I laugh and then glance over at my door. Is the Librarian truly within?
“Besides,” Mary says. “I need to find these two a home and some food. Isn’t that right, loves?”
Upon her shoulder, peeking out from beneath her hair, is a pair of spiders. The scuttle forward and drop to their knees when they see me.
“I assured them that they could still help you if they came here and let me synthesize their poison in exchange for room and board.”
“Exactly what was your reason for being on the team?” I ask, amused.
“To collect drugs, plants, and medicines from Wonderland.” She smiles brightly. “One never knows when the Society can use such things on assignments.”
I lean forward and gently pat both the spiders on their heads. “I am glad to have such brave and loyal soldiers here with me in my new home. We will ensure you are well taken care of. Please let us know what you need and it will be given freely.”
“Our pleasure, Your Majesty,” they cry out in unison.
I glance once more at my door. It’s cracked opened. “I suppose I better go in and see what she wants.”
Mary leans forward and hugs me in a way that does not jostle the spiders. And then the three bid me goodnight. Once her door is shut, I head into mine. Sitting in my sparsely decorated living room and drinking a glass of wine like she’s been there thousands of times before is the Librarian. “You’re late.”
I drop my backpack down on a chair. “You keep saying this to me. I wasn’t aware I was on a timetable.”
“May I see the catalyst?”
I’m bereft when I pass over the crown. I haven’t worn it in nearly a year, but now that it’s once more in my hands, it feels wrong to give it to her to stick into a box deep underground.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmurs. “Almost exactly as I expected.”
If she puts it on her head, I might very well slap her.
“Come. Let us catalogue the catalyst for 1865/71CAR-AWLG.” She hands me back the crown.
“Is it possible to wait until I’ve had a shower and some sleep? I—”
“Now,” she says firmly.
So much for being the Queen of Diamonds. I sigh and give a nod of acquiescence. But the Librarian does not lead me out the door and down the elevator. Instead, she leads me to my bedroom.
When she flicks on the light, I find myself looking at a glass case similar to those found in the Library—only the one in my room has its door open and waiting.
“Your crown agreed to come,” she says, “on the condition it stays with you.”
Surely, I’m too sleep deprived to have heard her right. “Excuse me?”
“Some catalysts are trickier than others. Yours was very particular. If it had to leave Wonderland, it insisted on being with you for the rest of your life. If you are to have heirs, it will stay with them. Your line will remain intact—just not in its native land.”
“Crowns,” I say slowly, “do not talk.”
“This one chose you, did it not?”
I honestly have no idea how to respond to that.
“It will stay here with you, but the keycards for its doors will be stored in the Museum. It’s the only way I can provide it the safety we offer for catalysts.”
“Wouldn’t the safest place for all catalysts be in the museum? And yet there are catalysts scattered throughout the Institute.”
“The catalysts choose where they wish to go. Come, let’s put it in its new home. There are matters you need to attend to shortly. Your paperwork can wait until the morrow.”
“What matters?”
She motions toward the glass display box.
I carefully set the crown down upon a waiting velvet cushion. The Librarian takes over by shutting the door and triggering all the locks with her various key cards. “I know you are exhausted both physically and mentally, but you need to be strong today.”
That’s it. “Look. I am not fond of these little cryptic messages you like to throw out. I’d appreciate if you—”
“You may not be in Wonderland anymore,” she continues on, as if I’m not speaking, “but your guidance and strength will be called upon in the coming weeks and months. Prove her wrong. Make the sacrifices worth it.”
I jerk back in annoyance. “Prove
who
wrong?”
The sound of my cell phone ringing drifts out of my backpack. “You need to answer that,” the Librarian says mildly.
I let out a long sigh but do as she asks. It’s the A.D. “You need to come downstairs to the conference room immediately. There are things to be discussed.” And then the little bugger hangs up on me.
The Librarian hooks an arm through mine. “I’ll walk with you. Don’t worry. Mary will be down soon. She’s still in the shower.”
And Finn thought I was being overly dramatic about this woman’s creepiness.
Shortly before we reach the conference room, the Librarian says, “You’re needed in Brom’s office first.”
