The Seeker's Magic, page 7
“Why not?” I asked. “Beast just got released yesterday.”
“Yes, I’m aware,” he said. “And ever since he’s been out, has he made amends with anyone? Has he tried to assimilate into our society? No, he hasn’t. He’s just…gone back in his crumbling mansion in the Royals side of Wonderland, keeping to himself.”
“And why should we expect anything more from him?” I pointed out, throwing my arms wide. “He was arrested on a false confession.”
“That doesn’t take away from the fact that he confessed,” Peter said, leaning forward. “What did you want Paul to do? Pretend he was innocent simply because there was a chance he was lying about Anna?”
“He was paid,” I said. My voice had gotten quiet at the mention of my father. I knew he had been the one to take Beast’s confession, but hearing it felt like a slap in the face even though that wasn’t Peter’s intention. “The Charmings paid him.”
Peter’s brows shot up his forehead. “How do you know?” he asked.
“Rumple,” I said. “Rumple told me.”
He nodded. He looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it.
“And how did Rumple find out?” he asked, his words careful, tentative.
“Well, he did some digging,” I said, leaning against the back of my chair. “He found statements, statements the police had but didn’t do anything with.”
Peter’s green eyes pinned me in place. “Then I suppose you need to find out why the Charmings paid Beast,” he said.
My eyes widened. It was such an obvious solution, but my head had been so clouded by Rumple, by my magic, that it was hard to see through the haze.
“You’re right,” I murmured, standing up.
“Wait, where are you going?” Peter asked, hopping off his chair.
“To find out why the Charmings paid him,” I said, glancing at him over my shoulder. “To talk to Beast.”
9
Beast’s home desperately needed repairs. The grass was overrun, vines were growing up the sides, and some of the stone pathway was crumbling. The only thing that seemed remotely well-maintained was the garden in the back, filled with roses. I moved myself from the back fence that had a couple of wooden planks out of place where I wouldn’t be surprised if rabbits could get in and out and started to make my way to the front door.
I probably should have called Rumple to help with this. After Beast threatened me at the prison, I could hear his annoyingly proper voice flit in my head about how I needed to protect myself and by coming to see Beast alone, I was being reckless.
The truth was, my pride was still wounded after yesterday. I didn’t understand why MaryBeth had to train me. I didn’t understand why she had to know at all when Rumple was the most powerful being with magic in Wonderland. I truly believed that he had more power, even when compared to the Red Queen. If anyone should be training me, it was him.
It also didn’t help that I was still smarting after his rejection—even though he did the right thing. Even though I was so grateful he did it. At the time, I thought that maybe we would finally—but we hadn’t. He made sure of that, and I understood.
I rolled my shoulders back, trying to shake off my frustration. I was here for a reason and I needed to focus on that. Mooning over Rumple, pouting because he wasn’t helping me himself, wasn’t going to help anything. And honestly, if Rumple didn’t want to help, maybe I should keep my distance for now.
I forced myself up a couple of the cement steps on Beast’s porch and knocked on the door. I still had no idea what I was going to do when I saw him. I didn’t know what I was going to say. I just hoped that now that he was out, he’d be more forthcoming with information. It was clear that Anna’s death was still unsolved, and while I had heard from Crim the case officially was classified as reopened, I doubted the investigation would be thorough. I did wonder who was going to be the scapegoat for that, though. Would my father be punished, stripped of his title for arresting the wrong man? I didn’t know.
After another moment where no one came to the door, I tried again. I didn’t want to be a nuisance, but I needed answers. If I was going to figure out what actually happened to Anna, I needed him to tell me what happened.
“Hello?” I asked. I continued to knock on the door, glancing over my shoulder as I did so.
Beast’s neighborhood was quiet, comprised of older houses with more space between them and more land for each house. It was technically within the Royal boundaries, so he was a Royal, whatever that meant to him. But his house wasn’t modern and he wasn’t doing a great job at fixing it up. I wasn’t sure if he had money or if all he had to his name were non-liquid assets. It didn’t actually matter. He was still a Royal, though not a highly regarded one.
I continued to knock, shifting my weight. It wasn’t like I was still working at the PD. I could do this all day. The only problem I foresaw was that my knuckles were going to hurt after a while.
There was no foot traffic behind me on the sidewalk behind me. I didn’t even hear a car drive by. Which I guess was better than someone thinking I was harassing these people and calling the cops. That would have been embarrassing, actually.
After another moment, I dropped my hand and started pounding on the door with my other hand. “I know you’re in there!” I called. “I can hear you.”
Well, technically, I couldn’t, but he didn’t know that. I just hoped I would be so much of a nuisance that they’d have no choice but to open the door in order to shut me up.
At that moment, the door was pulled open. Instead of Beast, however, it was Gianna in the three inches of space. When she saw me, she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her curls bouncing with each movement she made.
“Rude,” I scolded. “Your brother’s free, isn’t he?”
Gianna opened her green-hazel eyes and let them linger on me. “I suppose you’re right,” she said. “Why are you here, then?”
“I need to talk to your brother,” I said.
