The Seeker's Darkness, page 1
The Seeker’s Darkness
Shadow of Wonderland, Book 3
Isadora Brown
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Newsletter Information
Did You Like The Seeker’s Darkness?
Acknowledgments
1
After a week, I could confidently say that living with my best friend had lots of advantages I hadn’t thought about before. I could come and go as I pleased. I could wake up and go to sleep whenever I wanted. And my father was nowhere around, which meant I didn’t have to look at him and know that everything that made up our relationship was a lie. Discovering my father had something to do with my best friend’s murder broke my heart, and not just for the obvious reasons. My father was the only person I had in the world. Hell, Paul Winter wasn’t even my real father. He found me as a baby and brought me to Wonderland, raised me by himself, and was one of the few people that made me feel like I belonged. As a police officer, he was clear about right and wrong, honesty and falsehoods, responsibility and courage.
But it was all a lie.
The second I found out he lied, I had to get out of there. Hell, there was a good chance the only reason he was promoted to chief of police was because of the lies he helped perpetuate.
I didn’t have many friends in Wonderland. Okay, besides Anna, who wasn’t here any longer, I didn’t have anyone except for Peter—or Grumpy, as I liked to call him. And possibly a work colleague named Crim. I wasn’t a fan of making friends or keeping them. It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that they liked me for me—the only non-magicked person in a magic-infused place. Granted, magic was forbidden currently, which evened things out slightly, but still. What could I offer them? How were we on even footing?
I released a breath and stepped out of my closet. Piles of clothes were everywhere and I still had no idea what to wear.
“Why does it feel like a bomb just went off in your room and left you with bits of questionable clothing?”
I froze. That silky English voice should be nowhere near my room. I swallowed. Maybe it was a figment of my imagination. Maybe I was dreaming. Ever since coming to Peter’s, I hadn’t been sleeping well. The information I discovered regarding Anna’s murder still kept me up at night, and it had been a week. I should be over it, or at least, numb to the shock.
But I wasn’t.
I tossed and turned. I still heard Anna’s voice calling my name, but I couldn’t figure out what she wanted. I needed to get to the truth, but every time I thought I made some kind of progress, I was propelled five steps back, with no clear way to go.
I turned slowly. No. Not a dream. Rumpelstiltskin, The Imp himself, leaned against my doorway, muscle packed against his lithe, lean body as his dark eyes scanned the mess that currently occupied my room. His black hair was slicked back so every lock was in place. His dark eyes were fixed on me, and even though I was the only person in the room, I couldn’t help but feel as though I was transparent to him even more than I normally was. It was difficult to explain. I was rooted in place; not because Rumple was more powerful than almost every single person in Wonderland, not because people were scared of him because of what he could do to them if he wanted to, but because there was something about him that made me feel…drawn to him in a way I shouldn’t be.
I knew from experience that was how everyone felt about him. There was something to be said about playing with fire; the dangerous thrill of getting burned was enough to elicit the desire to play in the first place. It was why people made agreements with him they shouldn’t make. It was why they promised him things they didn’t have.
It wasn’t like he was innocent, because he engaged with these people, he agreed to these things, knowing there was no way they could fulfill their side of the deal, but he didn’t care. He would get what he wanted. That was the thing about Rumple. He always got what he wanted.
I should hate him. But I didn’t. And that bothered me more than it should have.
“What are you doing, anyway?” He pushed from the doorframe, fiddling with the silver cufflinks on his sleeve. Everything about the man—Imp, because Rumple was definitely not a man—was perfection, from the black and white name-brand suit molded to his skin to the leather shoes than shone even in the shitty lighting.
I rolled my eyes. My cheeks pinched, though I wasn’t sure why I was embarrassed. Maybe because I didn’t want him looking at my clothes and judging me for them. Maybe it had more to do with the physical mess. Compared to Rumple, it did look like my life was falling apart.
“If you must know,” I began, stepping to the end of the bed and picking up a black shirt. I tilted my head to the side and set it in the maybe pile.
“I must,” he said, stepping farther into the room, though he was particularly careful about where he stepped. I couldn’t exactly blame him. There were piles of clothes everywhere, and even I couldn’t remember what they were for.
“I’m going out tonight,” I said. I picked up another shirt—this one much frillier. I frowned. This was definitely not something I would choose to wear. It had to be one of Anna’s shirts she’d left after crashing at my place and just forgot to grab.
“You? Going out?” He arched a brow and looked at me as if I had said the sky was green or the grass was red. He brought his fingers to his lips and pursed them together the way he might have if he were smoking a cigarette. “By choice?”
I rolled my eyes and put the shirt in a pile that I wanted to believe was going to go to the Goodwill for donations but knew would probably end up in the back of my closet in a garbage bag, never to be tampered with again. I turned back to my bed and picked up another shirt.
