{A Fantasy Romance retelling of Alice in Wonderland}
In order to survive, a pirate and a thief must clear their names by traveling into a magical dream world together.
Adah Prideaux, seamstress by day, petty thief by night, finds herself in a world...
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Adah knew better than to trust a pirate. Clearly, the only thing he'd wanted from her was between her thighs, and Hallows, she'd given it to him.
The feeling that Ezra had somehow duped her into trusting him needled her.
She'd thought something between them had changed. When they'd kissed, Adah swore the soap bubble she'd been trapped inside for so long had burst, releasing her from an invisible cage. And once she'd been released, wanting him felt as easy as breathing.
Until the moment Ezra admitted he didn't want love or even need it, which Adah couldn't understand. She craved love—wanted it more than anything. It wasn't that she needed love, but felt having love would make the awful world she lived in more tolerable. That's what love was all about.
If Ezra didn't want love, she was back to feeling used.
He really was heartless.
When Fortuna showed her the dream of the little cottage and sweet Reynald's face, it was as if the soap bubble reappeared—letting her drift away in the bliss of their future together. He needed her just like she needed him.
Loving Reynald couldn't be a broken dream because, with Reynald, there was hope he'd love her back, which wasn't the case with Ezra.
From somewhere far overhead, the castle shook, releasing bits of dust into the stale, stinking air. Then the echo of a roar reverberated through the cell.
Bale the Black.
Fortuna let out a long sigh, drawing Adah's attention back to the predicament. Getting out of the castle before the walls came down, and they were buried alive.
"Fortuna, do you know how to escape?" Adah asked, gripping the cold bars of the cell.
Fortuna's milky white eyes drifted towards the sound of Adah's voice. "I daresay, if you two open that door, it will lead you exactly where you're meant to be. Remember," she added, "locks open under the right conditions and for the right person. Just like hearts."
Riddles and nonsense. She was just as bad as Mercado.
"If that's true," Ezra asked rather impatiently, "then why don't you leave?"
Adah hated to admit it was a good question.
"I'm not meant to leave this place." Fortuna pulled on the iron door's handle, but it didn't budge. For all her power and gifts, Fortuna was a prisoner here, just like they were. "With you two on your way, I've completed my final prophecy and, at long last, can rest among the stars."
From the corner of her eye, Adah snuck a quick look at her sworn sword. Even now, in the dungeon cell, his silvery hair seemed to glow like the moon, and his mismatched eyes shined with curiosity. He was the most painfully, irritatingly beautiful man she'd ever seen.
