Page 10 of You Are Ours, Alice

Chassie can't hear me, I'm alone in Wunderland, and so it's back to square one.

First things first, Addie.

First things first, always.

So I start to walk.

The hallway gets weirder as I walk farther in, and it no longer feels like I'm walking a straight line. Sometimes it seems I'm walking up, other times it feels like I'm walking down, and then I'm walking sideways. It goes on and on like this until...

Finally!

A familiar-looking glass table seems to pop up out of nowhere, and I run towards it. If this goes exactly the way it does in the book, then I should find...

Huh.

There's supposed to be a key, but I don't see it anywhere, and come to think of it...

The way things went down with the original, fictional Alice, she needed a key to unlock a three-inch door, but...

Weird.

I look everywhere, carefully and thoroughly, look around several times over even, but nothing jumps at me. Everything's your average-sized, could've-fooled-me-into-thinking-I'm-still-in-the-real-world kind of door.

So...

I glance back at the table. There's a bottle with a Drink Me tag at least, but it's empty, and that's not how it was in the books either. Curiouser and curiouser is all I let myself think as I crouch down to take a peek under the table—-

Found ya!

I reach for the small, intricately carved chest and place it on the table before flipping the lid open. There's an assortment of cookies inside: oatmeal, chocolate chip, and then...

Aha!

Hidden at the very bottom are three cookies, with fondant letters in pink written on their crisp golden surface.

Take Me?

I don't think so.

Kiss Me?

Uh...thanks, but no thanks.

Eat Me?

I reach for it right away. It's what Alice got in the books as well, so...should be safe, right?

I pop the cookie into my mouth...and almost choke on it a second after as a door opens and a familiar, devilishly handsome were-tiger walks in.?? Red Velvet ??IT'S THE FLAVOR OF the Eat Me cookie, and I find myself absently dwelling on its taste while I stand frozen like a dummy, heart beating faster and faster as the shifter comes closer and closer and closer...

Until he's this close, just so darn close I can see the familiar wicked gleam in his moss-jade eyes, and...

"Sup, dude."

My nerves have gotten the better of me, my voice coming out all stiff, and I don't blame him at all when his lips curve in a sexy little smirk.

Honestly, I just want to sink into another rabbit hole right now.

Sup, dude? Really, Addie? Really?

I want to face-palm myself to death just remembering it, and when I hear him clear his throat, I just know—-

"Sup, sis." He returns my greeting in a mockingly solemn voice, and it's as irritating and amusing just as I imagine it.

"Very funny," I manage to grumble even as I fight off a smile.

"It is, isn't it?"

I want to say something snarky, but the moment I see the way his gaze starts traveling hungrily down my body...

Oh...shit.

I feel hot and bothered, faint and breathless, and there's this one moment I feel so, so tempted to just do what I've most secretly wished to do.

Throw my clothes off, throw myself at him, and throw away whatever sense I have left.

But since I can't afford to do any of those things, I force myself to back away instead. I have to remember that there's more to this guy than meets the eye. Like two other guys more, and that alone is just...

Nope.

It's just way too complicated, so I simply lift my chin and ask, "How do I get out of here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."

"I don't much care—-" I stop speaking, realizing too late that he just used a Cheshire Cat line straight from the book...and I actually responded just like Alice did in the book.

I turn to the shifter, wondering if he did it deliberately—-

A flash of Cheshire grin, and it's all I need to see.

Grrrr!

I'm just dying to growl my irritation out of him, but what would be the point when a were-tiger like him can out-growl me without even trying?

"I'm not here to play games, okay?" I grumble. "I want to leave—-"

"By all means," he drawls.

The shifter's capitulation makes me feel suspicious, but if I'm honest, it kinda stings, too. I should've known a guy like him was only lying when he told Chassie he missed me...terribly.

"You look angry," the shifter suddenly remarks.

"You're mistaken," I said shortly.

"I don't think so." His gaze turns sly. "In fact, I think you're not just angry. You look rather hurt, too—-"

"You're imagining things," I snap.

"Mm...is it because I'm not trying to keep you from leaving? Is that it, darling?"

"Oh, puh-lease. Confident much?"

"Just stating facts, little Alice—-"

"It's Addie, okay?" I half-expect him to ignore this, but it actually gives the were-tiger pause.

"Addie? Is it short for something?"