Page 6 of Dark & Darker Still (Vane and Roc: Origin)

Six

Alice

We take a cab to Noble Hill, the mid-north of Darkland where the nobility has estate houses on property that butts up against the Royal Grounds and the Palace.

From there, we walk. It takes us another hour to get to the highlands, and another hour after that to reach the Maddred safe house on the northwestern coast of Darkland.

I know Vane and Roc, like me, were born in Wonderland and so their early days were spent in some other house a whole world away. But I can’t help but think of the cliffside cottage as the origin place of Vane and Roc even though it was purchased just a handful of years back.

The house just feels like the better parts of them. And maybe that’s mostly Lainey, her laughter filling up its rafters, her light painting the walls and glowing beyond the bubbled glass.

The cottage sits back from the road at the end of a long, winding dirt driveway. It’s two stories with clapboard siding weathered to a dusky gray. There’s a carriage house to the right of the main house, and a garden shed beyond that.

Because Roc and I spent most of the night getting here, the sun is just beginning to rise over our shoulders turning the sky the soft, pale blue of forget-me-nots.

Beyond the cottage, below the cliffside, the ocean churns against the rocks, mist glowing in the first rays of sunlight.

The air tastes of salt and earth and dew.

I love it here.

I wish I could live here. I wish I could be with Lainey every day.

But the brothers would never allow it and even if they did, I would rarely see them. If it came down to choosing between the oceanside cottage or the soot and chaos of the Umbrage with the Madd brothers, I would choose them every time.

Using his key, Roc lets us in through the side door. It enters into a small mud room where the black and white checkered floor begins, continuing on through the kitchen. We knock off some of the dirt from our boots, careful to keep it on the rug at the door.

Lainey doesn’t live here alone. She has a guardian in Ms. Ollen and Ms. Ollen would murder us if we got mud on the floors.

Literally. Ms. Ollen is a retired assassin.

She is as much Lainey’s housemaid as she is her bodyguard, but Lainey doesn’t know that.

She hates the thought of having to be babysat.

“I’m a grown-ass woman,” I once heard her say to both brothers. “I’m old enough to live my own life.”

They relented and told her a housemaid was their compromise and Lainey agreed.

The fact the housemaid is also an assassin seems to have never crossed Lainey’s mind.

But Ms. Ollen, despite her history, is loving and kind.

So maybe Lainey is willing to look the other way if the possibility ever dawned on her.

“I’ll make coffee,” Roc says.

“I’ll set out the pastries.

I grab several of the ceramic plates from the rack and set them out on the worktable as Roc strikes a match, lighting the gas stove. As the kettle heats up, he readies the pour-over with a filter and the ground coffee.

As we work, golden light stretches across the kitchen as the sun rises over the treetops.

Upstairs, a floorboard creaks, then a track of footsteps.

A few seconds later, someone comes barreling down the stairs.

Lainey darts into the kitchen and lunges at her brother, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Roc sinks into her, hugging her as if she is the only soul who matters.

Watching the Madd brothers with their little sister is jarring.

In the Umbrage, they are towering figures, ruthless, violent, extremely powerful. In Wonderland, they were the most terrifying of all the monsters.

But here within the walls of the seaside cottage with their little sister, they are just men with soft hearts and gentle hands. Men who are acutely aware of the fragility of the people they love. The ones who are not monsters and so have none of the armor.

If love could fill a room, the seaside cottage would burst at the rafters.

I am envious of Lainey in that. Her brothers would do anything for her and I’m not sure I’ve ever had something like that. Even my own parents chose power over me.

“Alice!” Lainey says next and wraps me in a hug. Her dark hair puffs around me. I can smell her lavender shampoo and her bedtime oil—spearmint and sage and jasmine.

“Good morning,” I say into her hair. “We brought treats.”

She pulls back and checks the worktable. “First Born Baker?”

“Of course.”

She claps, then kisses me on the cheek, then turns and kisses her brother too. “Thank you. You both will be written into my will.”

“Lainey,” Roc chides.

The only thing Roc hates more than monogamy is the thought of something bad happening to his sister.

Lainey laughs and scoops up a chocolate crisp. “I will die before you. This is a fact. I’m not a jabberwocky. I don’t know why you pretend otherwise.” A cookie crumb sticks to the corner of her mouth. “Besides, I will make the best ghost.”

“Lainey!” Roc says.

“God. You are a wet blanket, dear brother.”

I can’t help but laugh.

