ACT 5
A Fog of Gun Smoke
Alice cut the binding around a pile of books in the reference library. “That should do it,” she called to the maid. “I think this is the last bundle.”
“Right-! All the rest go to the incinerator, so if we just throw these in the vault, we should be all set-.”
Alice smiled. “Good work.”
Alice hadn’t expected to get so much exercise in the reference library, but a lot of her job boiled down to manual labor, considering all the books she had to lug around in her organization process. When adding a category, she often had to reshelf the entire collection.
And now she had to archive unneeded research publications. She tapped a fist on the pile in front of her.
“I’ve never been to the vault. Where is it? I don’t have anything to do after this, so I’ll take them.”
“Huh~? You’ll take them yourself-? You’ll spoil me~!”
“This is a small batch. Just tell me where to go.”
After the maid gave her directions, Alice clutched the books to her chest and left the library. She passed other mobsters in the hallway, but thankfully, none of them threw her suspicious glances.
She’d expected a worse attitude from everyone after her argument with Blood, but nothing seemed to have changed. Even Elliot and the twins acted normally. If they’d heard that Alice had been friends with their other-country versions, they didn’t let on.
Blood probably didn’t tell anyone what I said. She didn’t know why he hadn’t, but even now, when she thought back on their conversation, an unspeakable frustration welled up in her.
The weird dizziness had passed, thankfully. She didn’t know if her irritation with Blood or simple exhaustion had caused it, but she figured the various
stresses had combined to take their toll on her health.
Still clutching the books, she walked into a section of the outdoor mansion grounds she didn’t normally visit. It was even more choked with weeds than the garden. As she walked the overgrown path, a sudden roar made her jump.
Voices —lots of voices—rolled through the air from nearby. It sounded like a frenzied mob.
“Huh?!”
She didn’t expect fighting, since the Survey Meetings were still going on. But when gunfire suddenly exploded elsewhere, her blood turned to ice.
There had been attacks on the main gate before, but now Alice stood right beside the mansion itself. She’d never heard of an attack this far into the grounds.
She needed a place to hide. She ran for the vault, hoping she’d find something to duck behind there.
When she finally arrived at the vault, she dropped the burden of her books to the ground and tried to catch her breath. She ducked down into the shadow of the vault and tried to keep as still as she could.
A moment later, footsteps crunched on the ground.
“Who could that be?” someone murmured.
She expected it to either be one of the attackers, or someone from the mansion trying to head the enemy off. Alice poked her head out slightly to get a better look.
She was shocked to see that it was Blood. He gripped his gun in one hand, his gait surprisingly casual as his eyes roamed around the area.
Alice had no idea what he was looking for, but decided against calling out. She ducked back into the shadows just as Blood stiffened.
He narrowed his eyes and re-gripped his gun.
“Got you, Hatter! You’re dead!”
Men from all directions ran into Alice’s line of sight, their guns trained on Blood. He was massively outgunned.
Blood didn’t say a word. He just whipped up his weapon and fired a volley of bullets in a circle around him, creating a domino effect of falling, screaming men.
Alice smelled the sharp stink of iron and smoke that she’d never gotten used to. By the time the air
cleared, the fight was over.
Enemy blood splatters stained Blood’s white clothes. Clearly unharmed, he rubbed a red drop from his cheek and dropped his eyes to the gun in his hand.
Alice breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t said more than a few words to him since their argument, but she still didn’t want to see him get hurt or anything.
When no more enemies entered the clearing, Blood shifted his gun back into its cane form. Unfortunately, the sound of gunfire in the distance hadn’t lessened in the slightest—which meant the attack on the mansion was still underway.
When he started to walk again, Alice stood up from her hiding place in the shadow of the vault.
“Bloo—”
Just as she was about to run after him, she froze.
The barrel of a gun peeked through a hole in a thicket, aimed at Blood’s back. Almost uncannily like the first time she’d been shot at in Hatter Mansion.