“Where are you going?” he pushed.
Finally, I tilted my head, my hair spilling over my shoulder, and looked up at him so we locked eyes. “Why do you want to know?” I narrowed my eyes, realizing that he had yet to state why he was here. “What are you doing here in the first place?”
“Am I not allowed to be concerned that my favorite person is doing something completely outside her normal behavior?” he asked, venturing deeper into my room. “Are you selecting your outfit for tonight? You know, I could help you. Just tell me where you’re headed and I could snap my fingers and dress you myself.”
“I’m not a doll.” I frowned. I pulled up a light blue baby doll dress with a diamond cut and pressed my lips together. It was simple enough, but it would be short, probably stopping just below my butt. If I needed to run or move my legs, it would show my ass and I didn’t want to have to worry about that.
“Of course, you aren’t, darling,” Rumple said, moving to stand next to me. His lips tilted down as he reached for a shirt. “I never said you were.”
I slapped his hand before he could grab one. Before I started working with him, I never would have thought I would have the courage to slap Rumple’s hands. One just didn’t do that. But Rumple and I had a weird sort of relationship. He let me get away with things he didn’t let other people get away with. Part of me felt flattered, like I was special, but the other part of me wondered why he would do that and kept expecting him to tell me I owed him something. I just had no idea what.
“Don’t touch my clothes,” I instructed, ignoring his clean, masculine scent. Hints of clove touched the cologne, making it musky without being overwhelming. I didn’t like the effect it was having on my body—weak knees, dry mouth—so I pulled away from him before I could be sucked in further. I cleared my throat, trying to get the smell out of my head. “What are you doing here? You never said.”
Rumple dropped the shirt he had in his hand and angled his body towards mine. He didn’t seem offended that I had just snapped at him. In fact, amusement lit up his dark eyes though his lips stayed neutral.
“I got us in to see Beast,” he announced.
I furrowed my brow, freezing. Beast? I dropped the shirt I found and took a step back from my bed. I headed to the small window in the room and leaned forward, trying to see through the blinds. I loosed a breath, ignoring the way my heart skipped a beat. Beast was in prison because he confessed to murdering Anna. Beast was the one everyone blamed for it. Once he was arrested, the investigation stopped, and even if there were more questions that still needed answers, it didn’t matter. There was a confession; the police—including my father—weren’t going to keep looking into things once they apparently had their man.
I thought it was weird. Beast didn’t know Anna; at least, I didn’t think he did. And yet, when he was arrested, when he confessed, I, along with everyone else, believed him. Because it was easier to believe him, to believe the police, to think it was over. But it wasn’t. No one thought to question the magic on the body. Everyone just wanted to put the matter to rest – even if it wasn’t the truth.
And I went along with it. I was part of the problem.
Until now.
Not after Rumple c orralled me into looking into things for him a few weeks ago. Not after I talked to Beast’s sister Gianna, and then Belle—the woman he was secretly in love with.
In essence, it was all Rumple’s fault. He came sweeping into the station, asking for my help. That should have been my first warning. Rumple didn’t ask for anything. He demanded it. Why he asked me, I have no idea. My reputation for finding things wasn’t that notorious. But one didn’t say no to him.
Everything unraveled from there.
Now, I was swept up in a massive cover-up, a huge conspiracy, and I couldn’t extricate myself from this rabbit hole if I tried. I had to see it to the end, no matter what that meant. I couldn’t let it go, not when it had to do with getting Anna justice.
“Put this on.”
I turned, my brows furrowed, only to find Rumple too close to me for my liking. I hadn’t even heard him move. It unnerved me more than I wanted to admit. In his hands were a pair of black jeans and a lacy white top.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“You’re going out,” he said as though his motive was obvious. “Clearly, you’re looking for the right outfit, though, unfortunately for you, darling, I don’t see one. As such, I got you one.”
“What do I owe you?” I asked.
A flicker of annoyance crossed his features, though it disappeared so quickly, I could have sworn I had imagined it.
“Don’t do that,” he said, sliding his hand in his pocket and stepping around the bed to the other side. “Don’t lump yourself in with everyone else. You aren’t the same. You’re not like them.”
“Because I’m unmagicked?” I couldn’t help but ask, fingering the clothes he had conjured out of thin air.
“Because I like you.”
The words were so simple, a shiver slid down my spine. Rumple was not in the business of flattery. He did not go out of his way to say nice things for the sake of saying nice things. There was nothing for him to gain, and Rumple never put in effort to do anything unless he was going to benefit in some way in return.
“Now,” he said, brushing off the poignant statement and using his arm to gesture grandly, “get dressed. Try the clothes on. Refrain from saying anything nonsensical. I’ll call you an Uber.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I insist,” he said. Without waiting for me to say anything else, he stepped out of my room to give me some privacy.
