If no one opened the door in the next five seconds, I would call it a wash and move on. I would wait for Rumple.
I just didn’t like waiting. Especially if I was trying to distract myself from something else.
Just when I was about to turn and head for my car, the door opened. “Why am I not surprised to see you here,” a silky voice that caressed the base of my spine said.
I turned, coming into the pale green eyes of Pan himself. I was surprised it wasn’t one of his minions, someone who worked for him. After all, a prince did not answer the door on his own. Then again, Pan wasn’t a prince in Wonderland, even if he wanted to be.
I cleared my throat, trying to get a better handle on myself. It was difficult to wrap my head around the fact that Pan was Rumple’s younger brother. Besides the delicate, masculine features, the lean body, and the ink-black hair, there was nothing similar about them. Pan was a couple of inches shorter than Rumple, though both stood well over six feet. Pan’s hair brushed his shoulders while Rumple’s was short and slicked back. And Rumple’s eyes were dark but warm, while Pan’s were a pale green that were colder than I could have imagined.
Rumple had an affinity for expensive suits, usually dark in color, while Pan seemed to prefer forest green and black leather, almost as though he was wearing what might have been normal royal attire in the Fae realm. It was as though he wanted everyone in Wonderland to respect his status as prince, even though it wasn’t common knowledge. Really, he looked out of place, though no one would dare point this out to him. People were afraid of Rumple, of what he could do, but Rumple was a puppy compared to Pan. Pan just didn’t care, and that made him even more dangerous. Unpredictable.
His eyes narrowed when they came in contact with mine. “You,” he said, the word like a distasteful slap in the face.
I expected nothing else. “Me,” I agreed.
“What are you doing here, human?” he said, wrinkling his nose. He had yet to invite me in, which I expected. Just because he was Rumple’s brother did not mean he was just going to let me in, especially when I was well-aware that he didn’t care for Rumple very much and he certainly didn’t like me.
“I need to talk to you about something,” I said. “It’s important.”
“Oh, well since you say it’s important.” His tone couldn’t be more mocking if he tried, but he still didn’t open the door. “Just because my brother is entertained by you for the moment does not mean you get to just drop by whenever you feel like it. I will not wait on humans, and I certainly don’t do favors without some sort of payment.”
“You want to get rid of Russell Charming, don’t you?” I asked him, arching a brow.
“What I want when it comes to Charming is not your concern,” Pan said. He looked at me like I was nothing more than dirt on his shoes. “I know my brother finds himself in love with you, and while perhaps you have a quality about your magic that has captivated him thusly, your charms will not work on me. Love is not something -”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t care about your feelings on love,” I snapped. “I want to know how you feel about cold, hard revenge.”
Pan stopped, mid-sentence, to give me a long look. Those eyes were more calculating than I initially gave them credit for. He took me in, every nuance and flicker of movement on my face. It almost felt like he was trying to ensure that what I was saying was real, that I wasn’t trying to trick him. I didn’t know why he would assume I had that sort of power. I definitely did not.
“And why would you assume I want revenge on Russell Charming?” Pan asked, his tone almost lazy, almost as if he was wasting precious time by entertaining my presence.
“He’s the most powerful Royal in Wonderland,” I pointed out. “He also has a share in this club. With him out of the way, you could have this club to yourself. You would earn all the profit. You wouldn’t have to share anything.”
Pan sneered. “Do you honestly believe I care about money?” he asked before clicking the tongue against the back of his teeth. “You really are a mortal if you think I value something as insignificant as money.”
I wrinkled my nose in obvious annoyance. “Then what do you want?” I asked. I didn’t mean to sound so obviously annoyed. I wanted to have better control of my emotions, especially in front of Pan.
Pan opened his mouth, ready to come up with some insulting comment. I could tell by the dismissive glare of his pale green eyes. But then he stopped himself. He cocked his head to the side.
“What do you want?” he asked.
Now it was my turn to get flustered over the unexpected question. What did I tell him? I couldn’t say I wanted him to help me with my rape. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to figure that out.
But I did want to know about Anna and Russell. I did want to know about the nature of their relationship. And maybe insight into Anna’s mind around that time might help me figure out not what happened to her but why. Jack said something about Anna finding out that Mary Stone wasn’t the Mad Mage’s first victim and that was what got her killed, but I wasn’t sure if that was true. If it wasn’t, how did Jack know that? If it was, how did she find out? Whom did she tell?
“Your brother told me I could come to you if I needed help while he was...while he was gone,” I said carefully. We both knew where he was, but I couldn’t be sure if anyone else was listening, and I highly doubted that information was for public consumption.
Ran rolled his eyes. “Of course he did,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Well, if I do help you, it will be my brother who owes me something of prominent significance.”
I furrowed my brows. “You would really hold your brother in your debt after all he’s done for you?” I asked before I could stop myself.
“Me?” he asked, completely aghast. “Do you dare mock me, mortal? You think my brother has done anything for me? My brother is the reason…” He clenched his teeth together, preventing anything else from slipping past his lips. “Tell me what you want before I send you away, and do it in less than ten words.”