It’s Blood, so he probably noticed? Although...
She flashed back to a moment in Clover—when some troops waiting in ambush tried to attack Blood during the Assembly. Blood hadn’t even used his gun—he’d just beaten them off with his cane, complaining that he was bored with “incompetent assassins.”
But that Blood, who spat insults at men who had tried to kill him, wasn’t the man in the bloodspattered coat who walked away from her now.
Her usual assumption that he’d want her to protect herself flew out of her mind. She was afraid he didn’t see the hidden gun.
“Blood!” she cried, leaping out of the shadows. “Watch out!”
He whipped towards her, clearly stunned. But then his face darkened as he threw out an arm.
“Do you have a death wish?!” he shouted.
A heavy shot rang out behind her. Something burned across the flesh of her left arm.
“Rrgh!” Rather than change his cane again. Blood tore a gun from his breast pocket and fired past Alice’s shoulder. Alice heard a thump and a moan behind her.
Alice dizzily stepped back as Blood ran at her. Her gripped her left arm, which she realized, belatedly, had been shot.
He pressed his hand over the blood welling up on her skin. “You’re wounded,” he said quickly.
“Blood, urn...”
“Do me a favor and shut up!”
Alice swallowed, her mind too cloudy to argue.
He was...yelling at her. And clearly frustrated. Her face fell despite her attempts to stop it.
/ think this is the first time Bloods ever yelled at me, she thought dumbly. The old Blood wasn’t the... yelling type.
And judging from his reaction, he had sensed the gunman and was trying to lure him out or something. She suddenly felt very stupid for jumping out into the open and getting herself hurt.
Her shoulders slumped, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Can you move your fingers?” he suddenly asked. “There isn’t much blood, but I want to check for nerve damage.”
“Uh...” Alice moved her fingers as ordered, then
twisted her face at the stab of resonating pain.
But Blood breathed a sigh of relief. “If it hurts,” he said, “that’s proof the nerves are still working.”
“I-I guess that makes sense...”
As the shock slowly sloughed off her, she felt tears build up in her eyes. She tried to blink them away as the rumble of feet rolled in from nearby.
She turned to see a group of the Hatter mobsters, all dressed in their white suits, run up behind her. Elliot waved his gun at their leader.
“Blood!” he shouted. “Where’s the rest of them?!”
“I cleared the area. How did you do?”
“We pushed ’em all out-.”
“We gave them a pretty thorough beating-. They won’t be back again for a long time-.”
“I see.” Blood looked from his men, to Alice, back to his men again.
Alice wasn’t sure Elliot even noticed her. He nodded at Blood, clearly impressed. “Nice! You offered them an opening and lured them into the mansion so we could take ’em down. I was so fed up with their crap—”
“Elliot, you handle the clean-up. I have other
business.” Blood gripped the hand on Alice’s good arm. “Come, young lady.”
“Huh? But Blood...” Elliot’s bursting pride slowly drained from his face.
Alice groaned involuntarily as Blood dragged her to her feet, but she had no time to object or resist. Her mind spun from the throbbing pain in her arm. She lost all track of what he was saying.
Elliot’s ears twitched curiously. “Hey, Blood! What’s that woman—hggh!”
One blow from Blood’s cane sent Elliot crumpling to the ground.
“Out of my way,” Blood snapped. “I just told you to clean up. Do it.”
Blood pulled Alice past his fallen second-incommand and back toward the mansion. Once inside, Alice was surprised to see them headed for his room. She stumbled behind him.
He finally dragged her to his sofas and released her. “Sit down,” he ordered.
“No, um...”
“Young lady?” In response, Blood mimed how he’d just beaten Elliot with his cane.
Alice shrank back from the threat and dropped onto the sofa. “I-if you insist.”
Blood fetched a small box from somewhere. His face tight with annoyance, he tossed aside his jacket and hat and sat next to her.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“First aid. What does it look like?”
He flipped open the box. Alice’s eyes fell on a white bandage and a small bottle filled with medicine.
