Page 61 of Maddie
Chapter Twenty-Five
Maddie
“We can’t wait forever,” Ferris said as he zipped up his bag.
Maddie shot him a glare. “It’s been less than twenty-four hours.”
“It’s been precisely twelve hours,” Mouse pointed out, her pink plait falling across her clean lacy black dress. The gown she’d arrived in hadn’t even been fit for a rat. The gothic frock she now wore fell between her knees and ankles—it was her usual dark and brooding style.
Her sister had been quiet most of the time since she’d been back, except for when she would hum to herself. She’d never sang before being captured, but she must’ve had to entertain herself somehow.
“He’s taking his sweet time.” Ferris walked out of the room and Maddie rolled her eyes at his back. He wasn’t usually this impatient, but she knew he wanted to get Mouse farther away from Scarlet as much as Maddie did.
Mouse hummed while fishing something out of her front pocket. Something that wiggled, curled. Maddie squinted at the blue and yellow thing in her sister’s palm. A caterpillar. What in all of Wonderland? It slowly crawled along the center of Mouse’s hand.
“Why do you have that?” Maddie arched a brow, watching as the caterpillar stood on its hind legs, seeming to sway to Mouse’s song.
Mouse let out a breath but didn’t take her gaze from the small creature. “She’s my friend and kept me company while at the palace. Her name is Desdemona, but I call her Des.”
Maddie’s lips tilted at the edges. Her sister always did love a good Shakespeare piece. There wasn’t a single one she could recall that her sister hated. “Othello is still your favorite play, I take it?”
“It is.” Mouse watched the caterpillar, her expression unreadable. Maddie waited for a smile to cross her sister’s face like it always had, but there was nothing. Only a solemn look that Maddie wanted to wipe away and see her laugh instead. As she studied Mouse’s hand, the caterpillar—something inside her mind clicked.
It wasn’t a random hand or caterpillar that Ferris had drawn … it had been her sister’s and Des. A memory from his time spent at the Ruby Heart Palace...
“Do you want to release Des outside?” Maddie asked softly. “Since you’re both free now?”
Mouse jerked her head up, a horrified expression crossing her face. “No.”
“What happened to you in there, Margo?” She hadn’t used her sister’s real name in so long. It was reserved for dire situations. After facing Imogen in the palace, Maddie should’ve been stronger. She should’ve attempted to rip out Rav’s heart when he’d been alone.
Mouse’s gaze grew haunted, her lower lip wobbling. “Nothing. I was treated fine.” She straightened and shrugged, her eyes becoming distant once more. “I’ve been through worse.”
She was lying. Mouse may have survived a horrendous act when she was human, but Maddie believed something worse occurred in that palace. Her sister had never looked like this before. Since she’d been back, Mouse hadn’t really spoken much after their hug when her sister had arrived.
Maddie circled her arms around her sister and held her close, breathing in her gardenia scent. “Just talk to me when you’re ready.”
“I’m tired,” Mouse mumbled into her shoulder.
Taking a deep swallow, Maddie rubbed her sister’s arm. “When we get to the next safe house, you can sleep for as long as you want.”
A familiar knock at the door sounded and Maddie’s breath hitched.
He’d come back.
Maddie took her arms from Mouse and went to answer the door. Her heart sped up as she cracked it, peering out into the street, worried it was Chess or someone from the palace, but it wasn’t.
Noah stood there, his blond locks falling at his brow. He no longer wore Ferris’s oversized clothing, but a tight solid black T-shirt and jeans that showed off his muscular arms and legs.
“Maddie,” he murmured, his green eyes brightening as his gaze fastened on hers.
“Noah.” She grinned.
“You’re back,” Ferris grunted from behind them. “Good, because we need to leave.”
They really did. Maddie knew that no inch of Scarlet would be left unsearched as Rav hunted down Chess for supposedly killing his queen. She was pretty sure Chess hadn’t followed her because she would’ve already been dead if he had. Once Rav found Chess, she didn’t know how long it would take before the prince voiced his suspicions that Maddie murdered his mother.
Earlier, she had taken a quick rinse to wash away any traces of Imogen’s blood so no one would scent it on their travels. As Maddie scooped up her pack, she decided not to worry about Chess now. She needed to focus on the others and get them to a safer house.
