A single tear fell down her cheek. Shifting my hand, I caught the tear on my finger. Then just as I did as a child, I brought the drop to my mouth.
She still tasted the same.
Dolly’s eyes searched the room, and she stiffened in my arms, eyes widening as she drank in the same fucking house of hell she had never escaped. “We’re still here,” she said, utter dread lacing her tone. “We’re still in the room, Rabbit. There are so many doors. And I’m too tall.” Her chest rose and fell erratically.
Her book. Her favorite story. Alice was too tall to leave the room of doors. Dolly thought she was too. Too tall to leave this goddamn house.
If you find your Dolly repressed . . . lure her back to you with familiar but—most importantly—safe things. Things she loved, she adored, she liked. Things uniquely safe to her . . . things she recognized as belonging in her world . . .
Henry’s words repeated in my head. I placed Dolly down in front of me. She was too thin, but still so fucking beautiful. She took a frantic but small step back, never taking her attention from my face. Leaning toward me but never touching . . . as though she couldn’t bear to touch me either.
They’d done this to her.
To us.
Reaching into my vest pocket, I pulled out a small glass vial . . . identical to the one in her favorite book. The vial of blue liquid had a label on the front reading “Drink Me.” I’d tied a black ribbon to it to create a necklace.
“Rabbit? Is . . . is that what I think it is?” Her blue eyes widened, their striking color matching the liquid in the vial.
Sugar water, dyed blue.
“It’ll shrink you, darlin’. So you can follow me through the door and out into Wonderland . . . at last.” I resisted touching her hair. It looked like spun-gold silk. “We have an adventure to start, and I need to get you out of this room of doors.”
“Yes,” she said and laughed the laugh that had echoed in my mind for eleven years. A blinding smile pulled on her lips.
She reached for the vial.
“Just a sip. We may need it again on our adventure,” I said.
“Okay,” she whispered breathlessly and took the vial in her palm. Staring at the necklace like it was the most precious thing in the world, she gently removed the cork from the top and brought the mixture to her lips. She swallowed the tiniest amount, then reattached the cork and hung the ribbon around her neck.
Her arms suddenly spread wide, and a shocked inhale sounded around the stale, empty room. “It’s working, Rabbit!” She stared down at her feet. “I’m shrinking! Can you see? I’m really shrinking!”
I smiled at my girl and the fucking beautiful look on her face. I crossed my arms over my chest and let the sound of her laughter fill my ears, my mind and my veins. “I see, darlin’. I always see you.”
A few seconds later, Dolly lifted her head, an excited gleam in her eyes. “The door!” She whipped her head in the direction of the main entrance. She ran, her long slim legs carrying her across the wooden floorboards. Her hand reached out and pulled on the knob. The door opened, and Dolly staggered back as the sunlight filtered into the dusty foyer. I stood back and watched as her hands flew to her mouth. I flinched as the bright light flooded in, but I ignored the pain it caused my eyes so I could watch her take her first steps over the threshold.
Then she turned and glanced down at my hand. She looked at the pocket watch in my palm, and she fucking smiled. I slowly stepped forward and stopped an inch behind her. I drank in her scent and raised my watch to my ear. Her cheeks flushed with excitement as she waited . . . and waited . . . and waited . . . then . . . I tapped the side of the watch. “We’re gonna be late, darlin’ . . .” My nose flared when her eyes widened to the size of the moon. “Tick tock.”
I brushed past her, rushing out of the door and down to my Mustang. I heard a high-pitched giggle of excitement from behind me and the sound of Dolly’s heels clicking on the stairs as she ran down each step. I threw the passenger door open for her to get inside, then took my seat in the driver’s side.
I put my sunglasses on and turned on the engine.
Hearing the passenger door close, I looked over to the girl sitting beside me. “You ready for Wonderland, darlin’?”
“Wonderland,” Dolly whispered in awe. “I don’t think I’ve ever been outside of these gates, have I, Rabbit? The final barrier before we enter Wonderland.”