“Was Anna and Russell’s relationship consensual?” I asked quickly. I wasn’t sure if he was serious about ten words or less, but I didn’t want to risk it. And the faster I could get the information from him, the faster I could get out of here. It didn’t matter that Pan was Rumple’s brother; I didn’t trust him.
“Consensual?” Pan asked slowly, like he was testing the word out for the first time. “You pose an interesting question, girl. What’s your definition of consensual?”
I blinked. “There’s only one definition,” I said. “It’s pretty black and white.”
Pan slid up a finger. “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong,” he said. “Tell me, can a fifteen year old consent to a relationship with a thirty year old? What about with a nineteen-year-old? Can a drunk person consent at all? What if both parties are drunk but they have sex? Is that consensual? What if both people are legally of age but there’s a power dynamic - a student and a teacher, perhaps, or a powerful person in the town and a college student?”
I clenched my teeth together and looked away. I didn’t like that he brought up good points. I didn’t like that I didn’t know what the right answer was. Was there a right answer?
“Is there consent if one doesn’t remember it happened at all?” he asked, leaning closer to me.
His eyes scanned my face, like he knew exactly what had happened to me and wanted me to know he knew. But how could he know? No one knew. No one except Rumple, and I knew he would never tell Pan.
I opened my mouth to answer, but what could I say? Consent wasn’t as simple as I thought it was.
Did that mean I consented that night?
No.
There was no way.
I had to be under the influence of magic.
I tried to remember my hands, my nails, anything that might indicate that I put up a fight, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t remember anything. Besides the ache deep in the core and that nagging, weighted sense of viola
tion, I didn’t know that anything happened to me at all.
“Why ask me, anyway?” Pan asked. “While I do know everything, I can’t help but wonder why you don’t visit Jack Lupine. Surely he knows this.”
I jerked my head back as though I had been slapped. “Jack?” I asked. “Why would he know that?”
“Because he knew about their affair,” Pan said as though it was obvious. “Why do you think they broke up? Jack caught her cheating on him with Russell Charming.” His features pulled back, his lips curling up. “You didn’t know? I thought Jack was supposed to be...what do you call it? I’m unfamiliar with the term so please excuse any mispronunciation. I thought he was supposed to be your friend. Why keep that from you, I wonder?”
I clenched my teeth together. I wondered that too.
But I would find out - right now.
7
Rumple
I hated being here.
Stepping through the Never Glass that separated Wonderland from the Fae Realm was as cold as my mother’s tone, as cold as ice melting down my throat and pooling into my gut and freezing all over again.
The twilight sky was almost foggy, a warning if I had ever seen one before. Superstition said fog in the Fae realm was akin to stepping through with wool over the eyes. There were secrets here, secrets kept from me. Secrets kept from all.
The Never Glass was cracked and weakened, I noticed. My lips curved into a frown as I walked up the palace steps. I had never noticed that before, though perhaps maybe I had been gone for so long, it had happened when I was not here. Whatever the case, I made a mental note of it. With weakened Glass, the Fae realm was still safe, but there were still places of vulnerability. The right magic would be able to break through, and if the Mad Mage was lurking about the way I believed he was, and if he believed the Fae were somehow responsible for what happened to him…
I did not wish to think what would happen if a war were to occur between realms. I did not think what that might mean for me or for Alice.
The guards in front of the palace doors each drew their swords at the sight of me. I rolled my eyes.
“Do neither of you recognize your Crown Prince?” I asked with as much fervor as my voice would allow me. It was unacceptable to be polite. I was a prince, and it was necessary that I demand obedience from these people. There was no other way to win their respect.
“Many know how to shift into someone else,” one guard said, his voice gruff. Spittle fell from his lips and onto my shoe.
I frowned in disgust, and removed a maroon handkerchief from my breast pocket in order to wipe it away.
“You will address me as Your Majesty or I will throw you in the dungeon for your clear disrespect.” Without warning, I snapped my finger, and suddenly, my magic swirled around me like wraiths painting the sky, a loud snapping sound causing the air around us to crackle. “Will this be sufficient enough proof for you?”
I didn’t remember the last time I had used my magic simply for show. I didn’t need to in Wonderland; my reputation preceded me, after all. If I had had my wings, I could reveal them, but I did not. I did not wish to remember why.
“Your-Your M-Majesty,” the guard stuttered. He immediately resheathed his sword and dropped to his knees. The other one followed suit. “My apologies, Your Majesty. We’ve had, you see, there was an attack not too long ago. We had to be sure.”
“An attack?” I paused, glancing over my shoulder. I didn’t want to seem too eager for information. At the same time, I did not realize the Never Glass had been breached - attempted to be breached. Clearly, they hadn’t gotten through.
“We don’t know who it was, Your Majesty,” the second guard said. “Seemed like a band of thieves, as it was. But they were able to crack the Glass. And that was enough.”
“What happened to them?” I asked.