I looked at the clothes in my hand and decided to indulge him. It was nice to not have to keep going through the pile of clothes that I knew wasn’t going to be right. I didn’t own club attire. I had no reason to. After stripping everything off, including my bra, I slid on the shirt. It was part corset—with a bra that seemed to be built into the shirt—and part tank top, with lace running up and down the straps. It stopped just after my bellybutton. The black skinny jeans were low, the waistline ending just above my pubic bone so there was a sliver of bare flesh for all to see. I wasn’t sure I was particularly comfortable with that, but it wasn’t much and it wasn’t my bellybutton. On my feet, I opted for sleek black Converse shoes. They were completely black, which I liked. I shrugged on my leather jacket and stepped into the small guest bathroom Peter made up for me when I first moved in.
I put on deodorant, sprayed something that took jasmine and mixed it with vanilla, and then brushed my hair. I decided to put effort into my makeup, though I wasn’t sure what I was doing. By the time I finished, I stepped back and took a look at my reflection. I was surprised by the person I saw staring back at me. She was rather pretty, actually.
“Beautiful.”
I jumped at the sound of Rumple’s voice, my cheeks turning pink as I spun around.
“I don’t think you realize this, Alice, but there’s something so enticing about your simplistic beauty that I can’t keep my eyes from you, even if I wanted to,” he murmured.
I swallowed. I wasn’t sure what to say to that. I only knew it melted everything in my stomach and caused a shudder to ripple down my spine.
“I should go,” I murmured instead.
“Of course.” He extended his arm to me. “Your Uber is downstairs, ready to take you away.”
2
Wonderland wasn’t exactly known for its nightlife. It was a relatively small community that focused on ties and frowning and expanding together. When Marooner’s Bay opened in the Red District three years ago, everyone thought the business would flop. People didn’t realize the youth of Wonderland needed the same escape as other humans. Dancing, drinking, and anonymity provided by a dimly lit club with pounding music was essential to rebelling, and the club had been open ever since.
Anna and I came here a month after it opened. She and Jack were on one of their breaks and she wanted a place where she could forget about him—for the time being. I didn’t understand how anyone could just forget about Jack, but I was willing to do whatever it was she needed to help her feel better about it.
Marooner’s Bay was a small club on the corner of Lexington. It was subtle and nonchalant—if there wasn’t always a line wrapped around the building Thursdays through Saturdays, no one would even know it was a club. I liked that about it. There was really no gimmick besides that. There was no theme, no ridiculous dress code anyone had to adhere to in order to blend in. It was a space for everyone. At least, that was how I felt going with Anna. I didn’t wear the short, sexy dresses. Instead, I had opted for black skinny jeans and a simple T-shirt. Nobody even looked my way.
That had been three years ago. I wasn’t sure if it was the same thing. I hadn’t been there since Anna’s death.
I did know there were rumors the place was plagued with drugs. It wasn’t uncommon for patrol officers to arrest people who had partied too hard at Marooner’s Bay and bring them into sober cells so they could sleep off their high or their drinks. I wasn’t sure what drugs were there now, but there hadn’t been any when Anna and I had gone. Clearly, things were different. I just hoped we wouldn’t run into any trouble when Crim and I were there tonight.
When Crim invited me out the other day, I knew it was pity more than anything. As vast as Wonderland seemed, it was still a small town, which meant people talked. Which meant everyone knew I moved out of my father’s place and into Peter’s. I wasn’t sure if they assumed Peter and I were together, but that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. What mattered was I was on my own and everyone knew it. Even Crim.
I was going to say no. That was my default answer for everything social. I just didn’t want to deal with people talking. I didn’t want to deal with rumors or feeling like I needed to explain myself, even to Crim. But something inside of me compelled me to say yes. I needed to get out. I needed a distraction from what my life had become.
By the time the Uber picked me up, I was trying to block out Rumple’s words about my beauty, about the simplistic nature of it, about how he couldn’t take his eyes off of me. That should not cause a shiver to slide down my spine. That should not cause warmth to pool in my insides. If anything, I should be completely casual about the entire thing. Only, I wasn’t. His words stopped me in my tracks, preventing me from being a rational person, and I hated it. I hadn’t felt this way since…
No.
I wouldn’t think about him. Thinking about him only led me to think about Anna, and thinking about Anna only caused guilt to fill my body and suffocate me, all while causing my insides to bleed out.
I was supposed to be having fun. I was supposed to be letting loose with my friend. That was what I intended to focus on; nothing more.
By the time I reached Marooner’s Bay, I wasn’t surprised to find the usual line wrapped around the side of the building. I sent Crim a text, but prepared myself for the trek to the back of the line.
