by A. K. Koonce
My lips part, but I can’t decide if she actually just said words or not.
Kais shakes his head at her answer.
“It’s not shape-shifting. Stop reading so many smutty books, Cat. We’re illusionists. The Elders always called us illusionists. Our magic is different than theirs: more powerful, more pure because we’re born from the sea.” His jaw clenches slightly, pulling my attention to the shadowed ink of crimson numbers along his neck.
Those are mine. Those numbers are mine. And they line his body like a lover’s name.
I pull my attention back to Cat and force the thought away.
“Everyone here can do illusions like this? Change their appearance and stuff?” I glance from one of them to the other, but Kais is the one to answer.
“Takes time. Everyone here holds different levels of magic depending on how long they’ve been here.” Kais looks bored out of his beautiful mind reciting this information to me.
It’s all so different. Confusing. Alluring but confusing.
“If I leave, I’ll just go back to my normal life?”
“Like I said, you’re welcome to try to leave. The Elders may kill you the moment you pass the Kingdoms’ divide, but you’re welcome to just get out. I won’t respect that decision, but you’re welcome to do so. And if you stay, you’ll gain all that Wanderlust has to offer. The magic of Wanderlust will infuse into your soul little by little, it’ll change you. For the better.” His tone is cold like he’s already mentally cutting me out of his life.
Is that what he does? Keeps everyone at a distance, prepared to cut them out at any given moment?
It sounds exhausting.
The three of us stand there, hanging off the edge of a cliff while I stare starry-eyed up at my captor turned tour guide.
He all but just told me my life will be better here. For however long my life might have left. There’s more in this land. I’m not the Sick Girl here, that girl whose mom died not long after she “beat cancer.” I’m not that girl who’s wasting her education on fashion design. I’m The Fucking One. Kind of. There’s a life to be lived here. Any life I’d like, really.
If I accept it.
Seven
The hike through the forest is longer than I expected. Cat and Kais guide me through it, and for the most part, we travel in silence.
Until I spot them.
Mushrooms of red and gold glow along the floor. They cast light along the pine needles and give an alluring appeal to the simple little fungi.
“What are those?” I linger near a small group of them, letting them give my skin a crimson glow. They sway as I come nearer, as if they’re aware of me as much as I am of them.
“Don’t touch those.” Kais snatches my hand in his and pulls me back until there are a few feet of space between myself and the tiny threatening mushrooms.
“Those are Marrigolds.”
The word sounds familiar but holds a harsher tone than the pretty flower I’m used to seeing in the real world.
“Marrigolds are just hallucinogens. Rabbit is a little touchy. I bet he’d finally relax if he had a small taste. You’d be so much more relaxed if you tasted things every now and then, Rabbit.” Cat passes a taunting look to Kais, and in return, he passes her a quiet glare. “Healers prescribe them pretty frequently. Migraines, aches, pains, nausea. The usual.”
“They use a hallucinogen for nausea?” My eyes narrow, but Cat only nods along, a big mischievous smile pulled across her lips.
“Wanderlust has an overly open policy about drugs. These things are the only thing that really takes to the soil here. They’re like a miracle plant in the villagers’ eyes.” Kais releases my hand slowly and starts to walk on into the forest.
Cat nods once more before bending at the waist and breaking one of the sparkling mushrooms off. Its light pulses brighter for just an instant. She pops it into her mouth. The light of the fungus bleeds against her full lips as a smile slips into place there.
“Feeling a little light-headed from the trip down the mountain.” Her smile is wide and glowing with golden colors when she looks at me.
“Yeah. Definitely. Take a hallucinogen to help with that dizziness.” I nod a confused little nod but keep walking. I keep step with her as we follow after Kais. “Where are we headed exactly?” I ask.
A man drops down from somewhere up above. He lands in place between Cat and myself. “You’re welcome to come home with me,” the man whispers.
Oh. Okay. Bad pickup lines exist in every realm, it seems.