“R-right,” she breathed. “Then you’ll just patch me up?”
He tugged off his gloves. And then Blood Dupre, head of the Hatter Family, feared Mafia boss of the Country of Diamonds, gently applied first aid to the Outsider on his couch.
Alice stared fixedly at his profile, not sure this was really happening. He leaned over her wound as he cleaned it. His blue-green eyes locked on his work as a bothered sigh leaked from his lips.
Oh my God.
. .You look like you want to say something,” he said thinly.
Alice swallowed. “I just.. .didn’t expect you to do something like this for me. Don’t you think helping other people is pointless?”
Confronted by the same words he’d used when Alice had saved his maid, Blood’s mouth snapped shut.
Alice had jumped out from her hiding place of her own free will. It wasn’t Blood’s fault she was shot. And considering what Elliot had said, she’d gotten in the way of some plan that had been doing fine without her.
But Blood didn’t answer Alice’s comment. He didn’t even seem annoyed that she’d blundered into his plan. He just softly ran his bare fingers over Alice’s blood-smeared arm.
“I need to use the disinfectant,” he murmured. “This will sting a little.”
“Okay... Ow!”
Alice clenched her teeth, swallowing a hiss as her injury burned. Blood reduced his pressure on the wound.
After washing the dirt and blood away, he wiped her down with clean gauze. Maybe it was because
he was good at this, or because he’d lightened his touch, but the pain started to drain away.
The atmosphere around them felt very different from the last time she’d been in the room. She couldn’t describe it. Things felt...a little awkward.
Her eyes fell to his fingers, normally hidden under his gloves. They were long and slender, but angular. Masculine.
How can his fingers look that good when he s wiping up blood?
He finally finished securing the gauze. He paused.
“In the other countries, did you...”
Alice’s eyes snapped up at his sudden murmur. ‘Huh?”
He didn’t meet her gaze. Only his lips moved.
“I just wondered if you did something similar for the Blood Dupre of the other countries. You know-— recklessly jumping in front of a gun.”
Alice winced. “No way—I’m no hero. I got caught up in dangerous situations because of him, sure, but I never jumped into the line of fire or anything.”
He let a breath out through his nose. “I thought as much. Something like that would be suicidal. And I doubt the me of the other countries would be so fond of an idiot.” A mysterious, confused look filled his eyes as he dragged his gaze around Alice’s face.
“Then.. .why did you try to protect me?” he asked at last. “You did the same thing for my maid the first time we met. You’re irreplaceable. Risking yourself for us is pointless.”
Alice sighed. “God, I’ve heard that argument so many times in this world. Even the ‘you’ of the other countries said it to me. You’re replaceable, you ’re replaceable .”
She threw up her good hand. “I don’t care. You and your maid are both living people, so protecting you isn’t pointless to me .”
“It is pointless,” Blood insisted. “Someone can replace her and even me, and nothing will change. Your view is only warped because there’s no replacement to take your place.”
Maybe Blood meant to make the statement brutal, like when Alice had protected the maid...but his voice came out much softer than expected.
He gave the bandage one more tug. Alice couldn’t figure out his thoughts as he brought his face closer to the gauze.
He brushed his lips over it.
Alice froze. She stared at him, shocked, as he looked up from her wound and flashed a knowing smile.
“B-Blood,” she breathed.
“I assume that’s something the Blood Dupre of the other countries wouldn’t do. Thank you, Alice.”
Did he...just call me by my name? While thanking me?!
Maybe the actions didn’t mean that much on their own, but together... It seemed like he was finally getting a little closer to her. Feeling welled up in her and spread a smile across her face.
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re wounded. What are you smiling for? Unless you like pain...”
“No!” she blurted back. “I hate things that hurt! I just thought that...this situation didn’t end up all bad.”
“You’re a strange young lady.”
Alice met Blood’s dubious words with a smile as she stood from the sofa. Her arm throbbed slightly, but nothing bad enough to concern her.
