Elayra suppressed her own smirk when her nickname for Ghent wiped his away. She had at least found a verbal payback for the many he had been using for her.
	She eyed him threateningly as he spoke and started to get in, but his words cut off as he banged his head against the car. She heaved a heavy sigh and gripped the bridge of her nose with a shake of her head.
	[i]We’re doomed before we even get to Wonderland,[/i] she thought bitterly as Ghent at least managed to get inside the car. She half expected him to somehow fall through the seat.
	She glared murderously at Ghent’s newest name for her. She hesitated for a moment before slowly getting into the back seat.
	The first thing that hit her was the smell, a hint of stale alcohol lingering beneath the initial odorous shock. She tried to stifle a gagging sound, but failed. Her shoulder pressed against Ghent’s, and she rested her backpack in her lap. Brown paper bags, discarded papers, and empty beer bottles and cigarette boxes crunched and clanked on the seat behind her, making her have to sit on the edge of the seat. 
	Elayra did her best to act as if getting in a car was as natural to her as it had been for Ghent, with little success. She looked around the interior as discretely as she could, from the glass windows to the worn faux leather of the seats. The interior of abandoned carriages she had seen were almost in better shape, and that was saying something. 
	Hoping she could figure out how to open it again, she slowly reached over and closed the door. She jerked her hand away when she accidentally pressed a button that made the window roll down a fraction, her eyes widening and muscles tensing in preparation to dodge or fight a booby trap. After a moment, realizing that moving the glass was all it did, she reached across Ghent and placed her pack atop his so it would not be a hindrance.
	She only glared at Ghent’s question, not wanting to risk insulting Miles so long as he still had the gun.
	Elayra gave a quick, stiff nod in response to Miles' orders to them. Not that she had any idea what a cop looked like in this world.
	She inhaled through her nose and gripped the edge of her seat when the car jerked into motion without any obvious command. She tried to get a better look at the front seat, to see what allowed him to control the vehicle, but could only make out the steering wheel. 
	She tried not to scowl, keeping her hands on her knees for the time being, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Preferably when the car was not in motion.
	[b]“So… Wonderland.”[/b]
	Elayra glowered at Ghent. Her hand twitched with her desire to whack him for giving Miles that confirmation, but she thought better of the sudden movement at the last moment.
	She eyed Miles, the upper half of his face just visible in the rearview mirror. Her eyes filled with uncertainty as he gave his mumbled response, all but ignoring Ghent.
	They were already in the car with him. If his state was a show to get them where he wanted, it was no longer necessary, yet he kept it up to perfection. [i]And[/i] he had let her retrieve her dagger. Whether it made her a bit crestfallen or glad that it was probably [i]not[/i] one of the Red Queen’s allies they were up against, she could not say, but either way, she needed to find out for sure.
	Elayra shouted in surprise and threw her hands up to stop herself from slamming into the back of Miles’ seat when the car skid to a halt. She gasped and bucked back with the motion of the car.
	Her attention snapped up to Miles when he turned in his seat and his eyes settled on her. Her chin lowered and she gave a soft snort at his demand, her gaze darkening.  She glanced toward the gun at its click, unsure what the sound meant. But whatever it was, it could not be good.
	Miles wanted answers. Answers she had no desire to give without knowing why he wanted them, but he did not seem in much of a state to take kindly to her own questions, unless [i]they[/i] were the ones holding the gun. Quite literally.
 	“That’s a good question,” she said slowly, biding herself a short moment as she moved her hands back to her knees so they were closer to her dagger, but hopefully not close enough to draw his notice to the weapon tucked on the inside of her right boot.
	Either they tried to disarm him now, while they were stopped and the gun at least pointed away from them, or risk waiting and him finding out more than he should about Wonderland’s current state. Risk him deciding to continue onward to who knew where beneath the dangerous possibility of him having an even shorter fuse than Elayra if she gave a false answer that did not please him.
	She looked slightly toward Ghent as if hoping for his help in the intricate reply, instead doing her best to convey a silent message: [i]Get ready![/i]
	She looked back to Miles to try keeping his attention on her to give Ghent an extra second, her expression hard as she spoke. “But it’ll have to wait.”
	As quickly as she could, she pulled her dagger from her boot and reached around the headrest to press the wavy, blue-tinted blade firmly against Miles’ throat, hoping Ghent had understood and would get to the gun before Miles could use it on either of them.