I ran my hand over the Jabberwock’s face. I shuddered at the eyes staring back at me.
Nasty, nasty, wicked eyes.
Rabbit’s hand landed on my thigh. Taking a deep breath, I looked at him. I had worn my extra-long false lashes today. I had put my lipstick on extra thick. I needed their protection. The Jabberwock was a good fighter, a very good fighter.
He was my biggest challenge yet.
“You can defeat him,” Rabbit assured me, reading my mind.
I nodded, but my doll shook in my trembling hands. “I . . .” I sucked in a deep breath. “I am scared, Rabbit. The Jabberwock . . . he scares me so.”
Rabbit’s jaw clenched. He looked over at me, and for a moment, I got lost in his silver eyes. They were pretty moons. Their beauty made me feel slightly better. “You can defeat him,” Rabbit repeated. His voice was low and hard. I knew Rabbit was annoyed. I knew he was angry. He was acting like he had done when we went for the Cheshire Cat. Only today, he had not once left me alone. Wherever I went, so did he. When I showered, he was with me, touching my face and stroking my hair. When I put on my makeup, I sat on his lap. And now, his hand remained firmly on my thigh.
If I didn’t know better, I would think my Rabbit was scared too.
“You have your knife and your gun,” he continued. “I’ll be there every step of the way.” His nostrils flared. “I won’t let him hurt you.”
I didn’t know why, but my bottom lip began to quiver. My eyesight blurred as I looked at Rabbit’s hand on my knee. And then I looked again at the card in my hands. He was no different to the other men we had killed. But at the same time, he was completely different. Because he was the man who hurt Ellis the most.
Beyond all doubt, I knew she feared him most of all.
Ellis had gone quiet in my mind. Ever since I told her that we were coming but first we had to defeat the Jabberwock, she’d stopped speaking to me. But I felt her; she was hiding in my mind. And she was in darkness. Scared and hiding in a place where the Jabberwock could not find her again.
Because he wanted to hurt Ellis. He always wanted to really hurt her. Just like when Ellis was younger, he would hurt her . . . then hurt her some more. Again and again, not caring that she cried. Not caring that she wanted her Heathan to make her feel better. The Jabberwock kept taking and taking from her until Ellis became trapped behind the door . . . trapped in a dark forest full of vicious beasts and mind-numbing nightmares.
Rabbit took my hand. A tear from my eye fell on the back of his hand. Without speaking, Rabbit lifted my hand to his lips. I held my breath, shocked that he could be so soft and gentle with me.
And then he kissed me. His lips, so soft and plump, kissed the back of my hand. Warmth replaced the ice in my chest as his precious breath ghosted over my skin. When he lowered our hands, he kept them on my lap. He didn’t utter a word, but then I was sure that the moment would have been spoiled by idle chit-chat.
The silence told me everything. My Rabbit loved me. He never said so, but I felt it. And that would be enough for now.
I gripped his hand all the way to the place where the Jabberwock stayed. As we pulled into the town that protected him, I smelled salt in the air. I could see the sea as we drove along the quiet streets.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Del Rio,” Rabbit replied and fell silent once more.
We traveled a long way, then Rabbit turned off the road. We drove down a country road until we came to a large stretch of water. I gasped at its beauty. I didn’t get chance to say so before Rabbit asked, “How do you intend to kill him?”
I looked down at our joined hands. “I . . . I don’t know.” I gazed out over the water, glistening blue in the light of the sun. “I want to make him pay.” A deep breath. “The Jabberwock is the worst of all the men. Worse even than the King of Hearts, because he hurt Ellis the most. Locked her behind the door and left her all alone for a very long time.”
I blinked as the tears built again in my eyes. “Ellis told me he was the one who helped send her Heathan away.” Rabbit stilled. His hand tightened around mine, so much that it almost hurt me. “He did so many bad things that I feel, and Ellis feels, the Jabberwock should die in the worst way possible. But . . .”