Page 2 of Maddie
Tearing open the door, Maddie sprinted inside and slammed it shut, her breathing ragged. Her gaze flicked to the walls lined with hats of all shapes and sizes. Bright pinks, deep crimsons, blacks, grays, velvet, wool, cashmere, lace. There wasn’t a single empty spot. Without them—hersafety—she would slip into madness.
Maddie’s thoughts again turned to Mouse as she peered at her sister’s favorite blue hat resting on the desk. Imogen and her king, Rav, imprisoned her sister because they believed Maddie knew where the White Queen, Ever, resided. She didn’t know, but even if she did, Ever was her friend. Imogen and Rav would murder the White Queen for wanting to put an end to their taking of unwilling humans. It didn’t matter that Ever was Rav’s sister.
Regardless of the White Queen’s location, Maddie remained loyal to Ever and her mission. Feeding or ending a life was one thing, but forcing someone to become immortal waswrong. And Rav—
Maddie screeched as she thought about that snake and how her sister was locked up in the palace whereheresided. She ripped a partially-finished hat off the desk and plopped down on her chair. She shoved the needle into the material as images of Rav spun through her mind. If only it were his eyes she was sewing shut.
Back in London, a couple of centuries ago, Maddie had worked at her mother’s millinery shop, dreaming of one day making hats for the queen. While other women yearned for a husband, that had never been her wish. She’d never considered herself pretty enough to receive a second glance from a gentleman. Her sister, yes—but not her. She had neither the looks, the grace, nor the wealth to be considered suitable for marriage. In adolescence, the boys had always found her odd, and it wasn’t until she was twenty-two years old that someone gave her any attention, sweeping her off her feet when he’d encountered her mother’s shop.
“The queen needs a hat maker, and I hear you’re quite good at it,” the stranger said. His hair was tucked under a curled white wig, and his brown eyes sparkled as they caught hers. “I’m Rav. And dare I say, you’re beautiful.”
Maddie quickened her movements, stabbing and yanking the thread through the hat. She hadn’t known then, when she’d agreed to accompany him, that it would be for a queen in another world—a world known as Wonderland which had existed just as long as the mortal realm. How could she have known he was the queen’s lover? A liar, he was. Deceitful, he was.
Angry. Destroyed. Weak.
Within a few hours of knowing him, he’d made her feel all those things. She’d been green then. Naïve.
The entire town would’ve called her a fool for being so infatuated with someone after such a short time. All because he’d been the only man to ever pay her any attention. She’d given all of herself to him in the forest that day. There, he not only took her innocence but her mortality, too.
“I hate this hat!” Maddie chucked it at the wall, wishing it would’ve hit with a loud bang instead of a teeny thud. A melancholy feeling washed over her at the dent she’d just put into the fabric. She didn’t really hate the hat. Scooping it from the floor, she dusted it off and brought it up to her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.” She set it down and snatched up a new hat to work on.
Maddie couldn’t let Rav and Imogen get to her. She wouldn’t allow herself to once again spiral into that dark, mad place. The one where she would either fuck or find a victim to drink the night away. Until her sister helped her to get past those gloomy memories.
The earlier visit to the palace, where she hoped to get a glimpse of Mouse, didn’t go as planned. No, not at all.
“You will give me one more hat in a month’s time and then we’ll come up with a new arrangement.” Imogen lifted Maddie’s chin, and she studied the queen’s yellow irises. “Understand?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Maddie moved out from the queen’s touch and rose from the settee. “Can I see Mouse before I leave?”
“No.”
In that moment, Maddie was pleased with herself for rubbing saliva all over the queen’s hat before delivering it.
Maddie adjusted her bright purple arm sleeves, the fabric covering her flesh from elbow to a few inches of her palms, her thumbs peeking out through holes made specifically for them. She plucked up a spool of tulle, twisting the material around the center of a silver hat, creating a golden fishnet veil. Her stomach ached with hunger—she would need to find a human to feed on soon. But even blood cravings failed to pull her focus from her sister and how she continued to let Mouse down.
Maddie’s sewing picked up, faster, faster, as she concentrated on her work. For hours and hours, unable to sleep, she added more ribbon and stitching to the same hat, then took it apart before doing the repetitive movements again and again until it was perfect. For all her clients in Wonderland, she wouldn’t allow anything less.
A loud rapping at the door startled Maddie, and she lurched forward, the hat falling to the floor. She jumped from her seat, her stiff muscles aching from sitting in the same position for so long, and hurried to the door. Standing on her tiptoes, she opened the small square peephole and peered out. Her breath caught, her lungs halting as her gaze settled on a familiar figure standing outside, shrouded by the gray fog.
What is he doing here? A wave of excitement crashed over her.He did it!
Throwing open the door, she grabbed Ferris’s arm and yanked him inside, studying his short black hair, dark irises, and flushed cheeks. He’d been working as the Queen of Hearts’ Knave. Maddie and Mouse had met Ferris at a club four years earlier. He’d agreed to let them feed on him when their hunger rose, mostly for his own reasons—past demons. Their feeding was his own escape, his high.
“Where is she? You have her, right?” Maddie asked, gazing out the door, hoping to catch a glimpse of her sister. Her heart pounded, trying to free itself from her rib cage when she couldn’t spot her.
“I couldn’t get her out.” His lips tugged down into a frown. “We need to find another way to save Mouse.”
“Why so suddenly? You’ve been there fortwo years.” It wasn’t his fault, though. His dangerous tenure there hadn’t gotten them any closer to saving Mouse.
“I’ll get to that in a moment. I just need to catch my breath.”
Maddie sighed and gripped his shoulders, though he was much taller than her. “You didn’t have to stay so long. Risk yourself. But thank you for doing this, not only for me, but for her. How is she?”
“Quiet.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But strong enough not to be broken.”
Two years earlier, Maddie hatched a plan—one Ferris agreed to—for him to show up at a club where Imogen frequented to retrieve her male servants. The queen would pluck them from there, fuck them, then make the males immortal. But no one would ever replace her Rabbit, no matter how many lovers she or he took on the side.
After Rav stole Mouse, Maddie needed someone to infiltrate the palace, find out things, and attempt to retrieve her sister. Ferris consented, even though his mortality would be stripped away.
