Page 8 of Dark & Darker Still (Vane and Roc: Origin)

Seven

Roc

On our way out of the highlands, Alice stops at a shop and makes me purchase a bottle of Apple Six, a sweet, smooth fae liquor worth twice as much as my boots.

“Is this a cry for help?” I ask her as the road curves out of the seaside town.

“No,” she answers and tears off the gold wrapping, shoving it in the pocket of her jacket. “I was thirsty.”

To the east, dark, thick clouds build in the sky. I think we might get caught in a storm, but Alice seems in no rush.

“For liquor? At eight in the morning?”

With the cap unscrewed, she hefts up the bottle to her mouth and takes a long drink.

While I was working on the boiler, Ms. Ollen told me we’d just missed my uncle. Even if Lainey hadn’t told Alice, I think Al would have figured it out. She has a preternatural ability to sense Uncle Madd as if his presence is a film that’s collected on the walls.

When pressed, she’s expertly dodged my questions about their relationship. Vane and I left Wonderland before Alice, before our uncle. Whatever went on between them happened once we were gone, while the war raged. When Alice came through the glass, she was alone, her entire family dead.

“He’s never coming back,” I tell her. “Not in the way you want.”

She takes another long pull from the bottle.

The rolling hills of the highlands spills into the lower lands of the forest where red oak and black pine and alder trees crowd the dirt road.

Thunder rumbles in the distance and the first spit of rain hits my coat.

“Give it here,” I say and waggle my fingers at her.

She eyes me, reading my face for my intent, before handing the bottle over.

I take a drink. Apple Six is a bit too sweet for my tastes, but the alcohol warms my insides.

Several more raindrops patter against my coat.

“Where is my place?” she asks, her gaze directed straight ahead.

“What do you mean?”

“With you. With Vane. With all of it.” She turns to me, nabs the bottle back. “Do I even belong with you?”

I would argue that she belongs in Wonderland, no matter what we left behind. I knew Al on the other side, so I can confidently say she’s different over here in the Seven Isles. Like a sailor who’s spent too much time on land, his gaze always fixed on the horizon.

One only needs to spend an hour with her to know there is a constant hum of yearning surrounding her, a hunger that never quite seems satiated. And I know a thing or two about hunger.

“Is that really what you want?”

“What do you mean? Yes?”

“You’re still asking questions instead of giving answers.”

She huffs out in frustration. “Then I demand a place by your side.” She comes to a stop in the middle of the desolate road as lightning flashes in the dark sky above. “With Vane occupied, you’ll need someone you can trust.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “Can I trust you?”

“What do you mean? Of course you can.”

Rain is falling harder now, flattening her hair against her face.

“You’re impatient, reckless, extremely possessive?—”

“I am not.”

“—and you have no control over your power.”

“I can learn to be patient.”

“Can you?”

“Yes!”

Thunder cracks in the sky, and a sudden downpour opens up.

“Come on.” I grab her by the hand and jog ahead to the park that runs through the forest and back toward the sea. There’s a garden in the very center with a boxwood maze, a covered gazebo in the middle.

We’re soaked by the time we make it beneath the roof. I pull off my coat and shake it out, then hang it over the covered railing. Al does the same.

The storm has blown in warmer air from Summerland, turning the morning humid.

Al runs her hand through her hair, pushing out some of the rain.

“Why are you afraid to return to Wonderland?”

Her hand goes still.

“I can’t help but feel like you’re looking for something here that you will never find and deep down you know that.”

“I’m not going back.”

“Why?”

The next crack of thunder reverberates through the wooden floorboards of the gazebo. Alice takes another drink from the Apple Six and winces when she swallows.

“Let’s run home, strip off our wet clothes and fuck until we pass out.”

“Al.”

She pivots, and as she does, some of the tension leaves her shoulders. “Come on. After the night I’ve had.”

“You’re changing the subject.”

She hooks her arm around my neck, pressing her body into mine.

I don’t generally need to be coaxed into bed.

Al and I don’t play games when it comes to fucking.

Not like her and Vane do. But I know she’s just trying to distract me, so she won’t have to answer the question.

And okay, maybe it will work. Maybe she knows that if propositioned, I bend easily.

The rain is a driving force on the roof above us.

Getting home now will require more walking and a long cab ride and while I’m already wet, I don’t much relish the idea of being soaked.

My boots are made from extremely hard-to-acquire leather from Lostland.

I couldn’t replace them if I tried. So we have time to burn.

I run Al back into the railing. She lets out a surprised little huff of air.

“Why don’t we wait for the storm to let up and just fuck right here.”

She smiles up at me. She’s always happiest when she’s getting what she wants.

“Okay.”

Hooking my hands around her thighs, I hoist her up onto the railing and wedge myself between her thighs.