Into the Madness

by A. K. Koonce

  Lighton is definitely the idiot who would try something with the King’s betrothed.

  “This isn’t a book. Our lives are not storybooks. Start acting like this is all real life.” My growling tone shows my irritation, and it makes Madison’s smile fall.

  It’s always my tone.

  “Yes. This is definitely not a book. Because you”—she points an accusing finger at me, coming close until only a few inches separate us—“you have the sharp jawline of a perfect book boyfriend. Bad boy tattoos. Smoldering eyes.” My heart does that ridiculous stumble it always does when she’s near, but this time, hearing her say all the things she likes about me, it’s so much worse. And better. And worse all at the same time. “But the writers completely fucked up your personality, Kais.”

  That settles my heartbeat. Pushes it right back down into a manageable pace as she walks away from both Lighton and myself.

  Leaving us stunned like the two biggest idiots who are just stupid enough to have it bad for the King’s betrothed.

  Twenty-Seven

  Madison

  Tonight, it all becomes real. Tonight, I’m accepting my place as Alice Liddell, attending an official engagement party, and tomorrow, I’ll marry the King. I’ll be a Queen, and my whole damn life will be the fairy tale young girls have been spoon-fed their entire lives.

  Sounds kind of extreme for a girl who just wanted ordinary.

  “You ready?” Kais asks.

  He stops dead in his tracks when I turn around.

  The sheer white fabric covers nearly every inch of my skin, shimmering over my body, clinging to me like water coating my flesh. It dips into a deep V and ties in a pretty bow at the side. And only a few precautious parts of me are not on display beneath the see through, virginal white dress.

  I can’t help but love to piss off Kais by following his orders.

  “That—that is definitely the color of innocence,” Lighton says on a throaty whisper.

  “I can see your breasts, and why the fuck are you wearing red panties?” Kais grinds out.

  “Do you want me to take them off?” I cock my head to one side, and only Lighton seems to find me amusing right now.

  Seriously though, if the fate of this realm really rests on the color of my panties then the Kingdom is more fragile than I realized.

  “I think you’re spending too much time with Rotter. You’re starting to sound like him now.” Kais pushes his hand down his face and gives me another long, hard look.

  I can’t help but notice both of them as well. Kais’s black tuxedo covers his arms, highlighting the black ink that slinks down his knuckles and along his throat. Number 4884 is nicely in red, sneaking out above his crisp white collar.

  He’s so dangerously attractive.

  And Lighton…

  “You shaved.” I don’t know why I say it like a man shaving is the most awe-inspiring thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life, but he looks so different. He looks…sleek. Responsible. Mature.

  Sexy.

  “I thought I’d clean-up for the wedding.” His eyes become too serious, and that single word changes the mood in the room.

  My wedding.

  Right.

  “Ready?” Kais nods toward the stairs, and I don’t move for a few seconds even as I start to nod.

  “Yeah.” Still I don’t move.

  Kais’s steps are slow, pressing evenly against the wooden floorboards until he stands in front of me. His warm hand slides down over the sheer sleeve of the dress, and he takes my hand in his. He fully slides his fingers through mine without hesitation. The pure blue of his eyes shines like the edge of a knife. There’s something dangerous and cutting in his gaze like he could slice me wide open with a single look and see everything I’m hiding inside. He’s this odd combination of violent strength and alarming gentleness. The gentle, caring side of him surprises me every time a glimpse is shown.

  “I’m sorry for what I put you through for you to get here.” His eyes search mine, and I realize this is the second time he’s apologized. I both love and hate that he’s apologizing. He gets an alarmingly gentle look in his deadly gaze when he’s sincere. I only ever see it when he’s like this with me. “I’m sorry, Madison.”

  I want to wrap my arms around him and never let him go. He’s strong and kind and…not mine.

  Not at all.

  “Will you two still be with me after tomorrow?” The tremble of my words makes a pain crack through my chest. Emotions sneak up on me all at once, and I’m holding my breath just for their answer.

  Don’t leave me alone.

  Don’t leave me.

  Lighton comes to me, drawn to me it seems, and he doesn’t stop until his fingers slide into my free hand, surrounding me with the two men I never expected to care about.

  “I think I still owe you orgasms, and I don’t like to leave a debt in my name, so I’ll definitely be sneaking into the castle for a while,” Lighton whispers against my hair, earning him a stern glare from the other man at my side. Lighton’s gaze shifts from me to Kais and the nonexistent space between us. “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t get stoned, my friend,” he says with a cocky smirk.

  Kais shakes his head, rolling his eyes the entire time. “You’ve been clean for a week now. You just say this shit to piss me off.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Light keeps his features vacant as he shrugs, and I honestly don’t know if he really does do it on purpose or not.

  And I don’t care.

  Because I really do care too much for the worst men in this Kingdom.

  Including one I should have listened to right from the start.

  I never should have touched Alixx Stone.

  He reminds me of just that the moment I arrive at the party.

  His fingers run the full length of my spine, barely slipping away when he reaches the low curve of my back. He lets the secret touch linger before walking fully away. “Classy dress,” he says over his shoulder, a cruel smile perched on his lips as he strides toward the drink table.

