Free Follow the White Rabbit (Beautiful Madness, #1) by Kellie Sheridan

least, it wasn’t reflecting the moon or the stars.
    Shimmering on the surface of the lake
was an image Lucky would recognize anywhere—Neverwood Forest. It was a
different part of the forest from where her body was, but she knew it all the
same. The trees were even shifting with the powerful wind, just like how Lucky
herself had left it.
    Lucky closed her eyes and opened them
again, careful to make sure excitement and imagination weren’t getting the best
of her. She was in Alice’s world and looking straight into the heart of
Wonderland. But what was she supposed to do?
    The car was close. Panic built in
Lucky’s chest. She was going to miss her chance. Wood planks shuddered as the
weight of the car joined Lucky on the bridge.
    She could wave Alice down and explain.
Somehow convince her to listen while Lucky figured out how to bring the girl
through the reflection.
    Bracing herself, Lucky stepped out from
her hiding spot, just as the car approached. A terrified girl sat behind the
wheel.
    Instead of slowing, the girl jerked the
wheel to the side. Sounds of wood cracking filled the night as the car careened
into the railing, breaking through it like a boot on a twig. The car’s horn
went off as its weight tipped downward.
    Horrified, Lucky stepped back. Alice was
going to crash right into the water!
    But suddenly panic was replaced with
peace, and Lucky felt a weight lifted from her mind.
    Things hadn’t gone as planned, but
Alice’s car—at least Lucky hoped that was Alice, and not some poor girl in the
wrong place at the wrong time—was headed straight into the forest.
    She’d done it! If it weren’t for those
first few days of chaos and fear, the whole thing might have been easy.
    The horn cut off suddenly as Lucky was
reunited with her body.
    The
desire to celebrate was cut short as soon as Lucky opened her eyes. The sky had
turned a dusty shade of purple and the dark clouds that had been merely gloomy
before were now nearly black and seemed to be forming an unnatural spiral.
    The ground trembled as lightning struck
out from the clouds, hitting a tree elsewhere in the forest with a deafening
clap.
    The movement below only increased in
intensity and it took several tries to pull herself onto her feet. Marc was
standing nearby, watching the sky with growing concern.
    “What’s happening?” Lucky screamed above
the winds that howled around them.
    His response was cut off as a crack
split the ground right under Lucky’s feet. Grabbing her arm, Marc yanked her
away.
    The crack continued to grow and expand,
cutting a violent path through the forest. They watched in horror as the rift
formed a circle, meeting up with itself right where it started.
    Lucky had to push back both fear and
nausea as the ground fell away, forcing her to grab onto a nearby tree to keep
from being pulled in. Earth and grass alike tumbled forward into a growing
black chasm in the center of the forest.
    Marc stumbled backwards, pulling Lucky
with him as more and more debris fell into the abyss. How long it lasted, Lucky
would never be sure—her mind was preoccupied with the gaping fracture in the
ground and the tiny gnawing thought at the back of her mind hinting that
somehow, just maybe, this was her fault. The timing couldn’t be a
coincidence
    Suddenly, though the storm raged on, the
chasm stopped growing, but it didn’t dissipate. From a few feet away, Marc
rubbed debris from his eyes. Knowing it might be her only chance, Lucky ran.
Away from the danger, away from Marc. Her mind raced, trying to put together
what had happened.
    Gwen had told her that bringing Alice
here would change Wonderland, but she had promised it would be for the best.
They clearly had very different ideas about what was good for Wonderland. How
could this be good for anyone?
    A part of the forest had been ripped
away, leaving an unnatural space filled with nothing but darkness. What if that
thing continued to grow, swallowing the entire forest? What if these