“They hoisted me, my feet kicking, my arms flailing.” He closes his eyes as if he can still see it, still feel the rope around his neck. “I passed out and woke under the same tree. I was soaked with their piss, my book and papers thrown into the river. They thought they’d killed me, I learned later.”
“I’m sorry.” I can’t imagine what that was like. I don’t want to.
“Don’t be. I had my revenge. First on the ones who were there, and later—once I’d gone back to the streets where I belonged and amassed a crew and enough money to take to the sea—I preyed on the nobles. Stealing their goods, sinking their ships, taking what I wanted. I was a scourge.” He smiles a little. “That was before I ventured to the triangle and found my way to so many other worlds. Though this one is my home.”
“You chose Neverland?”
“Neverland chose me.” He picks through my hair, pulling out the pins Widow had so carefully placed. “It’s where I belong.”
“How many people have you killed?”
He sputters a laugh. “No foreplay for you. Right into the thick of it.”
“I don’t know. It just seems like maybe I should get to know the villain I’m in bed with.”
He picks the rest of them free and tosses them into the sink. “Come, lass, to bed with you then.” He rises and helps me from the tub, then dries me off with a towel a bit too vigorously as I protest.
By the time he’s done, I’m clean and dry, and then he carries me to his bed. “Here is where you belong.” He lays me down and climbs in beside me.
When he pulls me to his chest, I sigh. “Everyone’s going to know.”
“If they don’t know from the noises you made in the study, by god I’ll take you down there and do it again.”
I laugh. “Not necessary.”
“I’ll do it anyway, lass.” He kisses my hair. “After you’ve had a rest.”
“If you’re such a bad guy, why are you so good to me?” I yawn.
“You know why.” He runs his hand up and down my back, soothing every bit of me.
I do. He wished for love, and he thinks the island gave me to him in answer. But I still have that nagging thought about Peter. He made a wish, too. He thinks I’m the answer to it, too. Who’s right?
“I can hear the wheels turning again. Shut it down. Rest now. You’ll need your strength. We’re setting sail tomorrow.”
“To the Fairy Village?”
“Aye. To the far north of the island. You can’t get to it by land, not unless you cross the Silver Mountains. But that journey is treacherous, to say the least.”
“What happened to the fairies and the Guardians that are missing?”
“I don’t know, lass. I wish I did.” He pulls the blanket over us. “Sleep now. We’ll know more once we reach the village.”
I close my eyes and listen to the steady thrum of his heart. I didn’t plan on staying or going with him to the Fairy Village. I didn’t plan on having sex with him either, but here I am.
If I’m smart, I’ll steal the fairy dust from Geo and leave this island. But Tiger Lily and Hook both think my best chance of figuring out my place here—and the way to stop me from going full-on prune—is with the fairies.
I’m at a fork in the road. One path leads to the mainland, the other to Hook. Which one should I take? I know which one my heart wants. It’s here in this bed with me.
My mind starts to drift into sleep, my body worn out and my soul at ease. That’s when I realize I can have both. I can meet with Geo and either steal or talk him out of the fairy dust, and then I can come back to Hook and sail with him to the Fairy Village. That way I’ll have an out. If things go wrong, I can always use the fairy dust and get myself back home.
This is going to work perfectly. I love it when a plan comes together.
ChapterSeventeen
The boys on the island vary, of course, in numbers, according as they get killed and so on; and when they seem to be growing up, which is against the rules, Peter thins them out.
Nessie putters around in the kitchen as I snag some buttered toast from the pile on the table. “Did you have fun last night, child?” She gives me a knowing smile.
