Page 13 of Maddie
Chapter Six
Noah
The vampires who’d turned Alice were worse than Noah imagined. Imogen and Rav carried an air of superiority like he’d never experienced. As if they ruled the world and would damn anyone who stood in their way, which, he supposed was true. Excepthewas blocking them from Alice. So were Maddie and Ferris. He would never give his sister up to those two arseholes, yet what motive did Maddie and Ferris have to protect her? Like Alice, Ferris was wanted by the royals, but what about Maddie? He narrowed a suspicious gaze at the purple-haired vampire walking briskly beside him, looking her up and down. His gaze lingered on her legs for a moment—they were rather shapely … not that he should’ve noticed…
If Maddie’s customer was anything like Imogen, he didn’t want to meet the slag. It was likely though, given that the two females were friends. Still, he carried the bright yellow hat box with its oversized, ridiculous blue ribbon through Scarlet while avoiding stepping in the tacky-looking blood stains on the streets. “Are you certain I can’t wait at your house while you deliver this?”
Maddie gave an exaggerated sigh. “I’ve told you already. No, mortal.”
“Right.” He scowled at the back of her head, a black tulle hat perched on her purple hair. “Butwhy?”
“Curiouser and curiouser, aren’t you?” She hooked a sharp right down another street.
This one contained only homes made of deep red glass. The walls were too thick to see clearly inside, but he could make out general shapes. Tall furniture, moving bodies. Maddie took another turn and he almost missed it—his gaze riveted to the craftsmanship around him.
“When can we check on my sister?” he asked, almost plowing into Maddie’s back as she slowed to match his pace.
“When it’s safe.”
It would never be safe here, and Alice could be dead for all Noah knew.No.He refused to entertain the idea. Ferris was looking after her, and although a vampire and a stranger, he didn’t seem to want to harm her. He believed she would be fine until he found a way to reverse what happened.
It would take moving heaven and hell to change back.Maddie’s words played over and over in his head. That meant there was a cure, even if she’d refused to elaborate. But whatever the hell it was, getting it was instrumental. “Don’t fret about your sister—we’ll go soon enough. I cannot drag a mortal around Wonderland with me and hope to succeed,” she continued.
“Succeed in saving your sister?” he asked.
Maddie whirled around and placed a finger on his lips. “You talk too much about things that shouldn’t be spoken of.”
Noah arched a brow and inched his head back, away from her warm touch. While it was clean now, he could only imagine how many throats she’d ripped out with the same digit. “But youaredragging me around Wonderland.”
Maddie rolled her eyes and continued down the street, this time at his side, her arm brushing his. “I won’t be going directly home after making this delivery, and I can’t very well leave you alone. What if Imogen and Rav return, hmm? So I need to take you somewhere else—somewhere safe—to wait.”
He certainly didn’t want to run into those two, but more importantly… “What am I waiting for?”
Maddie patted his shoulder as if comforting a simpleton. “To go home, of course.”
“I can’t go home.” Noah clutched the box tightly. “I need you to tell me more about the cure for Alice so I can find it.”
Maddie released a high-pitch laugh. “Impossible.”
“You said one exists,” he insisted.
“And it does. Deep in the swamp, in the heart of werewolf territory. The beasts would eat you long before you came close to the cure. A simple mortal man against an entire pack of wolves? No, no. It’s best to accept your sister’s new life and move on.”
A sudden burst of rage seared Noah’s veins. Accept that Alice would be reduced to a blood-thirsty creature? That she would live in this alternate world under the rule of arseholes as fearsome as Imogen and Rav? Fuck no. What would he tell their parents? Not the truth, obviously, but to let them think she ran away would be torture.
“Then I supposeyoushould acceptyoursister’s imprisonment,” he snapped.
Maddie inhaled sharply, immediately stopped walking, and dug her fingers into his upper arm. “Watch what you say, mortal.”
“Don’t threaten me,” he said, pulling from her grip. It was stupid to taunt the one vampire who was helping him. She could easily turn on him, kill him, and lie to Alice about it. If Alice was told he returned home, she would believe it—she was too trusting. There would be no reason for her to question it when Wonderland was a deathtrap for humans. But if she ever returned to visit, only to find their flat empty, what would she think? That he was murdered or he’d moved on with his life? Still, he had to do whatever he could to help his sister now, while he could. “Tell me where this swamp is and how to get there, and I’ll be out of your hair.”
Maddie reached up and twirled one of her curls. “I don’t have time for this now. We’ll be late.”
“Tell me where it is.” Noah lifted the hatbox into the air, high above his head. “Or you won’t have anything to deliver.”
Maddie blinked at him in surprise, then brought the outer edge of her hand down in the crook of his elbow. His arm bent under the hard blow, and she easily snatched the box away from him, cradling it to her chest. “If you behave yourself, we’ll discuss her situationafterI complete my sale.”
Noah rubbed his arm and grinned. Damn, she was strong as fuck. He could wait the few minutes it would take to drop off the hat. “Deal.”