  Leaving me…alone.

  Lighton and Kais keep a healthy distance a few yards away, keeping mostly to themselves while Kais watches the crowd closely. The guy really knows how to bring a party down. If someone so much as stares at me for too long, they’re met with a death glare that Satan himself would scurry away from.

  I roll my eyes, and a puff of air slips from my lips.

  You know who I haven’t seen? Not once.

  Constantine.

  Or even his sister for that matter.

  I dwell on the fact that I’m alone at my engagement party as I study the ballroom. I haven’t been in this part of the castle yet, but we walked through the entrance throne room to get here. Two white doors shine under the golden chandelier lights above, and I keep glancing at that exit repeatedly.

  I could leave…

  They could all toast to the soon-to-be bride and groom without us, right?

  Preston slips in by my side.

  I guess I’m not completely alone.

  “That guy, San Antonio, the guy you tried to lose your virginity to never gets laid again, if that makes you feel better,” Preston whispers, taking a long drink of what appears to be scotch.

  I bite my lip.

  That does weirdly make me feel better. I’m glad Fort Worth didn’t get the chance to put another girl through another thirty second hip fucking ever again.

  “Would I have died? In the surface world, would I have died?”

  He nods and downs the rest of his drink.

  “Everyone dies. What kind of waste of psychic power is that question?”

  “I meant of cancer. Would I have died of cancer if I stayed?”

  “Oh, yeah. You would have died. Would have been a sad funeral too because, as you and I both know, you’re shit at making friends.”

  “Thanks, Preston. I needed that confidence boost.”

  “That’s what I’m here for.” He shrugs an
d pulls a silver flask from the inside of his coat pocket.

  A hand slips into mine, a warm breath slides along my throat for the briefest of seconds. “Come with me.” And then Alixx pulls me away.

  A popping sound cracks through my skull, making me wince, and when my eyes open, we’re in a dark hall. His hands push down my hips, and he guides me in place until he seems happy with my position.

  “What are you doing?” I hiss, but he covers my mouth with his hand.

  I struggle against him, my elbow jarring back into his ribs, but he doesn’t make a single sound of discomfort, if anything he seems to enjoy the way my body struggles and fights against his. He lets me fight him for several seconds, quiet laughter shaking manically through his chest before he slowly lifts his other hand and points at the small hole in the wall.

  My arms lower, my curiosity outweighing my annoyance for just a moment.

  When I peer into the stream of light, looking quietly through the wall, I see the most astounding thing. It happens so fast. Constantine slams into her from behind. The King’s thrusting stops as quickly as it started, and the girl doesn’t make a sound as she lowers her silk skirt back into place. He tucks himself away, and I note that he’s breathing heavy and she’s not. She’s barely even wrinkled her clothes, which is depressing in itself.

  Disgust twists through my stomach at the thought of watching them have sex while I stand here in secrecy with Alixx.

  “Do they have a relationship outside of this?” My whisper echoes around the empty hall.

  “Other than this twenty second interaction every single day, no.” Alixx’s breath heats my neck as his chest brushes closer against my back, keeping his right hand poised along my jaw and then my throat, along my collar bone. A tingling sensation spreads through me, and I force myself not to lean into him.

  His touch is addicting. He touches me the way no one ever has. It’s not even sexual. It’s like he wants to feel me, wants to know what every inch of my skin feels like against his.

  “So it’s not likely they’ll continue fucking after I’m crowned queen,” I say, trying not to let my voice tremble from the way he’s skimming his fingers down my shoulder blade.

  I can hear the cutting amusement in his tone before he even speaks. “Well, no, once you’re queen, he won’t need her. Once he has you, you’ll get the honor of being Twenty Second Tina."

  My lips thin at his snarky remark, and I turn to him in the darkness.

  “That’s not even her name, you made that up.”

  I can see the sparkle of amusement in his bright eyes as he looks down at me, tilting his head close, letting his breath fan across my skin. He’s so close I can’t take it that he’s not touching me now. I physically ache for his hands to return to me. Maybe this was his way of conditioning me. In a twisted way, I know he wants me to crave his touch.

  Just like he craves mine.

  My palm lifts between us, and he watches the hesitant way my hand slides up his chest. The quiet breath leaving his lips stops, forgotten in his lungs while he simply lives off the way my fingers are drifting across his hard body.

  “Why’d you show me this, Alixx?”

  Was it to hurt me?

  Oddly I’m not hurt. I don’t know why, but I can’t bring myself to be astounded that the man I’m about to marry just fucked Twenty Second Tina.

  “Everything Constantine does is routine without much thought. Because he’s lived for so long it’s hard to find happiness in the mundane.” He pauses and the way he says it makes me wonder if he’s actually talking about Constantine at all. “Lust is mundane to him. I did it to show you the ugly inside the good.” His hands whisper down my sides, brushing along my skin so lightly that I feel his touch like blazing fire through the thin material of my dress. “Absolutely nothing in this world is as kind or as good or as pure as it seems. Our King included. You included. Me included.”

