Chapter 69: Chapter 69

Chapter 69

ALICIA

Ash's insane twin struts forward, his cold eyes settling on, first, Ash, then on me. There's a frantic energy about him, an aura of instability that has me on edge. Behind him, tacky-blonde cop follows closely with a sickly-looking smile on her face.

So these two are a duo. Got it.

She goes to stand close to Ash, so close, it's on the tip of my tongue to tell her to get away from him and hug the nearest transformer, but the look Ash is giving his twin makes me realize what is happening. His maniac twin has inched close to me. So close, I can feel the heat radiating off him. He splays his hands in front of him like a politician addressing a crowd. "Here's how we're going to do things." He angles his body toward me, but his eyes are on Ash.

"You're going to go back to that party of yours with Maybelline." So. . . the tacky cop has a name, and it's Maybelline. ". . . take this one away with me." He jerks his hand at me.

Hold on just a second.

Who's he taking with him to God knows where?

It doesn't fully settle in my mind who he's talking about until Ash's voice comes out. I have to strain my ears to hear him, because whenever he's in a dangerous, angry mood, his voice dips low, like now. "You're not taking my fiancée anywhere."

Instead of focusing on the fact that the maniac wants to take me away with him, I focus, instead, on the word Ash just used.

He called me his fiancée.

I'm his fiancée.

Amid trouble, my heart soars. I feel my face stretch in a smile but stop when I realize I should not be smiling. I should be angry. I decide to force myself to focus on what Ash's maniac twin is saying instead.

"You have no other option but to do as I say." I don't know when he comes so close as to nudge a gun at my waist. Fear slams into me but I squelch it before it can take root. "If you must know, there's a bomb inside your study, so if you don't want everyone here to become toast. . ." He flicks his hand around, the one in which he's holding the gun." Then, I suggest you do as I say."

Shit! Maybelline, the fucking tacky cop planted it when she went in there with Ash. My eyes cut to Ash, and I see emotions as clear as the sky is blue on his face - anger, love, pity - but the most paramount emotion splayed on his face is helplessness. He knows it, and so do I. . .

I'm fucked, and yes - so is he.

I have a two-silent debate with myself, aware that if I attempt to take a step away from the mad hatter, it could go bad for me, however, if I attempt to take a step forward, toward him, I'll be challenging him. Either way, I see it, I'm still fucked. The only option I see is for me to act like a lamb and follow him, otherwise, everyone here in this party, including myself and my baby, will die.

I don't want that.

I release a sigh and nod, at the same time as I catch the eyes of Ash and send him a silent message of understanding. "No problem, I'll go with you to. . . wherever just. . . give Ash the detonator."

The mad hatter lets out a deep chuckle and shakes his head. "Someone must think I was dropped on my head as a baby." His head swings to me, and those cold, cold eyes settle on me. They're piercing in their intensity. "We're doing it my way, which is once you're safely away from this place, I'll destroy the detonator."

Did he just say once I'm safely away from this place he'll detonate the bomb?

Alarm bells flare wildly inside me.

It hits me like a train wreck as the meaning of his words sinks in. This mad hatter doesn't plan on detonating the bomb anytime soon. He plans on killing Ash and every other person here in one fell swoop. He has it out for Ash and anyone associated with him.

Fear rears its ugly head as he begins to draw me away. I feel my life slipping away as I watch Ash standing there looking at us helplessly, unable to do anything to stop me. It's heartbreaking to see, so I look away as tears seep out from my eyes and fall onto my cheeks.

"Aww! The princess is crying. Not to worry, though, I'll treat you right, much better than he can ever treat you." He keeps quiet and I think to myself he's done talking until he starts up again. "Now that you're mine, you'd better get used to my ways, starting from now, you'll do whatever I tell you to - no objections. Understand?"

I'm still trying to wrap my head around what he means by now that you're mine, when, through the glaze of tears, his face leers at me. "Understand?"

I nod jerkily and try to wipe away the tears from my eyes so I can see better but a trail of mascara follows my hands, and I know I must look a mess.

His chuckle is the only thing I can hear as well as the tap-tap of my heels on the ground. We're almost at the gate now, having taken a longer route to go unnoticed by the guests. As we get to the gate, I expect a guard, or a host of them, to jump out and stop us, but no one does. I'm sure Ash must already have informed them about the new development.

I don't know I've stopped walking until I feel a hard nudge from behind me and a loud voice urging me to keep moving. I do so until he tells me to stop a short distance away from the gate. By this time, my feet are aching me, but the worst ache is the one in my heart.

I watch as the mad hatter cranes his neck left and right as if waiting for someone, then he checks the watch on his wrist and repeats the same thing.

A bulb goes off in my head.

This is my chance.

"Um. . . I want to pee, and-"

"What's it to do with me? Manufacture a toilet, or do it on yourself, but you're certainly not leaving my side."

For the second time, my heart sinks in my chest. There's no hope. My shoulders slouch as I realize the dire predicament I'm in, so I do a mental recap.

I'm being kidnapped, and I don't know if I'll ever see Ash or Clarissa again.

The tears which had dried up begin to fall once more.

It must be because I've been so fixated on my problems that I don't hear the approach of a car. It seems to materialize in front of me, and I'm being pushed forward. I resist because I don't know what will happen once I step inside it.

A sigh escapes from the mad hatter behind me. "I wanted to do things the easy way, but now you leave me no choice."

Something heavy lands on my head and pain explodes at my temples. I go down quickly as my mouth eats dust. Garbled words rise up and around me. Just before I give in to the darkness, a face appears above me - one I thought I'd never see again.