I get away with a lot when it comes to the brothers, but Lainey could get away with murdering them and they’d give her a peck on the forehead for it.

I find it endearing and hilarious.

The kettle starts to hiss, then rolls into a shrill whistle. Roc pulls it from the stove and slowly pours over the ground coffee.

“What are you two doing here, anyway?” Lainey slides onto one of the wooden stools on the other side of the worktable. “I thought you weren’t coming until the dinner Sunday night.” She picks one of the violet pansies from a petit four and spins it between her thumb and index finger.

“Roc made a concession for me,” I tell her.

“Why?”

“Because I was in a mood.”

“Why?”

The other thing I love about Lainey is how unfiltered she is.

She’s not afraid to ask anything if her curiosity is piqued.

There is no such thing as decorum or etiquette with her, even though she was raised among the Darkland elite.

I can only imagine how much that annoyed her father, who was concerned with reputation more than anything else.

I never had the chance to meet Aaric Maddred, but I’ve heard my fair share about him.

“Vane is engaged,” I answer.

“WHAT?!” She lurches off the stool. The stool teeters on three legs before rattling back to the marble floor. “Vane is engaged?” she says to Roc, whose back is still to us. I can tell by the tense line of his shoulders that he was not planning to tell Lainey yet and that I’ve ruined their plans.

“Who is he engaged to?” she goes on. “When did it happen? Do we like her? Wait—” She turns back to me. “Are you okay with this? No, you’re not, otherwise you wouldn’t be in a mood. Roc, what the hell?” She pivots again to Roc. “Why is Vane engaged? Did Vane agree to this? Is this a business deal?”

“No,” Roc answers at the same time I say, “Yes.”

Roc scowls at me.

“When is the wedding?”

“It hasn’t been announced yet,” Roc answers.

I didn’t get around to asking, but now that Lainey has, my curiosity is piqued.

“Is there a date?”

With the pour over full, Roc sets the kettle back on the stove. He turns to face us, his body pressed into the corner of the kitchen counter, his arms crossed over his chest.

The seaside cottage kitchen is painted a soft shade of ivory with the many windows draped in sheer linen. In the kitchen, Roc looks like a dark cloud sent to dim the light. And his answer only proves it.

“Next month.”

“Next month?!” Lainey and I say in unison.

Oh god.

Oh my fucking god.

Pain shoots through my molars before I realize my teeth are clenched.

They’re rushing the marriage so they can ram through their deal to acquire Caligo Port.

It is because of business, I don’t care what Roc says. Maybe he believes the engagement is in service to the larger plan, but he’s just kidding himself. He’s auctioning off his brother for property and access.

Taking in a deep breath through my nose, some of the tension fades from my jaw. I glance at Roc. “Vane agreed to that? To be married in a month?”

“Yes.”

I hate this. I hate that Vane gave in so easily. I hate that they didn’t even involve me in their plans. All this time, I thought we were working on a future together, that I would have my place by their side.

I was so fucking naive.

The old wide plank floors at the far end of the house creak as Ms. Ollen makes her way to the kitchen. When she spots Roc, she ambles over and puts his face in her hands. “Mr. Maddred! I’m so happy to see you!” She kisses his cheek.

“Good morning, Ms. Ollen,” he says and kisses her back. “You’re looking ravishing today.”

She playfully swats at him. “Stop it. You’re teasing me.

” She’s wearing a thick terry cloth robe and loose-fitting black pajama pants with silk slippers on her feet.

Her hair is tucked away in a silk scarf tied at the back of her head.

She’s wearing no makeup, but I rarely see Ms. Ollen with anything more than a bit of chapstick on her lips.

Ravishing is a bit of a stretch, but Roc is always happy to flatter.

“You have good timing, Mr. Maddred. I’m having trouble with the boiler. Could you look at it?”

“Of course.”

Roc follows her down into the cellar.

Lainey perches herself on the stool again and props her elbows on the worktable, her chin in her hand. She blinks at me.

“What?”

She blinks again.

“Lainey, stop.”

She has the same dark hair as her brothers, hers long and wavy. She’s pale, unblemished, eyes wide and observant.

While she has all of the markings of a Maddred, and the same arcane beauty as her brothers, she has fought the undercurrent of darkness running through their blood. She dresses in pastels, ties her hair with ribbons, drapes her tables with gingham and her bed in floral quilts.

Everything about her feels like a warm summer day. Being with her brings me joy.

Except for when she’s grilling me with nothing more than a look.

I relent. “Yes, I’m mad.”

“What did Vane say?”