His hair is pulled back away from his face, leaving his deep dark eyes searching mine as a smile tilts his lips. The beard along his jaw instantly makes me realize how much of his face he’s hiding beneath it. He’s one of those guys who could be attractive with or without the facial hair, but he just doesn’t seem to give enough of a fuck to shave.
“Has any female actually fallen for that line, Lighton?” Cat glances at the arrogant man at her side.
“Ah, not today, no. But the night is still young, pretty Kitty Cat.” He walks with a swaying stature. His gaze darts around the forest as if there’s more to be seen than what meets the eye. Where Kais holds stiff posture and brooding looks, Lighton is the opposite. Even the way he walks is elaborate and odd in a way.
He turns until he’s walking backward in front of Cat and me.
“Lighton Farrow.” He extends his hand, never once missing a step.
My hand slips into his. He squeezes, extending the feel of our hands held between us. He drags out the feel of my hand in his, his strength shown even in the simple handshake. Holy Fucking Wanderlust. This Kingdom is just made up of sexy, sexy—confusing—men, I swear.
“So, do tell. How quickly did the red fade out of your number?” His head tilts at me. “Cat here was the longest running One-est One, did you know that? Something like seventeen seconds for the red to vanish into black.” His gaze drifts distractedly before coming back to me.
Cat smiles a pleased and alarmingly beaming smile.
“It’s still red.” The moment I say it, he stops walking backward. It’s so abrupt that my heels hit against his boots, my palms pressing into his lean chest. My fingers slide slowly away from his warmth as I take a careful step back from the strange man.
“Still red? Like—still, still? At the moment? Currently? Presently? Right now?” He turns from me with a frantic spin before I can even speak. “Kais?”
He doesn’t even ask before Kais’s voice carries through the dark.
“It’s still red,” Kais tells him from somewhere in the distance.
Lighton is slow to turn back around, his wide shoulders shadow over me, his amber eyes darting across my features at a rapid pace.
“It’s still red.” His voice is an empty sound as he looks at me once more. His attention trails over me a little slower as if it’s the first time he’s really seeing me. “Damn, you’re a fucking train wreck, aren’t you?”
A small tired smile pulls at my lips, and I can’t help but nod. Aside from that little boy’s sneering comment, Lighton’s the first person to really be brutally honest about my appearance tonight.
It’s refreshing. And insulting. I like it.
We follow after Kais. A tall and towering building streams up into the sky, surrounded by the glowing forest. It’s an alarming but beautiful structure. It tilts unsteadily to one side and it only makes me more anxious when I realize that’s where we’re headed.
“Home sweet house,” Lighton whispers.
“My home sweet house, you mean.” Kais all but growls at the man at his side.
“Tomato, Toledo.” Lighton shrugs good-naturedly.
My lips part at the weird word that most definitely is not the comparison I thought he was going for…
Kais narrows his eyes at the man as he turns the knob, but no one mentions Lighton’s odd choice of words. It’s like Cat and Kais are used to it while I’m left wondering what the hell it all means.
“When I open t
his door, there aren’t going to be any unexpected guests?” Kais levels Lighton with a look.
“Does a shit bear in the woods?” Lighton asks with the most serious expression that doesn’t reflect his completely fucked up words at all.
“What?” I glance from one person to the next, but Cat and Kais just shake their heads.
“A word of advice, don’t drink the Rosen,” Cat whispers strangely.
Everyone here is out of their minds.
“Just stop inviting rebels into my house,” Kais grinds out as he pushes open the door.
“Of course. I wouldn’t dream of it, my friend.” Lighton has this innocent look in his big brown eyes, and I almost believe his sincerity.
Until a man comes crashing down in front of the door. An old golden chandelier clanks against the flooring right in front of Kais, and another dude comes ambushing the man who’s clinging to the light fixture with both hands like it might still hold him up despite his new position lying at Kais’s feet.
“Fucking hell, Lighton.” Kais swings his glaring attention at the bewildered man by my side.
