“But,” he continued, “if James has any pertinent information in regards to where your brothers are, I promise to get him to tell me, and I’ll tell you exactly what was said.”
I frowned. Already he twisted it because what if Hook didn’t know anything? What if he lied? I huffed out a breath, doing my best to keep myself from glaring at him. It was me who should have known better. The Imp never tried to be anything other than what he already was. I shouldn’t have rushed anything, trying to get what I so desperately wanted.
“Darling, are you sure you need to go to this cafe?” the Imp asked, returning his attention to Alice instead of keeping it on me.
“I think it’s necessary that I speak to her,” she said. “No one knows what it’s like to interact with Pan. Not really. And the guys back in the Forest didn’t seem terribly concerned over her. They just looked at this as something else to do, another box to check off. But this is a big deal and she should have the freedom to bring her concerns to light without worrying about what everyone else thinks.”
Somehow, this removed a giant amount of pressure from my chest. It was like I was lying on my back with a flat boulder on top of me, pinning me in place. Not only could I not move, but I couldn’t ask for help because I should already know what to do. I should take a risk. I should put any personal feelings aside because this was what was best for the town and something as personal as that, something inherently selfish, should be ignored in favor of the greater good.
But I didn’t care about anyone else. I should, I knew, because I knew Maryanne did. It was what made her so alluring to everyone else. Her kindness. Her heart. Her compassion. And while I knew I could be kind and I could be compassionate, those weren’t characteristics I would have used right away to describe myself.
Tenacious. Determined. Practical. Yes.
But my focus wasn’t on saving the world. I only wanted to save my brothers, and whatever I needed to do in order to get that, I would. If it meant saving the world along with finding my brothers, fine. But I couldn’t waver from the goal, no matter what was at stake. So many people had forgotten about the Lost Boys. Even my parents had moved on with their lives—a divorce later, sure, but they weren’t still consumed with a strange mixture of hope and grief.
“Ready?” Alice asked. She reached out to touch my forearm, thought better of it, and then allowed the arm to fall to her side. It was obvious she was as uncomfortable with physical contact as I was.
Except from certain bow-and-arrow bandits.
But no.
I wouldn’t think of Robin right now.
She nodded, and the two of us began to make our way to the cafe. We were still on the outskirts of town, the Blood Forest pressed directly behind us. We needed to go into the main portion of town if we wanted to get to The White Rabbit.
“You know,” the Imp said, walking alongside Alice. “I could just magic us there.”
“No,” Alice said, scrunching up her face. “Did you see her? She almost threw up. Don’t be so selfish.”
“It was just a suggestion.” He put up his hands in mock-surrender.
It was strange to watch the two interact. I couldn’t help but find the fear I had for the Imp dissipated the more I watched him spend time with Alice. I wasn’t sure if it was the casual way he carried himself when it was just the two of them—and me—but there was an ease there that I couldn’t believe existed. Alice could talk to him however she pleased. That wasn’t to say she was rude by any means, but she was direct and there didn't seem to be any fear controlling her tongue. The comfort level she had around him was much stronger than any level I might have had with anyone else.
“You don’t have to come, you know,” Alice said in a low voice.
We passed buildings and shops. The streets were somewhat congested as the rush hour traffic was only just beginning. Passersby’s eyes widened when they realized who Alice and the Imp were. Some went as far as to cross the street, just to keep from possibly making any sort of contact with the Imp. He didn’t seem perturbed by it, and neither did Alice, but that they had no qualms about being so direct about it was disconcerting. Were they not afraid of the Imp any longer? Or had he suddenly become irrelevant when Pan seemed to pose more of a threat?
“Of course, I have to come,” the Imp replied. “I won’t sit at your table, if that’s what has you concerned, but I will not allow you to roam around with no sort of protection when my brother wants nothing more than to snuff the life from us.”
“Are we even sure we know what Pan wants?” she asked, glancing up at him.
The Imp placed his hand on the small of her back, directing her around some splattered fruit that must have fallen from a customer after leaving the farmer’s market the other day. How it hadn’t been cleaned yet just showed how different the town management’s priorities were.
“Power,” the Imp said flatly. “That's never changed and we both know it. However he can get that power, he will. Even if it means entertaining branches of the lesser Fae families. Even if it means selecting a first-wife Mother will pick out.”
“True wife.” Alice and I spoke at the same time, and heat crept up to warm my cheeks.
“Ah, she speaks,” the Imp said, glancing over his broad shoulder and giving me a wink. “Yes, True-Wife. The Fae are experiencing an infant drought, as we’ve already discussed. It’s quite common, especially for royalty, to take multiple wives, as that only increases the chances of one getting pregnant. And, if all the wives are legally married, the number of heirs grows. The Houses the wives belong to will swear allegiance to the crown. And the children produced will only solidify the king’s position.”
“That’s a lot to unpack,” I murmured.
“What if Pan doesn’t want to get married at all?” Alice asked. She went to press the pedestrian crosswalk button, but the Imp clapped his hands and traffic came to a change so we didn’t have to wait.
“I’m sure he doesn’t, but dear Mummy won’t give him much of a choice. There must be an heir, you see. And since Rapunzel has been missing, she’s been wrought with paranoia that the Mad Mage is behind everything. They truly believe he’s going to lead some kind of attack on them in order to get his kingdom back. And while I understand the concern, it’s not going to do him any favors but bending over to Mother’s whims.”
I wrinkled my nose at the visual he just painted.
Some shouting caught my attention. Even the Imp and Alice slowed their walking to see what was going on. Someone stood on what appeared to be a wooden box a farmer might have packed fruit in to sell to the local grocer or at the farmer’s market. A bullhorn was in his hand and he was shouting things difficult to decipher to a crowd of twenty to thirty people. They all seem to respond to him in the positive.