“I should thank you for the first aid,” she said. “So, well... thank you. Do you mind if I go back to my room now?”
Blood was a busy man, so she figured she’d leave while she was ahead. But as she walked back to the door, he called out to her.
“Wait. There’s one thing I want to say first.”
Alice turned. He stood in front of the sofa, the medicine box still clutched in his hand.
“Yeah?”
“You’re on leave from your job while that heals.”
Alice blinked. “Huh? It’s not bad enough to get in the way of—”
“Your wound won’t just heal in the next time period—not yet, anyway. Don’t tax yourself.”
“Well? Will you take the leave?”
Phrasing it as a question rather than an order was probably him trying to be considerate. She softened. Its weird seeing him so open and honest, she thought. But that’s nice every once in a while.
“Thank you,” she answered at last. ‘Til take you up on that.”
“Mm. You should take me up while there’s still something to take.”
Alice couldn’t argue with that. She nodded...
A smile floated across Blood’s lips.
Alice assumed she’d have a lot of time on her hands while on leave from her job—it was the only thing she did with her days. But before she could get anxious over the impending restlessness, Blood came to her. He visited her guest room the very next time period after her injury.
He carried a stack of books in his arms, his medicine box balanced on top of them. “You seem guilty about taking time off from your job,” he commented as he swept into her room. “So here.”
Her eyes widened. She turned from her place by the window.
“Did you.. .bring those books for me?”
“No, I enjoy carting them around for no reason,” he drawled. “How’s the arm?”
Alice quickly walked over to a chair. Unlike Blood’s quarters, her room didn’t have couches— just a few scattered chairs. But when she tried to carry one over, Blood caught her by the shoulder.
“Just sit down,” he told her, pushing her into the chair herself. “The injured shouldn’t wander around carrying things.”
He dropped the books onto a nearby desk, then dragged a chair closer to hers. He gripped her wounded arm as he sat down.
Did he intend to change the bandage himself? He looked so serious...and he hadn’t brought a maid.
She figured his initial treatment was just an urgency thing, but now there was no blood dripping down her arm. For a man that busy to come to her room for a routine check-up... She was a little baffled, honestly.
Maybe her question showed in her face, because Blood’s eyebrows knit together.
“What?”
She squirmed a little. “Uh...a wound like this is nothing to you people, right? Did you come all the way here to.. .check on my health?”
She’d wanted to ask if he was worried about her, but in her panic, the words came out differently. And she didn’t want to seem.. .conceited.
“True,” Blood answered as he unwound her bandage. “ We wouldn’t worry about something like this. But you have no replacement, and you were hurt protecting me.”
“You didn’t need my protection, though. I actually gummed up your plan.”
Blood gave a low chuckle. “Then consider it chivalry,” he answered, “for a man to take responsibility at a time like this.”
She grimaced. “I’m not stupid enough to expect chivalry from a Mob boss."
“I’m hurt you think so little of me. I may be Mafia, but I have a sense of responsibility, thank you. When a powerless woman takes a bullet meant for me, I feel bad.”
He carefully laid a medicinal gauze pad over the wound. Alice felt a chill leak from it through
her skin, down to the bone. But unlike last time, it didn’t hurt.
His hands were just as gentle.
“I should probably tell you,” she said as he worked, “I didn’t try to protect you because you’re my landlord right now. I just.. .didn’t want to stand there and watch you get hurt.”
“I know. And I’m not trying to repay you as your host or as someone who owes you his life.” He glanced up. “I’m doing this because I want to. So give me that, at least.”
Alice finally closed her mouth. “Okay,” she mumbled.
She had to admit, she really enjoyed the new comfort she felt around him. Sitting in that room as he bandaged her arm felt...relaxed. Like how she and the old Blood would get together just to read in silence.
The memory dragged her eyes to the pile of books. “So.. .what did you bring me?” she asked.