“What?” Lighton peers down at the men like he’s just now noticed they’re there. He lifts his innocent hands from his sides as another three strange men chase after the first two. “I don’t think that’s my fault.” Lighton bites the inside of his cheek, and he looks genuinely confused about…everything…his entire life, possibly.
With a shake of his head, Kais strides inside.
Kais’s house is a compilation of stairs. It’s the most nonsensical home I’ve ever stepped foot into. The moment the door opens to the entryway, the four of us are greeted by steps winding up, up, up. The second floor leads off to a table with a chair and an old trunk for seating. We carry on past the lovely cracked dining table. My feet ache when we come to the small third floor space. A tattered arm chair and twin bed with the covers thrown back takes up all the meager amount of space. A woman with tattered clothes dozes there, and I wonder if she too is an uninvited rebel. Judging by the glare Kais tosses her, I’d say yes, yes she is. We stride on past there as well.
From the first floor all the way to the top is an open stairwell, with the stairs leading to small platforms for each floor. It’s odd and not at all a good use of structural space. It looks like this whole house might come tumbling down on a beautiful day with one slight breeze.
My heels falter against the top step that leads out to a large open attic space. Fabrics of all colors, silks, and hats string across the room like cobwebs long forgotten. Piles of the materials fill the corners of the room, and several people lounge there as well.
I like it. It reminds me of my classes back home. It reminds me of all the pretty racks of fabric I browse through when I want a new outfit. Except…messier.
The crowd in this room doesn’t seem to mind the clutter. Laughter and echoing amusement carry over the sharp jarring music humming through the room. The people here aren’t terrifying like the man I met on the coast. A woman passes by with antlers in her blonde hair and hooves clicking against the floor, but for the most part, everyone is fairly human in appearance. In the far corner of the room, standing atop a table, a woman plays a violin with deft fingers but off notes. She looks peaceful even as I grimace at the shrieking sound she’s making with the little instrument. A man guides an unsteady woman across the dusty floor in an elegant but dramatic flair of dancing. It’s a good effort, but really they couldn’t keep in time with the harsh notes that are slicing through the room if they wanted to.
“Fuck, not again.” Kais glares hard at the dozen or so people crowding his home.
The man dancing halts the moment he sees Cat and our little group. The man’s height and the top hat on his head force him to duck beneath the strung-up fabrics. A smile of pure happiness clings to his handsome features when his attention lands on me.
“The Alice of the Moment, I presume.” His warm palm pushes across mine, and with an elaborate bow, he presses his lips to my knuckles, just a gentle brush of his warm lips against my cold skin.
My eyebrow arches as he does the same with Cat, his lips lingering faintly against her skin before he glances heatedly up at the beautiful woman.
He’s old school. He’s Mr.-Darcy-leaving-a-calling-card old school, isn’t he?
“Don’t let him fool you, Brody was a performer on Broadway, not a Victorian gentleman,” Lighton whispers with a carrying laugh.
The proper posture of the man in the three-piece suit drops as he pins a look to Lighton. “Why do you have to tell all of them that?” Brody’s smile widens even more despite his performance being ruined. “It’s still a pleasure to meet the Alice of the Moment.”
“Want to tell me why there’s a dozen Rebel Hearts in my house?” Kais takes a step closer to Brody. His perfect posture and the top hat tracing his dark hair make him impossibly taller than Kais.
“It’s nothing. It’s a non-party. The non-est-party I’ve never thrown.” Brody’s smile makes thin lines crease around his eyes. “They heard a True Alice had arrived. They wanted to celebrate with a non-party. Lighton and I were happy to oblige.”
“Happy to oblige in my fucking house?” Kais is always so vacant, careful with his emotions; he’s frightening when he’s angry.
I wish I could understand it all though. Why are the rebels so rebelliously close to the King’s castle? And why is Kais so familiar with them all?
Perhaps the Kingdom isn’t as large as I thought it was. Maybe they knew each other before the rebellion started.
“Are you hungry? We’ve brought the most divine desserts.” Brody’s gaze trails from the mud clinging to my shoes to the tears in my dress to the wig pulling at my hair.
