Assuming they know where it is. If it’s even here.
It has to be here.
Sighing, I cross my arms and stamp my foot on the ground. “Honestly. He told me it would be here.”
More glances. “What would?”
I wave a hand nonchalantly, pitching my best airhead impression. “Some club. He told me it was thebestclub. I only go to the best.”
The nasty one takes a step forward. “And have you got a ticket for this club?”
I roll my eyes. “He told me I just had to give his name.”
Laughter. “Someone lied to you. What was his name?”
Taking a breath, I send him a mental apology. “Hatter.”
It’s the only card I have to play. The laughter cuts off immediately, a level of tension replacing it that makes my muscles tighten all over again.
“Hattertold you to come here?” The nasty one smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “You sure about that, little bunny?”
I hold his gaze. “I’m sure. He’s waiting for me inside.”
He throws his head back in a cackle at that, even as the others swap uneasy looks. One of them glances at Nasty. “Rook. If Hatteriswaiting for her…,”
He chortles. “Oh, I’m not stopping her.”
He waves toward the empty warehouse, teeth gleaming. “Go ahead, little bunny. Welcome to Wonder.”
I slip between them, braced for a fight, but they do nothing but watch as I walk slowly up to the dark entrance. A noise sounds in the distance, a bang, and their attention slips from me as I enter.
Not much of a club. The hall I walk down is quiet. The only sound is my feet tapping against the floor, small clouds of dust puffing up in their wake. I steel my nerves as I approach the doormen waiting at the end, but they pay me no attention.
Instead, they slowly pull the doors open. Light spills out across the dusty floor, accompanied by the roar of music and a crowd.
Wonder.
It hits me in a rush, an injection of adrenaline straight into my veins. Color, vibrantcolor, is everywhere I look. The abandoned warehouse has been transformed, taken and twisted into something that reminds me of one of the old fairy tales my father used to tell me at bedtime.
My head cranes up as I stare at the mushrooms, easily fifteen feet tall that tower above my head. They dot throughout the space with dancers suspended between them, their bodies moving with fluid grace as they spin through the air.
One dancer sweeps over my head, the crowd gasping as wings spread out from her back. Masked and mysterious, she sweeps high above the crowd, trailing purple and silver in her wake.
A pop sounds. Cheers ring out as fireworks erupt inside the walls, golden sparks of light in every corner.
Everywhere I look, there’s decadence. I stay where I am for a moment, absorbing it.
Adam would have loved this place.
He loved anything vibrant, anything that reflected the light that shone so brightly inside him – the light that made him a joy to be around.
He would have blended in well in a place like this.
Even with my sleek black dress, my hair intentionally tousled and my eye make-up dark and smokey – I don’t fit in here.
I’m too dark. Too broken.
Slowly, I make my way into the moving, pulsing crowd. Bodies shift and move together, ecstasy on their faces – from the music or something else.
