Alice in Jinxland: Magic and Mayhem Universe: Jinxed by Love, #3

By Cherie Marks

Sometimes the girl saves the prince.

Alice Rogers tried to do the right thing. Yet, her good deed backfired. Now, she's stuck in Jinxland with a handsome, mysterious thief who simply goes by the Knave.  Unfortunately, the Queen of Hearts wants her Tarts, and only Alice can get them.  She and the Knave must complete one task to save their lives—bring the Queen the Tarts or it's off with their heads.

Spencer Hart is not actually a Knave.  He's the exiled prince of the overthrown royal family, who has come home to set things right.  The most important task is to save his sister, and he can't let a beautiful stranger from an outside world distract him from his goal.  He just has to be a larger-than-life hero, who does everything perfectly, and, of course, all on his own.

When life gives you aces, it's time to go all in.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Timbercreek Press
• Release date: Oct 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393288985

Cherie Marks

It all started with an old-fashioned typewriter. When the family brought it home, all those stories and characters rolling around in her head could finally get out. The press and click of the keys satisfied in their own right, but when she pulled out a finished page, she knew this was for her. Since then, she's graduated to a laptop, but the stories still find a way out. She's a breast cancer survivor, a teacher, a wife, a mother, and from the very beginning—a storyteller. Always a hint humorous and honest to a fault, she loves to make people laugh and smile. Her goal in life is to achieve tact and stop procrastinating. The battle wages on.

Book preview

Chapter 1

As it turned out, a fall down a rabbit hole wasn’t as glamorous as the movies Alice Rogers had seen made it appear. Cramped and dirty, it sucked major bahootie is what it did. Yet, as she continued to roll—not float—down the decline, she raked her hands and fingernails in the muck, trying to slow her rapid progress and cursing herself for not making better decisions with her life.

Why, oh, why had she let that smooth-talking, fairy-seducing white rabbit shifter stay overnight? Nothing had happened between them physically, though he’d certainly tried before he’d passed out in her bed, but she still felt stupid chasing after him the next morning. Maybe the fact that she’d let a stranger stay in her house overnight wouldn’t have been so bad, but he’d left his wallet on the kitchen counter, and she’d tried to do the right thing. She’d run after him, but when he’d rushed into a larger than usual, blue door into an establishment she’d never noticed before, she hadn’t even thought twice. She’d followed him inside. Once inside, she realized it was a bar, one she’d never had the pleasure of visiting. It a wood and brass theme that was taken to an extreme. Everywhere was either a splinter danger or polished to a blinding shine. Only a few patrons sat in the shadowed recesses, but she could feel their curious eyes watching her. It occurred to her that to an outsider, she looked like a wild and crazy floozy chasing after her one-night-stand. She glanced down and realized the stares could be her clothing...or lack thereof. She was still wearing her Nirvana t-shirt that she liked to sleep in, a pair of shorty shorts...and not much else. Thank goodness, she had on a clean pair of underwear and a bra. She still felt exposed, but not nearly as much as she could have been.

Hiya’ll. Just trying to do the right thing. She ducked her head and gave an awkward wave.

As she watched the rabbit shifter rush down a hallway, she forgot about the curiosity of the place and chased after him. She called out to him, but he didn’t even stop, making her think, not for the first time, that he hadn’t given her his real name. Asshat.

She flipped open the wallet to look for some kind of identification, but the only thing in the wallet was a strange, glowing red card. No money, no identification, nothing but the card. How strange!

With a flip of her wrist, she closed the wallet and ran on after the big jerk. He probably didn’t even need the wallet, but now she wanted to throw it at his head to show him she wasn’t just a pushover who didn’t have a spine. She’d give him his wallet back whether he wanted it or not.

She sure could pick them. Her judge of character had never been all that accurate, but her track record lately had been worse than dismal. For once, she just wanted to meet someone truly trustworthy, but as far as she could tell, there wasn’t a single person in her life she could trust...except Ella Mae, of course. That was the only person in the world she knew had her back.

At first, she’d just felt sorry for the poor girl, with her big, bird eyes and joyless face. She’d lost her mother, then her father, and, at the age of twelve, Alice had started doing domestic chores for Ella Mae’s stepmother, putting them in the same house on a regular basis. Ella Mae and Alice had found a kinship that hadn’t faded with time, and Alice considered Ella Mae her best friend. Alice just hoped Ella Mae was doing well in the tennis tournament she needed to win. As soon as she was done here, Alice might consider going to the tournament. She wouldn’t—she never left the forest anymore—but she would at least consider it, at least for Ella Mae’s sake.

Even now, being this far from her little cottage in the woods, the familiar anxiety was engulfing her like a building wave. She slowed and began looking over her shoulder. A new idea came to her as she stopped. Maybe she could leave the wallet with the bartender. If the shifter was a regular here, he’d surely come back through. For all she knew, the bartender knew exactly who the rabbit shifter was and could get the wallet back to him without struggle. Sure, she wouldn’t get the pleasure of watching it ricochet off his thick noggin, but then she could get back home and get back to her ordinary, boring life. In the moment, that sounded like the best possible scenario.

She glanced back around to see that the shifter was about twenty feet away, standing still in front of another oversized door that was red this time, patting his pockets with an edge of panic. In an instant, his head jerked up, as if something had just occurred to him.