Before I can even reply, Kais is talking over me.
“Nothing divine. Not tonight, Brody.” The two men stare at one another for a long moment. They couldn’t be more different. Kais is all hard muscle and brooding looks while Brody is delicate with carefully veiled thoughts, a smile that doesn’t reflect his intentions at all.
“Let me get you a drink. Some form of welcome must be made for the Alice of the Moment.”
“Do not get her a drink.” Kais takes a single step until the two men are nearly toe to toe. Shining shoe to muddy boot.
And I’m standing at the sidelines, all eyes on me: the woman they’re speaking over because, clearly, I don’t have a voice of my own.
Guess they didn’t teach too many Victorian formalities on Broadway.
My nails dig into my palm, and the faint feel of Cat’s fingertips brush down the side of my arm.
“What about a bath? You look like you’re in desperate need of a bath, Love,” Brody swings his attention back to me.
“No—”
“A bath would be fantastic. The Alice of the Moment would love a bath, thank you for asking.” I glare intently into Kais’s eyes as I step past him, placing my palm lightly in Brody’s open hand.
His eyebrow cocks high as he passes Kais. I ignore the two men’s taunting looks and just let Brody lead me toward a dark staircase on the far wall. Lighton trails after us on quiet swaying steps.
When my heels click against the first step, I realize how secluded I am with the two strangers. These beautiful strangers.
Would a rebel harm the beloved Alice? Would they hurt me? It just goes to show how little I know about Wanderlust politics and the place I stand in the middle of all of it.
It’d look pretty pathetic if I died trying to prove a petty point to Kais over a bath.
“It’s sensible to trust your senses, Love.” Brody’s mellow timber is meant to calm me, I think, but his phrasing doesn’t do anything of the sort.
“It took me years to ever really feel that I belonged here. It’s understandable that you don’t understand this. That you don’t trust us. Or me.” He peers back at me, his dark eyes meeting mine in the shadowy stairwell. He holds my gaze for several seconds before opening the door. The three of us are close, my arm brushing alon
g his, but he holds me at a careful distance. A respectable distance.
Cold wind hits my face, tangling my hair in an instant. His fingers lace with mine as he leads me into the night air. The man faces away from the wind and lights some kind of cigarette that drifts too much white smoke around us. I look away from the strange cigarette and the oddly sweet smell it’s wafting.
It takes me a second to realize we’re on the roof of the towering building Kais calls his home. My heels scuff against the concrete as confusion settles in.
Lighton pushes the door closed with a heavy click. When I look back at him, he’s leaning lazily against it, watching me through his hooded brown eyes.
“Where’s the bathroom, Brody?” I halt in my tracks, and he turns to me slowly.
“The bath house is just over there. The set-up of this house is set right up.” Brody’s points toward the sky and his play on words makes me pause after everything he says to try to find the simple meaning. He gestures with a wave of his hand to the large greenhouse-looking room off in the corner of the roof. It’s just mere inches from toppling right off the thin building, really. Beams of…are those books? Two fragile looking columns of literal literature hold up the structure that teeters out off of the side of the house.
Talk about a cliff hanger.
Neither of the two men hesitates as they stride right through the glass door. Brody flicks the cigarette to the ground before swinging open the foggy door for me.
My heels click uneasily against the slate gray flooring. On the far wall, leaning out over the edge of the house, sits a large bath. It’s one of those several person type baths which means it holds more water, more weight to come crashing down if those stacks of books give out beneath this room.
Perfect.
I swallow slowly before coming closer to the inviting hot water. The glass walls of the room are dotted with condensation, water trails down the sheets of glass, and twinkling lights blur from the city beyond.
It’s…odd but beautiful.
Once again, a door clicks closed with an announcing sound and I glance back at watchful brown eyes. Lighton leans against the door there. If I didn’t know Cat was a literal cat, I’d think Lighton was too just from the waiting look he’s giving me right now. He looks every bit ready to pounce.