  “No offense, but I don’t think anyone’s ever called you any of those things, Alixx.” My chin tips up to him. Of all the times that I’ve pushed away from him, pushed out of his arms, here I am leaning into him until my chest is firmly against his.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I was once a very…charming man. A long, long time ago. I’m not anymore. But I am honest. With you. You and I are setting out to live terrible lives. In a way, that makes us friends.”

  “Friends is a bit of a stretch. Allies is more like it.”

  His lips skim against my jaw before brushing over the shell of my ear with the heat of his whispered words. “We have common interests, keeping secrets and telling lies.” The smile I feel curving along his mouth shouldn’t make me smirk like a lunatic, but I am. “We bond together. Enjoy spending time together.” He pulls me harder to him until I can feel the thick outline beneath his slacks against my lower stomach.

  “I can’t think of a single time I enjoyed spending time with you, Alixx.” My words say one thing while my roaming hands slipping down his defined shoulders say another.

  “You’re not enjoying this right now?” His palms push over my breasts, squeezing them and making desire bloom right through my core in so much tingling energy that I gasp a startled breath against his neck. And the bastard is right there waiting when my body melds against his.

  But I refuse to admit what he wants.

  “Not one bit,” I whisper on a heavy breath.

  His laughter is a knowing, condescending sound. His teeth nip at my ear, and I’ve never felt aching tension like the energy that’s sparking all around me, consuming me until it’s all I feel deep inside.

  “Sometimes I think I like you better as an enemy, Madison. It feels rewardingly bad, dirty even, to know I’m helping a traitor, to want the traitor. I crave that twisted feeling of shame, and I think deep down, you do too.” His index finger trails down my ribs before he fists my dress, and I feel the hem start to rise as he inch by inch pulls it slowly up. He pulls back just enough to feel my breath against his lips, his eyes shining with dissecting curiosity as he watches me while I wait for the feel of his hand to shift just a little lower. The dress lifts all the way to my hip, and he grips the material tightly in his hand before trailing his index finger ever so slowly along the smooth inner curve of my thigh. His touch is so faint I barely feel it when he trails down the center of my silk panties, down, down, down until he’s cupping my sex, finding my truth within my lies. And I know he knows then. Because I feel my wetness against his touch.

  Just like he does.

  “Or maybe I’m wrong, and we’re just two strangers who hate each other as much as you say.” A crackling sound follows his words, and then light burns into my eyes. The quiet darkness is stolen away from us, and the bright light of the throne room and the ramble of voices and laughter from the adjoining room falls into its place.

  And then, Alixx Stone releases his hold on me and walks away. He adjusts his tie and the lapels of his seemingly tailor-made jacket that falls so perfectly around his wings. He strides toward the white double doors of the ballroom as if nothing just happened.

  I’m left breathing heavily and trying to understand why I feel like I just lost something I never really had. I can pretend to be confused all I want, but I know why.

  I don’t want to be fucked and forgotten like that woman in the King’s room. I don’t want that to be my future. Even if tomorrow it will be.

  Right now, I want something real. For once in my life, I want something normal and extraordinary all at the same time. I want the bad and the good.

  I want Alixx.

  “Wait.” His back stiffens, his suit pulling tight against his broad shoulders.

  He turns to me with that mask of unfazed amusement, but I see the interest in his eyes. It’s like lightning in his gaze, lighting up the emptiness of his bright green eyes.

  “Come here.” I say it with more confidence than I feel. I say it like I’m mimicking the way Lighton said it to me.

  And I think it’s working.

&n
bsp; That easy stride, that “I don’t have one fuck to spare,” that “I know exactly who I am and where I’m going” attitude of his comes right back to me. I swallow hard when he looks down on me with waiting attention.

  It’s now or never.

  I thought my life started the moment I fell into this mysterious world.

  I was wrong. It starts right now.

  No more missed opportunities and no more uncertainty.

  I am who I am, and Alixx has never made me feel unimportant or overlooked. I’ve only ever felt confident when he’s around. When he’s around, I’m exactly the person I pretend to be.

  My hand slips into his, and I lead him the few feet back to the King’s throne. It sits right next to the smaller, more delicate Queen’s throne. My throne. His brow arches up when I push him down in the enormous gold seat. The moment of surprise on his face is short-lived, and he gets comfortable like he’s sat in this chair since the day he was born. His elbows settle on the arm rests, and he steeples his fingers in an arrogant way while he quietly watches me with amused interest.

  I hold his gaze. I let the moment build, and he lets me, passing his gaze back and forth between my eyes until I grab the pretty bow on my dress and pull.

  The sheer fabric wafts around my body before splaying open for him and him alone. A triangle of red material covers my body, and his attention drifts there immediately. My thumbs hook into the waist of my panties, and he follows the path they lead down my hips, thighs and legs before I pull them off. The moment they’re in my hand, he leans forward and steals them away, tucking them into the front pocket of his slacks.

  My brow lifts, my lips parting without words for a few moments.

  “Safe keeping. Don’t want anyone to find them forgotten later, Sweet Madison.”

  I can’t help but love when he says my real name. He cruelly taunts Alice’s name around me so much that it makes my heart come to life at the simple sound of his sincerity.