“Yeah, I figured you’d say that.” She shifted her weight. “He doesn’t want to see anyone right now. Maybe later—”
“Tell him it’s about Belle,” I said.
Gianna furrowed her brow. “Who?”
“Belle,” I repeated. “Just, will you tell him for me? Please?”
Gianna sighed, shoulders sagging forward. She seemed exhausted, almost as though she wasn’t sure what had happened the last twenty-four hours and all she wanted was to crawl back in bed and sleep.
Same, I thought.
She disappeared, shutting the door—probably to make sure I wouldn’t follow her. I couldn’t blame her for being suspicious. I probably would have followed her if I could have.
Instead, I waited, glancing at the rose bush next to house. The roses were big and blooming, bigger and darker red than I had ever seen. I realized in that moment that Beast’s flowers were probably the most beautiful thing about the manor. That wasn’t saying much, but what it did say was that Beast could be patient and gentle, he appreciated beauty in delicate forms, and he would do what he could to protect that beauty.
Before I had a chance to react, the door snapped open and there was Beast himself. “What do you want?” he snapped through gritted teeth.
I turned to look at him, and my immediate response died on my lips. There were dark bags under his blue eyes and his skin looked sallow. His chestnut brown hair was still unruly but there was a wildness about it that unnerved me. Or maybe that was his eyes. It was strange to see the way he looked in regular clothes, though regular clothes consisted of a white muscle shirt that molded to his stocky torso, revealing the muscles there, and dark joggers.
I could understand why Belle was attracted to the guy. He was rough around the edges but not in an unpleasant way.
“I’m here to talk about your release,” I said. I wasn’t scared of him. I thought I would be, especially after visiting him in Neverland. And this time I didn’t have Rumple with me. But I wasn’t scared. “And Belle’s involvement with it.”
“Belle had nothing to do with my release,” he huffed out.
I didn’t think he was going to invite me in, so I shoved my hands in my pockets, trying to get comfortable here. “I know that,” I said. “But she did have something to do with why you were sent to prison, didn’t she?”
He tensed, blue eyes narrowing even further. My mouth went dry, carefully watching him. Something stirred inside of me. I knew it was my magic. I had to be careful. I didn’t want anyone to know about my magic. I couldn’t. Magic was supposed to be forbidden and I was definitely supposed to be unmagicked. If anyone found out…I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I was pretty sure it was bad.
“Watch it,” he finally said. “Your Imp isn’t with you.”
“You won’t hurt me,” I declared, taking a step forward. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing for me to do. He could take it like a threat and that wasn’t what I was trying to do at all.
His eyes narrowed at me coming close to him but he didn’t react otherwise. I took that as a good sign.
“What do you want?” he bit out. I could tell he was already over my presence, and the only thing keeping him from slamming the door in my face was the fact that I dangled Belle’s name out to him like a low-hanging piece of fruit.
“Why did you confess?” I asked.
There was a chill in the wind, and as the breeze blew through the trees overhead, it almost sounded as though the leaves were whispering. There was no noise on this street, like it had been abandoned to the elements, to time, and no one could get to it even if they wanted to. I wasn’t scared, not exactly, but I was suddenly confronted with the fact that I was alone, and while Beast hadn’t killed Anna, he had survived a year in Neverland Penitentiary.
Beast glared at me, like my question was a huge waste of his time. His fingers curled around the door, and I knew he was going to slam it in my face before he began to move. Immediately, I stuck out my foot in the doorway, prepared to brace myself for impact.
“You did it for Belle, didn’t you?” I said. The words came out of my mouth before my mind could play catch up. I had no idea if that was the truth or not, but I knew it would help stall.
And it did. Beast stopped himself, narrowing his eyes even further. My magic tingled my fingertips, again reminding me that it was here should I need it. It was close to the surface, waiting for a single command.
“But Belle doesn’t seem like the type of person that would take your money,” I said since Beast wasn’t talking. My brain began to whir, began to start drawing conclusions. I weren’t sure they were right, but I needed to tease them out, see where they went. And, more than anything, I needed to see how Beast reacted to them.
“She’s not,” Beast said.
“Then why…” I let my voice trail off, looking back down at the roses. “Gianna. You took the money for Gianna. She’s the one taking care of this house, isn’t she? But there’s no money to take care of it.”
Beast clenched his teeth together, shifting his weight.
“Belle has nothing to do with this?” I asked, surprised. If she didn’t, why did he react so passionately about her? Why did he come to the door at all?
“Belle had everything to do with it, you insipid moron,” he roared. “Do you honestly think I would do anything as sacrificial for anyone else?” He took a breath, then another, almost as though he hadn’t expected his own outburst. Something akin to regret flashed in his blue eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as I noticed it. “Why are you here?”
“I’m trying to find out what really happened to Anna,” I said. My own flare of annoyance sparked something inside of me, something akin to anger. I was suddenly frustrated at how selfish he was being. This whole ordeal happened because he falsely confessed to a crime he didn’t commit. And it wasn’t as though he was pressured if the payment from the Charmings into his account was any indicator. When my father investigated this, did he know? Or did Beast just confess and my father had no reason to search Beast’s financial records? If anyone had asked me that question before September, I would have been sure my father did a thorough investigation on it. I would have trusted his reasons.