I don’t even bother responding anymore. We fork in the hallway—her to the conference room, me to Van Brunt’s office. But once I open the door, all of my irritability is whisked away, because inside are Finn and Victor, and there are several items that are smashed to pieces on the floor around them.
My eyes widen as I take in the destruction. “What in the bloody hell has happened in here?”
Finn doesn’t say anything. It’s almost like he can’t.
Victor says something, though. He tells me, “They caught Jenkins and Rosemary. They’re being held in our detention cells.”
Good God, it sounds like Victor is about to turn volcanic. “That’s excellent news. What about Todd?”
An ugly jack o’lantern paperweight goes flying from Van Brunt’s desk in Finn’s fury.
“Escaped,” Victor bites out.
I take a step closer to where Finn is standing. “Where is your father?”
Another paperweight is set to fly before I grab Finn’s arm. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”
For a moment, he doesn’t say anything. He won’t even look at me. Finally, he says in a low, controlled voice that completely contradicts the wild look in his eyes, “In the hospital.”
“What?”
“Todd attacked Brom. He’s in the ICU.”
I’m stunned. Absolutely stunned. “But—”
Finn yanks out of my grasp. Stalks through the door and slams it so hard behind him, the frame rattles.
I’m torn between running after him and finding out the rest of the story. Victor makes my choice for me, though, when he unspools the tale. “Wendy says that Todd had a catalyst with him, one we had no idea he even had. That he threatened to destroy it in front of the team if they came any closer. They already had Jenkins—Todd didn’t give a shite about him, though. They had Rosemary. Knocked her ass out and then they gave her a tranquilizer to subdue her, and . . . Todd took offense.”
I stare at the door, eager to go through it. “What happened, Victor?”
“It was a catalyst for 1889TWA-CY.”
I wave my hand. “Still learning these designations, Victor. Which Timeline is that?”
He takes a shaky breath. “One of Mark Twain’s.”
A sickening dread spreads in my belly. That’s the author of Finn’s books.
“He was obviously sending Brom a message. He was letting the Society know that he knows who Finn is. First you, now Finn? And then he destroyed the catalyst right in front of them. In the massive explosion that followed, he managed to somehow slash my father’s throat.”
Oh, sweet heaven. My hand flies to my mouth. I bolt for the room, completely skipping the conference room as I hunt for Finn. It doesn’t take long, though. I find him downstairs, nearly out of the door.
“Wait!” I have to run to catch up. “You can’t go out like that—Finn, you’re still dressed in Wonderlandian clothes!”
“I don’t give a fuck,” is his response.
“Just—let’s go to the hospital. Together. Let’s change our clothes and go see your father and then we will sit down and figure out what we need to do to catch Todd. Okay?”
The rage in his eyes is frightening, but he allows the door to swing shut.
“You’ve got blood on you from fighting. So do I. Don’t you think we need to clean up, so that the hospital doesn’t worry we are patients, too? Besides. Do you want your father to see you like this? He needs rest, not to worry.”
“I’m going to kill him.”
I grab his face with my hands. “I will help you.”
His voice drops. “They deleted my mother, like she was nothing. And now they try to kill my dad?”
“Todd will be caught,” I promise him. “We will find him and justice will be served. But first, please come upstairs and clean up. We’ll head to the hospital directly afterward.”
He blinks, and the rage fades a bit. “You don’t have—”
“Unless you tell me directly otherwise, I am coming with you to the hospital, Finn Van Brunt.”
He allows me to take him upstairs. We shower together, but it’s brief. All of my kisses are meant to be soothing rather than sexual. While he’s changing, I run over to my flat and quickly grab the first dress and pair of boots I can find. When we leave, my hair is still wet.
The cab ride over to the hospital takes forever. I text Wendy to inform her we are heading to see Van Brunt instead of the meeting, and she understands. Victor and Mary are will be on their way shortly, too. Just blocks before our stop, he says quietly, “I feel like an ass.”
I take his hand in mine and squeeze. “Why?”
“You just left everything behind again—”
“Not everything,” I stress firmly. Thanks to Finn, I have not lost my home entirely.
“And I pressured you to do so. Your advisor, who I get the feeling was like a surrogate father to you, was,” he drops his voice so the cab driver can’t hear him, “murdered—”
“Finn.” I squeeze again. “This isn’t necessary.”