Without thinking about it too hard, Alice acted quickly. She dropped the wallet to the ground and retreated out of the hallway, back into the main bar area. Her plan to hurl it at the shifter was forgotten. Yes, she would have liked a little satisfaction in the shifter knowing she was quite the badass. Her badassery game was on point, and she had been nice enough to let him stay the night, but that would never happen again. She had done a good deed, that was all, but her courage began to fail, and she stayed put instead. One of these days, she’d learn how to stand up for herself.

Oh, there you are, you little sneaky booger.

For the slightest moment, Alice worried he was talking to her, but a quick glance around the corner showed him scooping up the wallet and pulling out the glowing, red card. He moved toward the door once more. When he slid the card over a keypad, it made a sound like a vacuum seal releasing, and popped open. As he pushed it a little further outward, a view unlike any other greeted her vision.

Beyond the door, the landscape was like another world. The grass was purple and the sky was a vibrant shade of pink. So familiar. It was just like the stories Nana used to tell her about the land of the Fae. Could this be the very land of which she had spoken? What if this were the Avalon from which Alice’s people supposedly came?

Without a thought for the consequences, Alice ran for the door and caught it just before it closed behind the rabbit shifter. She drew in a deep breath and stepped through but all the vibrant colors disappeared in an instant. The walls closed in, and her feet slipped out from under her as she began to tumble end-over-end down a muddy decline. Now, she was taking a journey to the center of the earth. A journey which she’d never intended to take and wished to halt as soon as possible.

As if the mighty powers that be had heard her mind’s plea, the breath escaped Alice’s lungs in a sudden thud as she hit the bottom, and every muscle and bone in her body cried out with the reality of the intense pain beginning to radiate under her skin.

For several, long moments she lay on the ground, unmoving, waiting for her senses to return. As her eyes began to adjust, a fuzzy, black and white checked ceiling began to emerge. She tilted her head slightly as she puzzled at what she thought she recognized. A table and chairs? On the ceiling?

Wait! She twisted slightly, causing her head to spin just a little. With a few seconds to let the momentary blur to clear, Alice took in the sight of a bright, white ceiling below her. How was this possible? Was gravity working in reverse somehow? But she had fallen down, hadn’t she?

Fashionably late as usual, eh?

Alice looked around, trying to figure out who had spoken. Across the room, she spied the white rabbit shifter, seemingly alone, his back to her. Had he asked the question? Had he known she was behind him the entire time?

I...you left your...that is...I didn’t realize we had an appointment.

The rabbit shifter spun around, a look of utter surprise on his round face. By his next questions, it became clear that the first question hadn’t been meant for her.

What are you doing here? How did you get in?

Her thoughts weren’t pretty. What a pompous ass! Maybe she had invited him to her little cottage in the woods, maybe he had slipped away without saying goodbye, but what really got her is that she had just been trying to help out the jerk who’d stayed overnight and ran out like a madman by bringing him the wallet he’d left behind. Now, his words made her feel like a psycho for trying to help someone out.

Was she crazy? Damn, she hoped not.

You left your wallet. I brought it to you.

My wallet? He glanced at the piece of fake leather in his hand. The realization of how he’d found it in the hallway seemed to hit him as his eyes widened and he nodded his head slowly. Then, you followed me through the door. Why would you do that?

Alice had learned that the less details she gave about herself, the better for her unique situation. He didn’t need to know the truth. She just needed to deflect until he could open the door to let her get back home.

She waved her hand dismissively. That doesn’t matter. Just point me in the right direction to get back, and I’ll get out of your bright, white hair.

Get back? I can’t believe...I mean, coming here? That was a mistake, honey. There’s no way back.

"First of all, don’t call me honey. Second of all, what do you mean there’s no way back? Of course there is. Just open that door, and I’ll walk through it, then—poof—I’m back in the bar."

He shook his head back and forth, his lips pursed tightly together, and for the first time, Alice noticed the fear in his eyes. It hadn’t been there last night, but there was clearly an anxiety about him now.

The keycard I had was a one-time out and one-time back in. He pulled the card out of his wallet and held it up. The glow was gone. Whatever magic had allowed them to go through the door was now apparently spent.

Then, you just need to get another one.

His bark of laughter had no hint of humor in it. Instead, she felt an edge of wild anxiety in the sound. They’re not that easy to come by. The Queen sent me on a mission. That was the only reason I was able to pass into your world in the first place. There’s no way she’ll give me another one.

Alice stared in horror as his words sunk in. The reality of the situation was beginning to give her a sense of claustrophobia. What if he were right? What if she were stuck here forever?

No! No way! She had to get back to her little cottage in the woods. She had to get back to Ella Mae. Being trapped in another dimension wasn’t going to work for her, but how would she get another keycard?

The Queen!

Shit! Where? He ducked and looked around like a monster was bearing down on him.

No! I mean, you could tell her that you didn’t complete your mission. She’d give you another keycard to give you another chance. Open the door, let me through, take whatever you were supposed to deliver back to her, and all will be fixed. Simple.

Simple? Nothing with the Queen is simple. The minute I tell her that I failed the mission, she’ll remove my head from my shoulders. He shifted on his feet and looked around the room as if he were trying to find an answer on the walls.

He cleared his throat and rubbed a hand down his face, before saying, Listen! I’ll fix this, but I need you to stay here.

Stay here? You must be joking! How long do you plan to be? Because I need to get back to help my friend. Ella Mae is probably already looking for me.

I’ll be back as soon as I possibly can. It might take a little more finessing than usual, but I’ll get you a keycard. It’s the least I can do.

Yes! It is. You have one hour. Do you hear me? One hour, rabbit shifter who’s name clearly isn’t Simon LeBon. One hour.

His sheepish grin told her all she needed to know about her hunch he