a were-tiger like him can out-growl me without even trying?
"I'm not here to play games, okay?" I grumble. "I want to leave—-"
"By all means," he drawls.
The shifter's capitulation makes me feel suspicious, but if I'm honest, it kinda stings, too. I should've known a guy like him was only lying when he told Chassie he missed me...terribly.
"You look angry," the shifter suddenly remarks.
"You're mistaken," I said shortly.
"I don't think so." His gaze turns sly. "In fact, I think you're not just angry. You look rather hurt, too—-"
"You're imagining things," I snap.
"Mm...is it because I'm not trying to keep you from leaving? Is that it, darling?"
"Oh, puh-lease. Confident much?"
"Just stating facts, little Alice—-"
"It's Addie, okay?" I half-expect him to ignore this, but it actually gives the were-tiger pause.
"Addie? Is it short for something?"