37. Midas

CHAPTER 37

MIDAS

N o merges appear in the middle of the night. I'm thankful for that considering we were both too tired to put our clothes back on before we fell asleep. Being pulled into a merge naked doesn't sound like it would be enjoyable, but we don't have to worry about such things when we awake the next morning still in the Mad Hatter's house.

Wonderland.

I've often wondered just how many worlds there are. Tempest's world. Under. The Enchanted Forest. Wonderland. We've been to at least four other worlds I'm sure of, and Tempest may have been to more before we met. How many worlds are there actually? How many have I never heard of despite Under being a safe haven for all worlds?

Once we're dressed the next morning—a feat that takes longer with our wandering hands—we go down to the tearoom again to find a setting of teas, coffees, and sandwiches. Clara and the Hatter are back in all their overwhelming presence, directing the events and the many bodies inside this room. There are so many and though we were introduced to everyone the night before, I can hardly remember them all. A few stand out more than the others though.

Cheshire and his constantly shifting eyes, as if it unnerves him to be inside.

Tink who stands with a regalness half the time and the other half is doubled over as if she fights demons no one else can see.

Wendy who always seems to have water hovering around her in the air and her mate who brings a soft wind everywhere he goes.

Strange people. Beautiful people.

Powerful beings.

Every single one of them seems to be more powerful than the last, and apparently this isn't everyone. Some are missing, currently in other worlds, helping whoever they can. I can't even fathom so many powerful people together. Though Under accepts all, we have a limit on those with this kind of power.

Only three of this level are allowed in the Underworld at any given moment. It's a rule that's been in place since long before I appeared in Under and one Hades insists is important we stick to. Too many powerful people in one place tips the balance.

Seeing so many here and then seeing the instability currently plaguing the worlds, I can't help but wonder if there's some connection between them.

Right now, Tempest and I mingle between them all, holding conversations while Tempest drinks what she swears is the best cup of coffee she's ever had before. I chose the tea myself when the Hatter offered me some. He adds a splash of what tastes like bourbon when I look at the cup disdainfully. I toast him in thanks and more happily drink the liquid inside. It tastes of strawberries and, weirdly, also lemons, now mixed with bourbon.

"So, the Deep Seas hasn't moved since it stopped?" I ask Clara as she holds Zaven in her arms.

The toddler bounces between people in the room, but he always comes back to his mother. I notice that he often reaches for his father as well, but Hatter doesn't reach back with nearly the same consistency. Not because there's no love there. I can see the Hatter's love for his child shining brightly in his eyes, just as his love for Clara does. But there's something else there, a fear, that one wouldn't expect. Zaven doesn't take it personally. Instead, he talks to him from afar, happy to shout whatever he needs at his father. When he gestures for Clara to put him down, she does without even pausing her words, and he toddles over to Tempest instead, looking up at her with dark gold eyes, the same eyes his father has.

"No," Clara answers, shaking her head. "We've theorized that's it's locked in place. Other worlds have flickered into place and still shift, but the Deep Seas is there permanently now. We don't know how large it is, and we don't exactly know what happens to the parts of Wonderland that it currently sits on. We're hardly equipped to explore it, especially considering the monsters that live in the deep."

"The monsters," Hatter repeats with a scowl. "The beast! The beast! How he makes me restless. When I get ahold of him, he's going to wish he had flesh."

I flick my eyes to Hatter with furrowed brows, but Clara doesn't even react.

"The Hatter and the sea beast have a feud I'm afraid," she muses, shaking her head. "He says the creature mocks him."

"He does!" the Hatter growls. "When I conquer holding my breath, that will be the time of his death!"

"Up," Zaven commands Tempest, reaching his little hands for her.

She looks down at him with a smile. "Your mom probably doesn't want strangers picking you up."

"It's fine," Clara says, waving away her worries. "He's stubborn and he's a great judge of character. Sometimes, I think he can read minds, but maybe that's just silly."

Zaven's eyes sparkle at his mother's words and I suddenly think it's not quite as silly as Clara thinks. Zaven seems to know more than someone so young should know. And of the people in this room, he's by far one of the most powerful ones, which is strange considering how small he is. Though he doesn't much utilize the power, it's there, waiting for him to be capable of wielding it.

"Up!" Zaven says more forcibly. "Now. Please."

Tempest chuckles and sets her cup aside before reaching down to scoop Zaven into her arms. "You seem like you run this house, Zaven."

"I do," he answers in such a tiny voice, it's cute. The moment he's in her arms, Zaven clamps his little hands on the sides of Tempest's face, his expression growing serious. He stares into her eyes, and the room grows quiet. "You know what you are?" he asks, and Tempest tenses.

"What do you mean?" she asks carefully.

"You know what you are?" he asks again, clearly annoyed.

She watches him carefully before shaking her head. "No. I don't know what I am."

He nods as if he suspected as much. "I tell you."

She glances at me before looking back at Zaven. "Okay."

He releases her face to press his finger against her forehead, right in the middle of her brows. "Celestial."

Clara gasps behind me. "What? What's a celestial? Does anyone know?"

No one answers. No one knows. I don't even know. I'm not sure I've ever heard that word before when talking about a person. The only person I could ask, Hades, is in Under. Clearly, no one else here knows. And Tempest seems the most confused of us all.

"What is that?" she asks Zaven as she holds him. "What is a celestial?"

But Zaven doesn't answer her. Instead, he turns toward his mother and blows her a kiss. "We go now."

Clara tilts her head. "Where are we going, baby?"

"No," Zaven says. "Not you. We."

I hear it then, a split second before Tempest does. Oh no. Oh no!

"Tempest!" I yell, grabbing her. "A merge!"

Tempest's eyes widen. "Clara! Grab Zaven!"

But it's too late. We're all too late. Zaven told us and we'd still not understood. Somehow, he knew a merge was coming before we got any warning. Somehow, he knew what was about to happen.

Clara and Hatter both leap forward, but as I've come to understand, no one is faster than the merges pulling at Tempest. The best I can hope for is that I'll always be close enough to ensure I go with her. But this time, it isn't just us two.

Zaven giggles and waves to his parents. "Bye-bye," he says.

And then we're ripped through the merge, away from Wonderland, into another world completely.

Clara's screams follow us all the way down.