“Got away,” said the first. “Hence, the added security. I don’t remember a time when someone managed to get close enough to actually crack the glass.”
“Was someone punished for it?” I asked. I knew my parents wouldn’t let such a thing stand. If someone - a band of thieves, as it were - got too close, my parents would be livid. It would mean that the guards weren’t doing their job of protecting the perimeter.
“Basil,” the first one said, looking down at his feet. He shifted once before pulling his eyes up and looking at me. By this time, I had turned and given them my full attention, casually crossing my arms over my chest. The last thing I wanted was to seem as though their words meant anything to me. At the same time, though, any help they could give me, I would gladly take. Information always came with a price, depending on who I was getting it from, and if these guards would give it to me without need of reciprocation, I was willing to take it.
I waved my hand and the magic vanished as though it had not been there at all.
“Basil?” The name was unfamiliar to me. Then again, I had been gone for so long, I shouldn’t be surprised.
“He was the one in charge of the Night Guard,” the second man said. “He was responsible for the realm’s safety at night.”
“The realm wasn’t breached,” I stated as though it was obvious. I doubted my parents would reach out and tell me, even if it were. Then again, perhaps they called me here specifically to discuss that unto itself.
“No,” the first guard agreed. “But they cracked the glass. And cracked glass implies the glass has a weak point. If word got out…” He let his voice trail off.
I frowned. He did not need to finish his sentence. One of the reasons the Fae realm hadn’t been breached in centuries because everyone thought it was impossible. Why risk a life, why even try, if it was impossible? The Fae lived forever, as did their grudges. It was dangerous to get in bad graces with a Fae. All we did was contemplate revenge, and since we had all the time in the world, we waited for the opportune moment until we struck, and struck hard.
“Basil,” I said. “Is he still alive?”
The second one nodded once. “Kept at Traitor’s Edge,” he said. “The King and Queen believed his folly was akin to treason. He’s been kept there ever since.”
I bit back a wince. The last thing these guards needed to see from me was any hint of sympathy for someone regarded as a traitor. Perhaps I was spending too much time in Wonderland if my reaction was one of sympathy than one of approval. That, or Alice had the worst sort of effect on me.
I wouldn’t think of that.
I wouldn’t think of what Alice did to me, and how it affected my reputation as a dangerous, sly Imp. As a prince who wanted no mercy in anything he touched.
I straightened the lapels on my blazer before striding past the guards. I needed to see my parents even though the thought of them brought a bitter taste to my mouth. I had been avoiding them for so long that actually seeking them out was not something I ever saw myself doing, but if a band of irrelevant thieves was able to crack the Never Glass…
That was not something that should be possible.
My footsteps echoed across the large foyer. I turned right and headed down the long hallway. Paintings in thick, gouache frames lined the walls. All seemed to be painted by the same person, and they all depicted Fae royalty in some form or another. Our family had ruled for longer than time knew, which was longer than even the Fae - immortal beings - could wrap their minds around. There were paintings of my father and his family - distinguished by pale skin and dark features - while Mother’s had white hair with cold features. No one smiled - smiling was the ultimate form of weakness. The Fae royalty could never find themselves happy because happiness could be stolen away. It was a dangerous thing to get swept up in the emotion.
And each time my brother and I found ourselves laughing about something amusing or playing together, we were taught a very important lesson about that. My back twitched involuntarily, and I clenched my teeth together, trying to ignore the way my body remembered the lesson, the marred skin that covered my back.
I ignored the painting
s, ignored the pale white candles placed in golden candelabras, hanging from the walls in order to light my way.
By the time I stepped into the throne room, I was almost positive my parents were informed of my arrival. It was the only reason why they were currently lounged in their thrones, waiting for me. They waited for no one.
My father was every bit the man I remembered him - a scowl marring his face, dark eyes narrowed at me the second I stepped through the doors. He appraised me blatantly, looking for any cracks in my armor, something he could sink his teeth into.
But it was Mother I had to be wary of. She seemed to be able to sniff out anything, any secret, any weakness I ever allowed myself to have. She was the one who taught me to be guarded, to trust no one, and I have hated her ever since. And that was before their treatment of Pan only added to my hatred of them.
“So,” my father said, finally meeting my eyes with his own. “You’ve returned.”
“I have,” I said. I sounded casual, completely nonchalant about this whole mess. I did not need them to know I was here for my own motives. They could not know about Alice or anything else, especially the investigation the two of us were looking into. “I’ve heard the Never Glass is starting to fall apart. Should I be worried?”
My father looked away, scoffing. My mother continued to stare at me, nothing revealed in her beautiful face. Not one flicker of emotion touched her, like she had Never Glass around her very essence.
“The Glass was weakened by magic -”
“Magic?” I asked doubtfully. “That’s not what I heard. And we all know Wonderland doesn’t have magic within its borders any longer. Something about the Mad Mage and sacrificing power for protection.”
“Just another reason why humans are racked with stupidity,” Mother said with a dismissive sneer. “Tell me, son. You are not burdening yourself by being surrounded by them so often? You have not gone stupid yourself.”
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