Page 1 of Maddie
Chapter One
Maddie
Creating a hat was like creating a heart.
For Maddie, it had always been that way. The threads were the hat’s veins and arteries. The fabric, its muscle. The pulse seemed to come to life as soon as the hat was placed atop one’s head.
Or, at least, her head.
Maddie’s fists tightened as she fought to keep her wandering thoughts on hats—wide brims, curving crowns, silk lining, velvet bands, feathered decorations—but all she could focus on was her latest creation, the headpiece she’d just handed over to the Queen of Hearts.Imogen.
Thatbitch.
Gritting her teeth, Maddie shook out her hands and exhaled a harsh breath as she stomped away from the Ruby Heart Palace. Her fingers twitched for the collection of hatpins back at her cottage. Plunging a particularly sharp hat pin straight through Imogen’s heart and then using it to stitch together a hat made of her flesh sounded enticing. She would love to parade it through Wonderland, giving the queen exactly what she deserved for taking Maddie’s sister and holding her as a prisoner in her palace.
Mouse.
Mouse.
Mouse.
Maddie had given Margo the nickname as soon as her baby sister had been born. Margo had been so quiet—always quiet. The mad one and the quiet one. If only Maddie hadn’t come back to London after becoming immortal—if only she’d let Mouse believe she had vanished. Mouse had been a child of only ten when Maddie left. She’d returned ten years later to catch a glimpse of her sister each night in her sitting room window after the sun sunk deep into hibernation.Even her hats had ceased to fill the void in Maddie’s heart from missing Mouse.
Maddie crouched in front of her old home and gazed through the glass, finding Mouse alone and quilting in front of the fireplace. Several lit candles lined the grime-covered windowsill.
No longer was Mouse a child, but a grown woman. Still small, still frail, her unique pixie-like face seemed straight from a faerie world. Chestnut curls spiraled from her head, the exact color Maddie’s had been before they’d shifted to violet once immortality flowed through her veins. Sometimes it was one’s eye color that would change, for others it was hair color. Sometimes both, and sometimes nothing at all.
After several long moments, Maddie pushed away from the glass window and the flickering candlelight, then headed back toward the portal to Wonderland. She hadn’t made it far from her old home when a hand snatched her arm, making her gasp.
“Please don’t go, Madelyn!” Mouse shouted, studying her face.
With Mouse’s quiet, stealthy movements, Maddie should have known she would be caught. A mixture of relief and fear flooded her as she faced her sister, who held a lantern, casting yellow light around them. Her white nightgown dwarfed her tiny frame.
“You look different,” Mouse continued. “But you’re my sister. Don’t deny it. You’ve been coming by the house every night.” Not a single sign of terror darkened her sister’s eyes.
Maddie’s fingers fluttered by her sides, her voice trapped in her throat. The scent of blood wafted through the air, hidden within her sister’s veins. Even though she yearned to taste it, she controlled her fangs from lowering. “I’m not the same person anymore.”
“It doesn’t matter.” A tear slid down Mouse’s cheek, and she brushed it away. But that didn’t stop more from following. “Anything is better than here.”
“What happened?” Maddie whispered, her chest tightening. Their home had always been a happy one when she was a mortal.
“While you were away, Mr. Taylor… He took everything from me. Without my consent,” she said, her eyes peering down at her feet, her lower lip trembling. “If I stay here another day, I won’t survive. I’d rather die.”
Fury ignited within Maddie. Their bastard neighbordaredtouch her sister? “I won’t leave you again,” she promised. Maddie wrapped her arms around Mouse, holding her tight as her sister sobbed, and vowed to make Mr. Taylor pay.
And pay he had.
Maddie ensured he’d received no pleasure from her bite, murdering him slowly with her hatpins and knives. Piece by piece.
Mr. Taylor was the only human she’d ever killed. Vampires were another story.
A cloud of bats zoomed over Maddie’s head, interrupting her thoughts. Through the trees, howls echoed in the distance, the gray of Wonderland darkening to black. Buildings of obsidian and crimson quickly blocked out the horizon while she ventured farther into the city. She shivered as she passed a dressmaker’s shop and cast a glance over her shoulder.
“Bloody hell,” Maddie squeaked. “Tonight just isn’t my night.” She quickened her pace as the howls increased, drawing nearer. The rogue werewolves didn’t frequent this side of Wonderland often—unless they were hungry. Most of the queen’s guards kept them out, but they sometimes managed to slip into the kingdom of Scarlet. While throats could easily be torn apart with her teeth, she would need much more than that to kill a werewolf. She would need a silver bullet, but she hadn’t brought any of her guns to the palace since Imogen didn’t allow guests to have weapons.
Maddie’s boots pounded the cobblestone path, the ruby lanterns guiding her way. “Hats, Maddie. Focus on hats. Sewing and stitching,” she sang to herself, while barreling through the night, passing row after row of red and black homes until she entered the fringes of Scarlet.
Trees replaced buildings and the glow from the ruby lanterns ceased. She darted over wilted plants and hurdled fallen logs until her lone cottage slipped into view—the crooked roof, the black and purple painted exterior, the circular door, the garden filled with red roses. Imogen only allowed red roses in her kingdom.
