“White!” I scream, ready to fling myself from the porch. I don’t know what I plan to do, considering the other two Bandersnatch are circling, waiting for me to step a little further off. The man who caught me grabs my arm. I briefly take in the top hat on his head and the woman by his side before I’m attempting to go to White again.

He screams in agony as the Bandersnatch clamps down harder on his leg. I can hear the bones crunch.

“Stop,” the man holding my arm says. “They can’t harm you while you’re on the porch.”

The Bandersnatch begins to drag White away. I watch in agony as he stabs at the beast with his dagger, but it doesn’t seem to have any effect besides angering it. I slide one of my own knives from my belt and shake off the hand on my arm.

“Don’t!” White screams when he sees me preparing to step off the porch. “Don’t you dare!”

“I’m not going to leave you to them!” I scream, tears spilling over my lashes and dripping over my face. My chest aches as I watch the man I’ve come to care for get dragged away.

“Don’t you dare!” he shouts again, giving me the angriest face he can through the pain. “Stay with the Hatter and Clara.”

The Bandersnatch shakes him, and his scream of agony makes me cringe. I stab the post nearest me in anger. There’s no way I’m letting this happen. The creature with White in its mouth turns and bounds off into the trees. The remaining two pace in front of the porch, watching me. In anger, I pull the knife out of the wood and throw it at the nearest one. The blade embeds in its hindquarters. It lets out a god-awful shriek before they both follow the first.

I whirl on the man and woman behind me, trusting them because White does. He wouldn’t be okay with coming here if he didn’t.

“We have to go get him,” I say, staring up at the man. “You must be the Hatter.” When he nods his head, I turn to the woman. “And Clara?” She nods her head as well, wiping tears from her own face. I appreciate that she’s just as affected by the scene as I am. “I’m Jupiter. Now let’s go.”

“Wait a second,” Clara interrupts. “They’re taking him to the Red Queen.”

“Okay?” I look back and forth between them. “I’m not going to just leave him to her whim. I have to go get him.”

“Alice can’t kill White,” the Hatter says. “If we go without a plan, you’ll surely lose your head. While very brave, it’s very stupid, if you wind up dead.”

I narrow my eyes on the Hatter, taking in his words. His golden eyes meet mine, not budging an inch in his decision. I turn to Clara. “We’re two parts of the triad, right?”

“If you’re White’s mate, then yes.”

I wave her comment away.

“I’m pretty sure we’ve established that. My job is to take away the Red Queen’s immortality, or her powers. How can I do that unless I get close to her, study her weaknesses? I need to know everything.” I watch as Hatter and Clara look at each other, exchanging a silent conversation with their eyes. Clara sighs.

“Can’t we bring March to the house?” she asks Hatter.

“He can’t leave his cabin.” He shakes his head. “He is no longer all there, in case you haven’t noticed. And there will no doubt be Bandersnatch patrolling around his home after last time.”

“And Absalom?”

“Still purging.”

“Dammit,” Clara mumbles, before turning towards the house. “Cheshire! Get out here please! We’re going on a trip.”

The entire time, I watch the exchange, wiping at my face to clean the tear tracks and fix my hair. No doubt, I look like I went a round with the forest. I crinkle my brows when I notice a shimmering on the chair. Slowly, a shape begins to form, misty and incorporeal, until a man appears out of nothing. He’s good-looking, dressed in leather, lounging there as if he’s doesn’t have a care in the world. What really gets my attention are the cat ears on his head and the tail swishing around against his leg. Holy shit. I’m looking at the Cheshire cat. He wears a mask of boredom on his face as he looks at Clara.

“You rang?” he says, and then his eyes fall on me, and that famous grin spreads across his face. “Hey there, Cheddar Bush.” I stiffen at the derogatory term. “You must be White’s prophecy.”

“We need to take Jupiter to March’s,” Clara interrupts, shooting Cheshire a glare. “But the Bandersnatch are likely guarding it.”

“What does that have to do with me?” he asks, studying his nails. They look wicked-sharp from my position. I wonder for a moment how much of a cat he is, if he transforms like White.

“We need you to do your thing.” I almost expect Clara to say “duh!” after that sentence. It sounds like she implies it.

“It’s not a party trick, Clara Bee,” Cheshire growls.

“This is a matter of life or death, Chesh. If Jupiter doesn’t have the whole story, she can’t find the Red Queen’s weakness, and we won’t be able to save White.”

“Where is White anyways?” he asks, glancing around, noticing for the first time that he’s nowhere to be seen.

“The Bandersnatch just took him. Literally a minute ago.” I cross my arms over my chest in annoyance.

“So, we need you to help us. Please?” Clara gives Cheshire the best puppy dog eyes I’ve ever seen on a grown woman. I’m interested to see how it works on a cat.

Cheshire rolls his eyes.

“Fine,” he relents, and Clara smiles. “But I can only take two with me.” He raises his eyebrows expectantly.

“I’ll go,” both Hatter and Clara speak at the same time.

I don’t even turn my eyes to them, instead, watching Cheshire lounge on the chair without a care in the world. His tail twitches faster, his ears laying flat against his head, just as expressive as a cat.

“I’m the first, Hatter. I have to support Jupiter,” Clara argues.

“And I don’t want you to be without protection.” For the first time, the Hatter’s voice sounds like whiskey to me, and I can suddenly understand what Clara sees in him. He wears just as much leather as the others, but there’s a madness to him that I feel rather than see. It’s enough to make me wary even if White told me to trust him. The Hatter’s eyes are filled with worry and panic over his mate leaving his side. I don’t know the whole story about what went on between them before I got here, but it’s clear they’re in love. My heart squeezes at the thought.

“Cheshire will be there.”

Hatter snorts at Clara’s statement. Cheshire doesn’t look offended, just mildly interested.

“He’d sooner leave you to die than protect you.” I doubt that. Cheshire watches Clara like a hawk as well as the Hatter. I don’t get any notes of romantic notions in there, but it’s clear the cat cares for her in some way.

“Fine, I can protect myself then.”

I tune out the rest of their argument, instead taking a step towards Cheshire where he sits. His eyes immediately flick up to me, that grin spreading again.

“See something you like, Cheddar Bush?”

I scrunch up my nose at his words and slide another knife free from my belt.

“Call me Cheddar Bush one more time, Cat, and I’ll gut you.”

Cheshire laughs. I tense when his eyes slit like a cat’s before switching back to a normal electric-blue color.

I’m tempted to throw the knife on principle.