Alice sat up, curious, and looked around. The room was still empty except for her, but she was sure someone was watching. She stood and made her way over to the new piece of furniture, running her hand over the padded surface. It was rather like a massage table. She’d been on a few of them, the kind with the hole at the end. It had seemed strange to her, but putting her face there during the massage had made the experience so much more enjoyable because her body could rest completely flat.

Although this hole seemed to be in a strange place, much further down on the table than it should have been.

The other table still held the empty plate with the note, “eat me,” which she already had, and the glass full of wine marked, “drink me.” She hadn’t had a chance before the Red King and Queen had come in and she found herself very dehydrated after that interlude. She lifted the glass, contemplating it for a moment. Maddie’s voice threatened to surface and she smiled at the warning. Too late now.

“Bottom’s up.” She lifted the glass in a toast to some unseen observer and tilted it back. The stuff made her shudder, although a wine connoisseur might have enjoyed it.

Alice finished the entire glass, putting it back on the table with a sigh. It was one of those things Wade had attempted to educate her about, and while she now knew various wines and could talk about them, she still couldn’t fully appreciate them.

She smiled when the door opened behind her. Somehow she had known the moment the wine was gone, something would happen. She turned, fully expecting and ready to welcome Wade, only to find two large male guards pushing a man into the room between them.