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

holes had
opened up everywhere? What if wherever Alice went, darkness followed?
    Lucky knew this was all happening because
of her, because of what she had done. But she also knew she had been pushed.
    She could hear Marc running to catch
her, and let her anger bolster her confidence. “You did this!” Lucky turned on
her heel, ready to confront Marc. “You and Gwen. What’s happening here? The
forest is falling apart. Literally, falling apart!” Lucky screamed, though it
didn’t quell her rage.
    Marc had pushed her and now everything
was wrong .
    “Lucky, I swear. I didn’t know this
would happen!” Marc reached out and tried to grab Lucky’s hand. “Please, just
come back to Tildoor with me. Gwen will know what’s going on. I promise. We’ll
fix this.”
    Marc’s voice had a forced calm about it
even though he still had to yell to be heard over the storm. Lucky knew that
tone anywhere. He was trying to placate her. To convince her everything was
okay.
    “No!” Lucky swung her left fist out,
bracing her shoulder just before she made contact with Marc’s jaw. He staggered
backwards as his head snapped to the side, releasing Lucky’s shoulder in the
process.
    Without looking back, she sprinted off
into the darkness of the forest, the ground still shaking beneath her feet. She
could hear Marc calling after her but had no interest in going back, except
maybe to punch him again.
    Whoever this new Alice was, she couldn’t
be good news for Wonderland. And now she was here in Neverwood Forest.
All thanks to Lucky.

CHAPTER 9

THE LONG
FORGOTTEN GRIN
    Rose
had been pouring over history books and ancient scrolls for almost a full day,
only stopping to eat and take the occasional cat nap. She didn’t know how much
time would pass before Gwen’s theories would come to pass, if they did at all,
but she would be ready. When the Red Queen fell, Rose would be there to take
her place.
    She would sit on a throne of glass,
surrounded by beautiful people and beautiful music, and ease Wonderland in to a
new era. One that balanced the majesty of Wonderland’s legends with a promise
for the future.
    “Your highness,” a young voice beckoned.
    Rose gasped and flung herself up from
her chair. At first she’d been merely startled—she hadn’t heard anyone come
into the library—but at seeing the child standing in front of her, anxiety
turned to a sickening twist of fear, for she was seeing a ghost.
    Her mouth slightly agape, Rose remained
silent as a memory strode towards her. She wondered if she had fallen asleep.
She pinched the back of her hand, but the apparition continued its walk to her
desk, giving Rose a moment to study it, to try and understand. The boy looked
exactly like her childhood best friend. Exactly .
    She hadn’t seen Alec since they were
both children of eight, saying their final goodbyes when Rose and her father
moved away from the forest. He’d been a scrawny child who was usually adorned
in smears of mud, and the two of them had been inseparable. At least until
they’d been permanently separated by the end of Rose’s parent’s marriage.
    It had been nearly fifteen years since
she’d last seen the strange child who had been her neighbor in Neverwood
Forest, but here he was, completely unchanged, as though he’d been plucked from
the corners of Rose’s mind.
    Even after all this time, Alec still
stood at just over four feet, and his face held the round shape of a child. The
overalls and grass-stained shirt could have belonged to anyone, but the face
was all Alec. He was grinning at her, apparently more thrilled with this
reunion than Rose. It was only when their eyes met that Rose saw any difference
from the boy she had known. His silver eyes that had once held only kindness
and a dash of mischief now glinted with danger and a dark kind of magic.
    When she was younger, Rose had thought
Alec’s eyes were mysterious, even beautiful. Liquid silver pooled around coal,
unlike anything she had ever