Chapter 54

***Alicia***

I wake with a delicious ache through my whole body. It is more bliss than pain. Like I’ve just woken from a very well-rested sleep. This wave of calming energy runs through me now. My first is it icy is to be worried at the pulse of energy in me but that only lasts a second. I feel better than I have in a long time and the reasons for that are sprawled all around me in a tangle of limbs. One of the guys grunted when I shift and accidentally elbow them. I cringe and try harder not to hurt anyone else as I remove myself from the naked pile.

To my surprise, I see Rowan is still naked and sprawled out on the bed along with the others. He’s new to this so I thought he might be more self-conscious about being naked around the other guys. Back home there isn’t a stigma with nudity like here and the guys were used to being naked around each other so it didn’t bother them. Rowan was always meant to be one of us, and now he finally was. Last night proved that and now that I'm…free so much is clear.

As soon as I walk into my bathroom I face myself in the mirror. A gasp escapes me when I see my eyes. My usual grey eyes have changed. Now one of my eyes was black while the other remained grey. At least the black in my different eye was restricted to my iris and pupil instead of the entire eye. That would be a fright to see and a lot harder to hide with colored lenses for sure. In fact, it was about time I stopped pretending to be something else at all. I know this is all going to bite me in the ass as soon as Wendell finds out, but it’s too late now.

I’m not sure what he’ll do, but unless he calls me out for another interrogation the odds of seeing him any time soon is low. He doesn’t bother with the club if he can help it. Opening it was his first step into starting his business and now it was just a cover and a backup way to make money. He’s an idiot for starting anything here, to begin with considering what risk it could be, but he’s cocky enough to risk being exposed. Or worse opening the door to let something else into this world.

My breath hitches at that thought. Opening the door…fuck! It can’t be. I want to wake the guys up and tell them what I suspect but I desperately need a shower. I jump in and wash as quickly as I can and wrap up in a bowl when I’m done. The room is quiet other than the sounds of the guys sleeping, so I do my best to move a silently as possible. I’m sure Cree will notice me soon enough with his super hearing, but I won’t mind him tagging along. We have a lot of time together to make up for, and I sort of adore the guy.

I grab a black mini skirt, and a loose black tank forgoing a bra. Free the girls I say, and I want to go snooping before anyone else wakes up. I’m sure Dorian is out right now too, so I should be free and clear. No one ever bothered going near it since we arrived since it was ruined, but I’m curious now. Could it be working again? Did something get through?

As I suspected, a warm body curls around my back and my whole body relaxes against it.

“Kitten…” Cree purrs against my ear making me shiver. “Are you sneaking away?”

“Maybe. Why want to come?” I whisper to him.

He licks the shell of my ear and I have to bite back a moan. My kitty cat has a wicked tongue.

“I’ll go anywhere with you my Alicia.”

I turn in his arms lifting to my toes and stealing a kiss from his soft plump lips. Gods above he was an amazing kisser and you know what I said about his tongue. It’s wicked and delicious. Our kiss becomes deeper and I feel the crackle of energy coming alive from his touch, but I have a mission and if we keep doing this I’ll forget all about it. With a great deal of restraint, I break the kiss and look up into his pretty eyes.

“Later?” I offer.

I laugh softly when his lower lip pops out in an adorable pout.

“I promise you can do all the wicked things you are conjuring up in your mind to me once we’re done.”

He narrows his eyes on me. “Kiss swear?”

I shake my head and accept his kiss. “Kiss swear.”

“Alright. What are we doing?” He whispers as I lead him out of my bedroom.

Actually, I might try to convince the boys to move in with me. It’s more convenient if I don’t have to go looking for them when I need a fix or a cuddle. That’s a conversation for later…right now I have some investigating to do.

“I need to go to the studio,” I tell him and he nearly takes my arm off when he stops suddenly.

I fall back against him. “Sorry. Kitten…it’s dangerous.” He says looking serious for once.

“I know but I have a theory, and I want to see if it’s possible,” I tell him.

“What’s the theory?”

“What if the thing that killed that person wasn’t from here? The thing poisoned you. It’s clearly not human, so maybe…”

“It’s from Wonderland.” He finishes my thought and I nod. “Nothing can go through it anymore. So how could that be possible?”

I sigh. “I don't know but what are the odds that something that can poison like that comes from the human world?”

“It would make sure but how? If it was open for passage again Wendell would have locked it up or destroyed it.” He makes a point which I’m wondering as well.

“All questions I’m hoping to answer by taking a look.”

He gives me a worried look but eventually nods. I slip my hand in his and lead him down the stairs and stop in front of the wall to the left of us. It looks like a wall, but only to those not from Wonderland. I see a shimmering quality to it, and I don’t hesitate to step through it. Cree follows me through and we stand looking down the dark hallway. The air is so still that it almost makes it feel like there is no air at all. It was an illusion as well. Humans tend to panic easily and walking into a space where the air felt too thin to breathe would make them run right back where they came from.

We head down the hallway silently and I admit I’m wondering if we’ll run into someone. I realize that it would be easy for me to find out. I’m not shakled anymore. Slowly I let my mind and my senses open. At first, all I hear is noise. Very small noise sounds amplified by ten, but when I focus hard enough I am able to quiet them enough to listen for what’s closest to me. I don’t sense movement or hear anyone nearby. We continue a little faster now that I know the coast is clear. The hallway ends and a single door stands in front of us. My guess is that it was a private space for whoever worked here. I reach out tentatively and touch the handle of the door. A wave of pain like I've never felt shoots up my arm forcing me to release it and stumble back.

“Shit that hurt.” I hiss shaking my hand out as if that will help.

“He must have spelled it. I can try to get through, but he would take that into account. The idiot who isn’t an idiot.”

I let out a weak laugh. He isn’t wrong. Wendell was an idiot in a lot of ways but on some occasions, he knows what he’s doing. Mostly when it came to his money and his business. He didn’t take chances with that kind of thing.

“No. Let me try something…” I close my eyes and tried to focus on the part of me I had kept locked away for so long.

Dark swirls dance around in my mind like figures moving to soft music. I focus harder and it’s almost like I can feel darkness sliding through my body. In my mind, I reach out and let out some of the darkness. The first thing I feel is a burning sensation but that quickly changes to something cold. When I open my eyes I gasp at the long shadowy tendril brushing past my fingers from the palm of my hand.

“Beautiful,” Cree says in awe and I nod in agreement.

It is beautiful...