“And people were out to kill you—”
“Apples and oranges,” I throw at him.
“And your people were dying, and you wanted to stay and fight and I told you I thought it was best to come back.”
“It
was
best.” I lean into him so I can press a kiss against the corner of his mouth. “Don’t do this to yourself. What happened in Wonderland and what’s happening here are different situations.”
He isn’t listening to me. “And now, here I am, hearing about my dad—the only dad who actually ever gave a damn about me—and all I can think about is how I’m going to go hunt down the son of a bitch who did this and make him pay.”
“He will pay. We will make sure it is so.”
“Alice.” He’s anguished. “They destroyed another Timeline while we were gone.”
I kiss him again. Gently stroke his cheek. “Victor told me. We’ll find Todd, Finn. But today, let us focus on your father. He will need you and your brother to be strong.”
Inside the hospital, we are escorted to an isolated, guarded room. Inside, hooked up to machines and tubes, lies Abraham Van Brunt. His throat is bandaged, his eyes are closed.
“Jesus.” Finn’s whisper is strangled.
“Please fetch us the doctor immediately,” I order the nurse who brought us in.
She doesn’t argue before leaving, but then, my tone left her no choice other than to obey.
Finn simply stares at his father, rooted to the spot just to the side of the bed. I hold his hand and wait with him. It isn’t until the door flies open, bringing his brother and Mary inside, does he finally move. I let them know I’ve sent for the doctor, but Victor has his medical bag with him. His examination of his father is immediate.
Mary has tears in her eyes. Victor’s are glassy. But Finn’s are the ones that scare me the most. His are just blank. I hold his hand in mine the entire time, refusing to let go. I will anchor him like he has anchored me.
A quarter of an hour later, the doctor appears. He says, as he takes us all in, “Hospital policy allows two visitors at a time—”
“Fuck hospital policy,” Victor snaps. “Give me my father’s chart.”
The doctor rears back in surprise.
“Dr. Van Brunt has requested a look at his father’s chart,” Mary says tightly. “Perhaps while he’s perusing it you can fill the rest of us in on what has happened with Brom.”
The doctor frowns, but he passes over the chart. “Are you family?”
I’m the one to answer, as Finn and Victor look ready to tear the poor man’s head off. “Yes. Now, please, tell us how Mr. Van Brunt is.”
It’s reluctant, but the doctor does as he’s asked. A lengthy, clinical description of the damages to Van Brunt’s neck, of how they were nearly fatal, and what was done during surgery to correct the issues. “He’s really very lucky.” The doctor rocks back on his white rubber shoes before scrubbing a hand across his tired face. “From what the EMT team told me, somebody he was with or found him applied pressure right away. If they hadn’t, Mr. Van Brunt might not be here with us right now.”
I glance over at the file in Victor’s hands. The attack happened last night, shortly before we reached the house in the tulgey woods.
“I expect him to make a full recovery,” the doctor is saying. “You’ll just have to remind him to take it easy on talking for a while. He’ll have a scar, though. A bit like Frankenstein’s.”
Nobody in the room laughs except for the doctor. And even then, it fades quickly into complete and utter awkwardness as he takes in our reactions.
Mary says flatly, “It’s Frankenstein’s monster. Frankenstein was the scientist.”
The doctor rubs at his head, a flush stealing up his neck. “Yeah, right. Sorry. I always get those two mixed up.”
“Get the hell out of my father’s room.” Victor storms over to the door and practically rips it off his hinges when he yanks it open.
“If you would just give me my file, I’ll—”
“My brother said,” Finn says in a low, controlled voice, “to get the hell out of the room. We will be finding a specialist to be brought in shortly.”
The doctor is horribly confused. “But—”
“Now you’re just sounding desperate,” Mary says. “Leave already, won’t you?”
Victor already has his phone out before the door swings shut.
“What a moron,” Mary mutters. And then, with a sly, small smile, she says, “What is he talking about, looking like Frankenstein’s monster? Clearly, Brom is going for the Headless Horseman look.”
For a moment, neither Victor nor Finn say anything. Their faces are blank as they stare at her. But then, they both laugh—and not in a tiny way, but big, belly laughs that leave tears leaking out of their eyes.