Alice could only watch the two glaring Mafia bosses in the empty, chilling hall. The few seconds of silence seemed to last an eternity. Alice was afraid to breathe.
Blood’s arm twitched.
As if in slow motion, Jericho drew his gun as Blood’s cane shifted into a pistol. She watched helplessly as they raised their weapons at each other with an echoing chak.
“Die!”
“Game over.”
Bullets exploded from their guns, making Alice cringe back in terror. But after the single round, she heard two heavy thumps, one after the other.
“Huh?!”
She snapped her eyes past Jericho, where a prone figure lay on the ground behind him. She turned to look behind her and Blood—sure enough, another Faceless lay crumpled on the floor.
Jericho let out a breath. His face relaxed, his fearful intensity gone in an instant.
“That clears up that mystery,” he said. “After all the trouble of putting on the act, I expected…more of a fight.”
Blood raised an eyebrow. “You know, I think you might actually be disappointed,” he drawled. He turned to Alice. “Alice?”
She jerked her head up at him, then cursed herself for shaking. “Wh-what?!” she blurted. She tried to force herself to calm down.
Blood’s lips curled in a self-satisfied smirk.
“As much as I love having you wrapped around me, I’d rather do it in private so he doesn’t get a free show.”
Alice, in her panic, had clung to Blood’s arm in a death grip. She grunted and pulled back. She was suddenly glad for the huge hat shadowing her face—and its blush.
Blood turned back to Jericho. “Are these the last spies? You said you took care of all the rest, right?”
“Yeah. The only ones left were the ones closely tailing me. I gave them free rein for a while, but…as we figured, the final move had to be here.” Jericho flipped up a hand. “Had to let them get a good dance in first.”
“You do a lot of work for a dead man.”
Alice pulled the hat brim down, allowing her eyes to barely peek at the men. The way they talked—up close and almost casual—she would never have believed they were rival Mafia bosses.
She started to wonder if the animosity between them had always been for show.
Maybe Blood let me go to the museum because I lured their mutual enemy into attacking…?
It was true that a Faceless probably couldn’t attack her directly in the museum—not when a Role-Holder was walking around. But maybe indirectly. Maybe those sneaking Faceless had sabotaged her route inside the painting. Or maybe…
“Blood, Jericho?”
They flicked their eyes to her. Blood let out a vague chuckle, and Jericho furrowed his brow at Alice’s hat.
“That thing is too big for you.”
Alice sighed and tilted the brim up higher. “You think?”
“And that style doesn’t suit you,” Jericho said. “If you’re going to wear a hat, you should…put some thought into what you pick.”
Blood stepped back toward her and swept his arm around her back. “Don’t worry about it,” he told Jericho, although his gaze was locked on Alice. “She’ll get used to it. Let’s go, Alice.”
He hurried her down the hallway before she knew what was happening. Her feet stumbled a little.
“But Blood—”
“It’s the Gravekeeper’s duty to take care of the dead. Just leave them.”
That wasn’t what she was worried about, but Blood ignored her stuttered questions. He led her past Jericho, past the dead Faceless lying behind him, and down the dark hallway until she and Blood were alone in that corridor again.
She didn’t know how long they walked; time warped in the silence. When Blood finally stopped, she stumbled again.
She saw no sign of the waiting room up ahead. She opened her mouth to ask him, but before she knew it, he’d wrapped her up in his arms. He crushed her so close against his chest that she was dragged to her tiptoes.
“Blood?”
“I still haven’t taken my winnings from my bet.” His blue-green gaze burned. “But I’ll take you now.”
“Mm!”
He gripped her chin and roughly kissed her. Alice gasped into his mouth, her hand still gripped around the hat dangling from her head.
“The hat,” she breathed against his hungry lips. “It…mm…” Heat swelled inside her as his wet mouth devoured her own.
When he finally broke the kiss, she panted, trying to regain her breath. His lips broke into a smile.
“I don’t care if it’s before or after you get used to your hat. You’re mine now…and I won’t let you go.”
“Blood…”
Maybe he’d already realized that a move could tear her away someday. She tightened her jaw.
I wish I could promise to stay with him.
But it was a promise she couldn’t make. Even if she’d gotten used to these countries of time, she was still an existence without a fixed place. She was an Outsider, and always would be.
But it was because of her ambiguous existence that she’d come to Wonderland in the first place.
“Don’t go to any other territories in this country,” he rumbled. “Don’t go to any other countries. Not anymore.”
She swallowed. If she hadn’t moved, then she would never have met Blood of the Country of Diamonds. But now…she didn’t want to move again.
Alice nodded her head.
“I’ll stay by your side, Blood.” Without thinking, her right hand drew up to lie on the left side of his chest. She felt those familiar, gentle reverberations of his ticking clock against her palm. His ticking and her heart shouldn’t have overlapped, but her heart gave a pound at the touch against her skin.
But for a moment…she heard a very different sound within herself. She almost thought she heard a hard ticking in her own chest.
Just like the clock ticking in his.
Alice tilted her head in surprise, but before she could make certain, he stole another kiss.
“Mm. Ah…!”
Alice’s insides melted into sighs and heat, and she lost the ability to think.
Right then, for that moment only, Alice allowed herself to be completely ruled by Blood. She wasn’t going anywhere. She felt it, and with that came relief.
“Blood…”
“You’ll stay with me,” he breathed into her mouth. “Right?”
He wanted confirmation, a commitment. Alice pulled her lips free and nodded.
“Yeah. I’m staying.”
I’ll be here with you, the man before me now. No one else.
She lived in a world where everything constantly changed. Maybe it was foolish to count on anything for sure.
But even so, as she exchanged vows with him, she hoped that her heart would get its payout.