Now, though…
Now I didn’t trust my father at all, and I hated that.
“This is all your fault, you know,” I snapped, taking a step forward. My fingers clenched into tight fists at my sides, nails digging into my skin. “You threw everything off.”
“Excuse me?” Beast asked, flaring his nostrils.
I should have seen the signs. I should have taken into account how angry and upset Beast was. I should have watched my mouth. But the anger at him for the time lost, for the utter confusion he caused, infuriated me.
“If you had just been honest, if you had just told the truth, the real killer would have been brought to justice,” I said. “Instead, you got locked away. And judging by how you isolate yourself from the world, it’s not much of a difference in your life, is it?”
“Watch yourself,” Beast said in a low voice.
“Or what?” I demanded to know. “My best friend died. She was killed. What would you do, hmm? If it was your sister? Or Belle? What then? Would you sit back and let the wrong person be punished for her murder? Would you lock yourself away like a spoiled little brat?”
I had more to say, but Beast cut me off with a loud roar. Birds shot into the sky from the trees. Leaves unwittingly fell off branches.
And my magic sprouted out of my fingers in front of Beast, ready to protect me from him.
10
Magic shot out of me. I didn’t want it to. If I could, I would rein it in, but I didn’t know what to do. It was as though it was some sort of response to his growl, like my natural instincts were kicking in because of a perceived threat.
“I don’t—I don’t want to hurt you,” I said, my voice trembling.
“Are you threatening me?” he snapped, taking a step forward.
I stepped back, nearly tripping over the steps of his cement porch. “I don’t know how—”
The magic surrounded me. Beast’s eyes narrowed, watching the blue wisps in front of me. He didn’t seem surprised. Right now, my magic was offering me protection, but deep down, I knew that the second Beast did something else, it would attack. I didn’t know how I knew it, I just did.
“Please, Beast,” I said slowly, lifting up my hands. “I don’t, I can’t control—”
“Don’t say that,” he snapped. He glanced around. “Someone could overhear. Someone could see you. Call your Imp.” When I continued to stand there blankly, he snapped at me. “Do it.”
Rumpelstiltskin, Rumpelstiltskin, Rumpelstiltskin!
I waited for a breath, then two.
“What’s this, darling?” a voice said from behind me. “I was busy when I heard…” He let his voice trail off and I felt him stand next to me. I wanted to look at him, I wanted to ask for his help, but I was so afraid that looking away from Beast would cause my magic to attack. And as much as I didn’t appreciate Beast’s attitude, I definitely didn’t want to hurt him.
“Get your girl under control,” Beast said, looking at Rumple. “She came over, guns blazing, about a topic that I will not discuss.”
“She feels threatened by you,” Rumple stated. “Tell me why.”
There was no room for argument in his tone and Beast shifted slightly. I was surprised to catch him doing that, only because Beast was not the sort to reveal he was nervous about anything. Instead, he glared at Rumple, his hazel eyes bronzing as he took in the Imp on his doorstep.
“I didn’t threaten her again, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Beast said through clenched teeth. I couldn’t help but notice how sharp his incisors were and I took a small step towards Rumple. I felt the tethers on my magic tighten, as though it wanted to reassure me that I was safe, that my magic would keep me safe. “I told her she should keep her little nose out of my business. And you best do the same.”
“I don’t think it wise to threaten me, either,” Rumple said, his voice cold. There was no amusement in his dark eyes, no playfulness. This was the Rumple everyone in town seemed afraid of. This was the Rumple that was dangerous. “She is here to solve what happened to her friend. You had been imprisoned for the murder until you were recently let go. I think it prudent to explain some things, don’t you?”
“And what’s in it for you?” Beast asked in a low, growly voice. His blue eyes were pinned on Rumple. I wasn’t surprised that Rumple had no qualms about being glared at by a rough, muscled man who had just been released from prison, but I certainly felt the intimidation, even if Beast’s ire wasn’t directed at me.
“Excuse me?” Rumple asked.
“You heard me, Imp,” Beast said. “Why do you care? What do you get out of this? I know you only care about yourself. You wouldn’t be involved in this if it wasn’t beneficial to you. Tell me what that is.”
Rumple tensed, not due to intimidation, but due to anger. From my peripheral, I could see his jaw tic. It was the only sign that Rumple was frustrated. Under normal circumstances, Rumple didn’t let his feathers get ruffled. Most of the time.
“I asked him for help,” I said quickly. “I…it’s a deal. I made with him. A deal that has terms that are none of your business.”
Beast glared at me. I wasn’t sure if he believed me, but standing next to Rumple helped ground me in the moment, helped me feel more confident than I really was.
“And I’m asking you, Beast, to keep what has occurred between us to yourself,” Rumple said. There was an edge to his voice, one that hinted at a threat should Beast refuse. “Might you care for anything in return as a way to show you that you have my thanks for doing this favor?”
Beast glanced between both of us. It was only then that I could see how tired he was. It was difficult to explain. He had just been released from prison a year after he had been sent there. He had just gotten home after it was proven he was innocent. Of course, he was tired. And we were here, harassing him.