“Mystery novels and some travelogues. When you’ve gone through them, I can send more, but the next Survey Meeting will probably be starting
by then.” His forehead creased, and frustration twisted his mouth into a wry smile. “Ah, the Survey Meeting. Dammit—I’d blissfully forgotten about it for a moment.”
Alice tried not to smile. “I wonder what will come first,” she mused aloud. “The meeting, or my wound healing up?”
Alice had never really figured out the flow of time in Wonderland. The random occurrences of daytime, evening, or night didn’t even last the same length of time. The periods could end quickly or stretch forever.
But Blood seemed to interpret her comment very differently. “I hope you don’t need to attend with a scar,” he drawled. “Always a shame to see that on a lady’s smooth skin. At the very least, I’d like a scar with a more pleasing...shape.”
He drew his lips near her arm again, almost a tease, and low-level panic twisted her stomach. She tightened.
“Stop it,” she blurted.
Blood shot her a dissatisfied look, then sat up straight to face her.
“Don’t be shy,” he drawled. “You were on intimate terms with the other Blood Dupre.”
“I told you, our relationship.. .wasn’t like that.”
He didn’t reply. Those blue-green eyes bore into her.
Another tremor went through her body, like it had when he’d moved to kiss her arm again. It wasn’t fear...it was some other feeling she couldn’t pinpoint.
Alice started to speak quickly, her words almost a babble.
“Besides, you’re not.. .the same guy as that Blood. You’re not as nonchalant as he was, and you seem like you’re in more danger...”
She’d always felt a languid self-possession in the other Blood, along with something else she couldn’t define. A certain.. .humanity?
Blood’s face clouded over slightly. “Are you saying I can’t handle myself?”
“Maybe a little? Ugh, how can I put this...” Alice averted her eyes. “I know you’re really independent, but there’s something that makes me worry about you. Makes me want to help you. At least, right now.”
Blood suddenly stood, the medicine box tucked under his arm. He let out a breath.
“I’m done with the bandage,” he said evenly. “I hope it’s healed by the Survey Meeting. What a pain.”
Alice frowned, a little uncomfortable with his sudden shift in attitude. “I guess that’s true,” she agreed. “And it’ll probably be ugly, too.”
Maybe I insulted him. She watched him turn his back on her and march for the door.
Elliot nearly crashed into him as he burst into the room.
“Blood! Sorry to bother you, but I needed to check something with...” Elliot’s face darkened as he noticed Alice. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Alice bristled. “This guest room was assigned to me,” she snapped. Don’t take your problems out on me, she added silently.
“It doesn’t concern you,” Blood said in the same flat tone. “We have work. Move it, Elliot.”
Looking perturbed, Elliot left the room so Blood could follow.
“Blood...?” she called.
He didn’t turn back. The door slammed shut behind him.
“Big Sis, Big Sis! Wanna come gamblin’ with us? This time we’re sure to win a jackpot!”
“Last time, we couldn’t make any money ’cause we got burned by the fees. So this time, we’d better cash in!”
Alice flashed a sardonic grin at the twins crowding around her. They’d waited until the group had entered Diamond Castle for the Survey Meeting, but literally not a second longer.
In the other countries, she would’ve lectured them for gambling while underage. But they only took adult form here, so she knew they wouldn’t listen. While formulating a new argument against them betting all their hard-earned pay, she felt a sharp look burning into her side.
She sighed. “Elliot,” she muttered, “I’m not planning to run off. I hear anyone can bet on the
BET ON MY HEART
Survey Meeting, but if you hate it that much, I won’t even try.”
“Like I’d believe anything coming out of your mouth when you hang out with the Gravekeeper,” Elliot spat. “Right, Blood?”
“I wonder,” Blood said sharply, cutting off Elliot’s words.
Alice fiddled with her bandage. Blood’s timely treatments had helped, and she was definitely on the mend...but the closeness between them had vanished, and he was in a rotten mood. She’d never seen him so obvious about it.
What got him so upset? she thought tiredly. She wanted to ask, but Blood always seemed to have Elliot by his side; she couldn’t find any decent openings to cut in.
