“They’re all gone,” I whisper. A gnawing melancholy settles inside me as I look around at the cream-colored houses with thatch roofs. There are no families inside, no children running around, no music, no life. It’s unnatural. Even the air has a clammy feeling, as if it clings to me with tendrils of dread.
“Here, lass. Let me carry you.” Hook reaches for me.
“No. I need to do this on my own.” I put up a hand. “I have to see it through.” I hurt all over, and I’m already winded, but if I’m going to find the Spinner, I have to do it on my own two feet.
He looks to argue, then takes a breath and my hand. “All right. We’ll do it your way.”
We keep going past several houses and what looks to have been a creative district. Windows are lined with seashells, and mannequins inside wear ornate clothing that I’m certain would impress even Nessie.
The glowing green moss lights the way past the town and deeper into some rolling hills where farmhouses stand in disrepair, the small fields around them growing wild. Farther still, the road narrows and turns into hard-packed dirt. When we come to a rise, I look up to find a set of jagged mountains, the tops dusted with white and veins of silver glinting in the moonlight. They’re something from a dream, a beautiful vista of sharp edges and cold beauty.
“Have a rest.” Hook eases me onto a stone bench at the roadside, then strides off toward Starkey.
They have a whispered conversation as Shiner and Widow come over to me.
“It’s sad.” I stare at the nearest farmhouse, the front door off its hinges and the inside dark. “It feels like there’s so much missing.”
“There is.” Widow sits beside me. “This should be a village with hundreds of fae. Now, there’s no one.”
“I thought we’d find the Spinner.” I glance at Hook. From the look on his face, I can tell he thought we should’ve found her by now, too. “She was supposed to be here. But there’s no one.”
“Maybe she’s fled to the mountains.” Shiner leans on a fence post. “We have enough supplies to do an expedition into the foothills, at the very least.”
“She doesn’t have time for an expedition,” Widow says quietly.
Shiner turns to me, her face falling somewhat. “Yeah. You’re right.”
“I look that bad, huh?” I let Widow pull me to her side. Resting my head on her shoulder, I close my eyes.
“We’re going to figure this out, my darling.” Widow presses her cheek to my crown. “We have to.”
I take that as a ‘yes, you look that bad.’
“Where the fuck is she?” Hook yells, desperation in his plea.
“How should I know?” Starkey throws his hands up.
“Go back through the village. Tell the crew to go house by house. Look everywhere. Find her.”
“Yes, Captain.” Starkey turns and takes off at a run.
Hook stalks toward me, then stops, taking a deep breath.
It makes my lips twitch—the way he reins in his temper before he gets anywhere near me.
“We’ll find her.” He moves to my side and rests his gaze on the mountains. “She’s here. Shehasto be here.”
“But what if she’s not?” I take his hand.
He shakes his head. “Don’t talk like that, lass.”
I ask the question that I know he’s been thinking. “If my mother couldn’t find her, what chance did I really have?”
“This isn’t over.” He pulls me away from Widow and into his lap. “Don’t give up, lass.” He grips my jaw lightly and forces me to look at him. “Promise me you won’t give up.”
I want to say the words, but I don’t want to lie to him. Not now.
“Lass, please.” His eyes water.