Despite the need to speak to Alice about what to expect, I found myself slowing so I could try to listen in. Rarely was anyone protesting in Wonderland. It wasn’t something that happened. But these people were livid.
A couple of them had homemade signs, each with some kind of saying on it. One read Go away, Fae while another said, Not my mayor.
Other passersby slowed to watch the scene unfold as well. Some murmured in such low voices, I couldn’t hear a word of what they were saying, but judging by the worry or even the shock on their faces, I was pretty sure it had to do with the blatant opposition of something like this.
“Even the population hates the Fae,” the Imp said.
“Can you blame them?” Alice replied. “The Red Queen, even though she was an evil bitch who stole their magic, was one of them. The Fae are outsiders who don’t know anything about Wonderland or the people who live here. And to know that their intent is to rule over us…” She shook her head. “They aren’t going to be pleased with that.”
“Yes, but opposing Pan so blatantly isn’t smart,” the Imp said seriously. “There will be severe consequences.”
“He can’t kill them.” Alice glanced up at him, waiting for him to confirm this, even though she hadn’t asked it like it was a question.
“Clearly,” the Imp agreed. “But Pan will take this personally. He may hate mortals, but he won’t tolerate a little rebellion going on. It will show the other Fae that he’s weak, especially if he does nothing to punish the humans for so blatantly disrespecting him. And Pan is –”
“Yeah, yeah, Power.”
It wasn’t much longer before we reached the cafe. It was a small building packed between a boutique and a laundromat. There was a flower shop across the way and a movie theatre as well playing a couple of films that had come out a few weeks ago. I blinked. It had been a while since I ventured downtown. It wasn’t even tourist season, but I still wanted to be prepared for the onslaught of people that would be vacationing here to see their families. Humans didn’t know about this place, but other magically inclined creatures certainly did, and it was always a pain to deal with extended families while simultaneously dealing with humidity.
“I’m serious,” the Imp said as he opened the door for us.
There were only a couple of people inside, but everyone there immediately froze the second they saw the Imp. Or was it Alice? Either way, no one moved a tense muscle. If anything, they wanted to see what was going to happen. Neither Alice nor the Imp looked directly over at anyone else. If anything, they focused on the repeat conversation of Pan’s desire for power and respect among his people and his parents, not noticing the attention they commanded simply by walking into the room.
Except, I knew they must not appreciate it. And I knew they had to deal with it wherever they went.
“...magic traitor,” someone whispered. “How could she be with him?”
“She’s a fucking whore, that’s why.”
I froze. There was no way they didn’t hear that. And judging by the absolute stillness of the Imp, I knew he heard it just as well.
Without warning, the Imp disappeared. Alice dropped her chin to her chest, one hand gingerly touching her forehead as pink touched her cheeks. I opened my mouth, ready to ask if she was okay, when the Imp popped somewhere behind me. Without warning, he took a man who glared so hard at Alice; he hadn’t realized he had caught the attention of Rumpelstiltskin’s wrath, and threw him through the glass window.
My mouth dropped open, and I jerked back.
The Imp wiped his hands before readjusting his suit, ensuring no amount of wrinkles were left to linger on him. He snapped his fingers and, while the glass repaired itself so it was brand new, the guy on the concrete outside hadn’t moved. He hadn’t even groaned.
“Was that necessary?” Alice whispered as we moved up in line.
“When it comes to you, always.” His playfulness was gone. “I will not have anyone disrespecting you that way, be it human or Fae. You are mine to protect.”
“You keep saying that,” she muttered. “I have my own magic. I can protect myself.”
“And, darling, you’ll never have to.” He took his hand in hers and brought it up so he could kiss her skin.
I looked away. It was nothing blatant. In fact, the gesture itself was sweet and subtle. And yet, there was that feeling that I had stumbled on something intimate that I wasn’t allowed to see. I didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. I certainly didn’t want to make myself uncomfortable. It was just easy for everyone if I looked away…even if they didn’t notice me at all because they stood in front of me.
“Well, you doing something like that isn’t helping to bridge the humans and the Fae,” she said, dropping her arm to her side.
“That isn’t my job,” the Imp pointed out. “It’s Pan’s. If this means I get to make his job harder, all the better, though I wish they had more sense not to insult you where I can hear. The fact that humans have grown bolder troubles me.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I worry they’re going to do something terribly stupid,” he said.
At that point, we had reached the front of the line. The barista’s mouth dropped open in surprise when she realized the Imp was in line. How she didn’t know he was there after that little display of window-shattering prowess, I had no idea. Maybe she was that focused on her job.
“Uh, how may I help you?” Though her voice came out meek, she couldn’t help the way her eyes flitted up and down the Imp’s form. He might be a Fae, but he was beautiful. It would be an outright lie to deny that.
The two ordered, and then the Imp glanced back at me. It was the first time he had done that since we arrived, like he had completely forgotten I had existed until just then.
“Oh, um, I’ll take a hot chocolate with extra whip cream, please.”
The barista nodded, though she shot me looks tinged with both concern and confusion. Probably because I wasn’t anyone important and yet, I was accompanied by the two most powerful beings in Wonderland.
Except maybe Pan.
I didn’t know much about him. That was the part that frightened me the most.
As the Imp paid for the drinks, Alice led me to an open table tucked in the corner of the small cafe. There was a napkin dispenser and stained ringlets on the surface. I plopped down in a wiry chair, sighing. It felt good to get off my feet.
“Now that that’s taken care of,” Alice said. “Let’s talk.”