Follow the White Rabbit (Beautiful Madness, #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

owned the entire town, no less. Marc.
But instead of turning her in, he’d fed her and helped to hide her tracks. He
too saw the library as his personal sanctuary, but Marc was never one to horde
things for himself.
    He’d helped her hide for almost two
years, and somewhere along the way they had hatched big plans for the future
that would set each of them apart from the paths they had each been born to
take.
    When Marc had turned eighteen, he bought
the house in Tildoor and took Gwen on as his business partner, though what
their business was seemed to change from month to month. Marc had the ideas;
Gwen found ways to make them happen.
    He’d helped others along the way
too—friends he met both before and after he could list himself among
Wonderland’s wealthy—but in the end it was always just the two of them. Marc
and Gwen. The others simply disappeared once they got what they came for. Gwen
suspected this was because she was the only one who saw value not in Marc’s
money, but in what he chose to do with it. She admired how he was always
pushing to create something new, but she would never voice those thoughts
aloud. Marc valued his friends above all else, even if they didn’t always
extend him the same courtesy.
    Gwen was determined to always be the
type of friend he deserved.
    Of course, with the White Queen standing
in their foyer, Gwen had to consider that maybe there was more to Marc’s
mysterious friendships than she knew. The woman in front of her would have no
use for Marc’s wealth.
    “What can I get for you, your majesty?”
Gwen asked, wringing her hands in front of her stomach as the White Queen
surveyed their lounge.
    “You can call her Rose,” Marc offered
unhelpfully.
    Gwen’s face contorted into a look
crossed between outrage and utter embarrassment, but Marc missed it entirely as
he made his way to the overstuffed sofa. “No. I cannot.”
    “No, really... it’s fine.” The Queen waved
her hand dismissively as she glided gracefully across the room and took a seat
on one of the plain, wooden dining chairs. Marc shrugged and picked up the book
that had been left open beside him.
    Gwen sputtered, unsure of how to
respond. Rose Lennon didn’t rule in Neverwood Forest, but she also wasn’t just
another client. And she wasn’t someone she could risk insulting by accident.
    “Please, relax. The last thing I need is
someone else forgetting that I’m an actual person. I need the best. Marc
insists that’s you, but you won’t be much help to me if you’re constantly
distracted by silly things like titles and curtsies.”
    Ugh. I forgot to curtsy. Gwen’s face flushed
a deep red. “What brings you to our part of the forest... Rose?” In attempting to
sound casual, the words tripped over themselves as they fell out of Gwen’s
mouth, but now it was the Queen’s turn to look uncomfortable.
    “You’re sure she can be trusted?” Rose’s
eyes never left Gwen’s, although the question clearly hadn’t been meant for
her.
    Who was she to come into her home and
treat her like she was the one who should be questioned? Well, that answer was
obvious. But it was still insulting!
    If she wanted to be treated like
everyone else, then that was what she would get.
    “You hear that Marc? Apparently she
doesn’t trust your judgment. Her majesty doesn’t think we mere commoners can
help her.” A small smile played on Gwen’s lips as she waited to see if her
royal highness would rise to the bait. Not that it was much in terms of banter
bait, but even if she hadn’t been the Queen, she was still Marc’s friend. And
potentially a paying customer.
    Marc, of course, remained silent. He
preferred to stay blessedly neutral at all times.
    Rose didn’t even have the decency to
look away. No, she actually seemed to be enjoying herself. “Well you do look a
little strange. Not entirely sound of mind.”
    “Well shucks. I do believe that is the
politest way I’ve ever been told I look crazy. Thank you so