She felt like she was back at square one with Blood—not even close enough to be friends. Had she imagined that intimacy when she’d been hurt? He’d definitely acted like more than a landlord.
“Thankyou, Alice.”
He’d kissed her wound. And that, along with his heartfelt, respectful words had crossed some sort of border. Now that felt like a new wound. A sigh leaked through her lips.
“...I feel a little lonely.”
Alice didn’t realize she’d said it out loud until the twins jumped on her.
“What’d you say?” Dee chirped. “Your wallet’s lonely for some money?”
Dum beamed. “Then let’s all fill the voids together!”
She tried to brush off the slip. “It’s not that,” she said quickly. “Just talking to myself.” She let her eyes wander to the gambling ticket windows.
Once she’d started worrying about Blood, she’d begun to expect things from him. The closer she got to him, the more she wanted to understand him. But she knew that things couldn’t happen too fast or one of them would be left scrambling.
She frowned. Jericho had been kind and respectful from the second she’d met him. What would her life be like if he’d been th q first person she ran into in Diamonds...?
She mulled over the thought as she placed a paltry bet at the window. When she returned to the group,
only Elliot stood there. The twins were grilling a tipster at another window, and Blood had vanished.
“Oh.” She looked around. “Elliot, where’s Blood?”
“He had business he muttered. “He’s a busy guy.”
Unlike me? Alice thought as Elliot glowered.
“I know that,” she answered sourly. “Thanks.”
Elliot turned from her to fly off the handle at the twins. “Will you two just make up your minds?!” he yelled. “If you’re not here when we need to go, we’re leaving your asses behind!”
Dee flicked his head from the ticket window to make a face. “Shut up, ya dumb rabbit! We’re tryin’ to concentrate.”
“The meetin’ can go a bunch of different ways,” Dum added. “It’s not easy to pick! If you screw up our thinkin’, you gotta pay for our losses!”
Elliot growled. “You little...! You two need to be taken down a peg!” He stormed toward them, but not before glancing back at Alice.
“Listen!” he barked. “You take one step from this area while I’m not here, and you’re gonna get it!”
Alice jumped a little at the intensity. “R-right,” she blurted.
She wiped her sweaty palms on her dress and tried to entertain herself. The people-watching was pretty good—the Survey Meeting, its gambling ring, and the Garden Party were a country-wide event. Most of the Diamonds citizens had focused around the ticket windows, crowding around to place their bets. As she watched the eager crowds, a finger tapped her shoulder.
“Yo. It’s been a while, Alice.”
She turned to the familiar voice. Jericho, back in his glasses and black suit, grinned down at her.
“Jericho.” She smiled. “Thank you so much for before.”
Alice paused to check that Elliot wasn’t watching. Sure enough, he was still arguing with the twins— which was probably why Jericho had popped over.
Jericho followed her gaze and flashed a sarcastic smile. “As always, you’re right in the middle of the loudest screams.” His eyes dropped to her bandage. “Hm? What happened to your arm?”
“Oh, this? It’s almost completely healed now. It still looks pretty gross, but it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
His face softened in sympathy. “Did someone in
the Hatter clan do that?”
“Nah. Just got hit by a stray bullet.”
“I guess a Mafia turf war is tough for an amateur.”
She shrugged. “True. And this is definitely not an easy world for an Outsider like me.”
She’d seen bullets and blood plenty of times in Wonderland. But she hadn’t gotten used to it. She didn’t want to.
Her face fell as her mind wandered back to her injury. She was still confused about Blood treating her...and the kiss. The kiss. She couldn’t figure out the meaning behind his touch. She felt emotions she wanted to pursue tangled up with feelings she’d rather leave alone.
She still had no answer. She sighed and waved a hand, eager to focus on anything else.
“You came all the way to my territory for my advice before,” Jericho mumbled, “but it seems to have backfired, hm? You tried to turn the tables, and this was the result.”
Alice blinked. “What? No, not at all! Don’t worry about it. Besides.” She chuckled weakly. “That wasn’t really what I would call ‘advice.’”
Jericho smiled at that.
He seems like such a stable guy, she thought.
“At the very least,” he offered, “you’ve made a place for yourself at the Hatters’. You should take pride in that.”
He suddenly slapped her on the shoulder with strength she didn’t expect. She cried out and stumbled, and in a rush, Jericho held out a steadying hand.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to do that so hard... Are you suffering from something other than the gunshot?”
Alice swallowed. “No, I’m fine. But I guess I’ve had a few dizzy spells lately. I’ll have to be careful about that...”
The dizziness that crept up on Alice unawares. She’d started to worry about it, even if she had no other symptoms. She wondered if it was time for her to go to a hospital... A vague dread settled in her stomach.
I always give Nightmare a hard time when he doesn’t go, she thought. It felt weird to be on the other side of that advice for once.
Jericho’s features abruptly drew together in
concern. “Dizziness?” he repeated.
“Yeah,” she answered with a light laugh. “It happens all of a sudden, and it’s hard to breathe. I don’t know the reason, but—huh?”
Jericho suddenly reached out and touched the muscles of her neck. The hard tips of his fingers twitched over her skin.
“J-Jericho?” Alice stared up at him in surprise.
Realization lit up his own face. He abruptly dropped his hand.
“Uh, sorry,” he said quickly. “I should’ve...asked, at least, before touching you.”
“Yeah, but.. .okay. Why did you do that?”
He looked away. “I wanted to check your pulse,” he murmured. “And that’s the quickest way to find it. Sorry to scare you like that.”
She frowned. “It’s not a big deal, you just... surprised me. I’m fine, Jericho.”
Jericho’s closed, apologetic expression melted away. He stared down at her in fascination.
His eyes softened, like he was gazing at an old memory. Alice sensed sadness behind it.
“Good. That eases my mind. I’ll.. .see you later.”
The Gravekeeper spun on his heel and walked away. He disappeared into the crowd just as Alice realized why he’d left so fast.
Blood appeared beside her.
“The Gravekeeper,” he said darkly. “I knew it.”
Alice cringed slightly. “Blood! When did you get back?”
“A moment ago.” He snorted. “Maybe you didn’t notice because you were drowning in pleasure.”
Alice scowled. After his vanishing act and abrupt return, she didn’t like him immediately needling her.
“Knock it off, Blood.”
He turned exasperated eyes on her. He suddenly shoved a vial with a drug label into her hands.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Medicine.”
“Well, I can see that! What kind of medicine?” She squinted at the label.
And stopped.
Amidst the directions and precautions, she saw the words “to reduce scarring.”
It only took a time period for wounds to vanish on people in Wonderland—and that included scars.
Why did this medicine even exist here? Blood certainly didn’t need it.
She looked fearfully back at him. Trepidation crept up her spine.
“You didn’t...leave to buy this, did you?” she croaked.
Blood answered with a shrug. “I didn’t think you’d be taking that time to flirt with the Gravekeeper.”
She glared at him. “I wasn’t flirting.”
He returned the look, danger looming behind his eyes.
“You’re pretty cold to me as I am now,” he said in a low voice. “I’ll bet you weren’t like this with the other Blood Dupre.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You heard me. If you’re going to show a pretty face to men outside the territory, you could at least make your landlord happy, too.”
“Happy...?” Her hand clenched over the vial. “I’ve told you a million times—I’m just being civil with Jericho. I barely know him—we’re not even close enough to be friends /”
She stopped as his gloved fingers suddenly brushed the pulse at her neck.
She jerked back, trembling. “Wh-what was that for?!”
He grunted. “You didn’t look that shocked when the Gravekeeper touched you.” His lips curved in a dark smile. “Unless you consider me more of a sexual threat.”
Alice finally lost her patience. She roughly knocked his arm away.
“Jericho surprised me, so I was too shocked to react! It was just a normal reaction to someone surprising me. The only kind of person who wouldn’t react would either be numb below the eyebrows or have nerves of steel. God, get over yourself!”
Blood glowered at her. She glowered back.
The twins suddenly ran up, breaking the tension. With screams.
“Boss!” Dee cried. “I think we made a perfect bet this time! But ya can’t win today, okay? Ya gotta pull your punches for our plan to work.”
“Yeah!” Dum shouted. “Even if you try to win, ya
can’t do it by much. Just do it right, okay?”
Alice sighed at the same moment Blood did.
Elliot walked up behind the twins, a betting voucher proudly clutched in his hand. It looked like the twins had even convinced him to gamble.
“Are you brats stupid?” he barked. “I put a marker on Blood for the win! It’s only natural, right, Blood?”
“I’m done with all of this.” Blood sucked his teeth and whacked Elliot across the face with his cane. As Elliot grunted and rubbed his cheek, Blood strode past him. The twins ran to follow, gesturing for Alice to come along.
“So who’d ya finally bet on, Big Sis?”
“We can use it on our next bet, so tell us!”
Alice winced at their screeches. “Well.. .this is the first time I’ve ever placed a bet, so I just bet on us.”
“But what rank did you put us? That’s the important part!”
“Yeah, tell us!”
Her bad feelings started to melt away. With a wry smile, she flicked up her index finger.
“You’ll just have to wait until it’s over to find out. For now, it’s a secret.”
“Wha?!” Dee threw up his arms. “Big Sis, now you’re just bein’ mean!”
“Boo! Everybody’s gotta profit or it’s no fair!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
With dry laughter, Alice dodged every one of the twins’ questions. They danced around her and wheedled even as they entered the Survey Meeting’s arena.
The game hadn’t changed since Round One— along with the numbers proclaiming the size of each territory, the leaders could strategize and add in the force that they chose. Blood took his position and made his moves without speaking.
But the Gravekeeper won the day, with the Castle in second place. Hatter Mansion was third, above only the Station.
The shift in winners helped bring the arena to a thundering climax.
Alice leaned back in her seat. She couldn’t figure out what force Blood had chosen to use...and neither could Elliot, apparently, based on the way his big frame shook.
“It can’t be true!” he cried. “This is Blood we’re
taking about here! Why aren’t you on top, Blood?!”
Blood sneered over his shoulder. “Pipe down,” he snapped as he lowered himself into the chair at the front. “You’re close enough for the cane, if you want me to make you.”
Elliot clenched his fists. “I can’t take this!”
“Shut up, Elliot!”
“Gah!”
The cane whipped behind Blood, cracking into Elliot’s orange head. Elliot curled up and groaned in pain.
Alice licked her lips and double-checked the voucher in her hand.
“I don’t believe it,” she murmured to herself. “I got it right!”
A winning ticket on her very first bet. She hadn’t wagered much money, but she was still pleased. The twins leaned over her and pouted in unison.
“Aw... Big Sis got the only win? I had you at second, Boss! What’re you gonna do about it?!”
“Me, too! Agh! We shoulda followed her beginner’s luck! Now we’re gonna make even less than last time!”
Seeing the twins depressed and Elliot hunched over in dejection, Alice couldn’t get that excited about her win. Not if she was the only success story among all the Hatter elites.
Blood turned in his chair, his blue-green eyes leveling on her. “Well,” he said. “You won. Who would’ve thought?”
Alice got the feeling he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t. She curled her fingers over the ticket.
“I didn’t really care if I won. Maybe that’s why I did. ”
“Didn’t care?” he repeated sourly. “Are you lacking in desire? I could never live like that.” His eyes burned. “Desire fuels everything .”
“And greed can eat you alive,” she countered. “What I’ve got is just right for me.”
He turned back to the arena.
Alice let out a breath and looked away. The cheers of the crowd filled her ears as the second Survey Meeting came to an end.
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