We hit bottom, another huge wave lifting over the ship and crashing down with a vengeance. Then we start up another peak. I can see the top of it, which tells me the sky is changing. Lightening. To the right, I can see the edge of swirling clouds, and beyond it, the moon shines on a calm ocean.
We’re almost out of the raging tempest. I crow with delight and hold onto the railing as I creep toward the wheel.
He’s there. I can see his figure in sharp relief from the next bolt of lightning. His tricorn on his head, his body taut as he holds the wheel and guides the Jolly Roger out of the maw of the storm.
Something grabs my ankle, and I scream.
“Get down!” Smee pulls, and I drop to my knee. He’s tethered to the railing, his entire being drenched. “The gale will knock you into the sea.” He reaches for the knot at my waist and yanks on it, making it tighter.
“Is he okay?” I yell and point at Hook.
“Of course he is. He’s thecaptain!” He pulls me down beside him, then uses the slack in my rope to tie it to the rail beside his own knot. “Stay down! We’re almost out of it!”
I open my mouth to argue but get smacked in the face by another wave. Salty.
Even in the deluge, Smee manages to give me a look of total disdain. I ignore him and watch my captain, the way he faces the storm without backing down. He seems larger than life, even more imposing than the legend Wendy passed down. All I can do is stare as he stands against the drenching rain and angry sea, his eyes forward, his body almost part of the ship despite the turmoil all around. He has no fear, no doubt. He knows who he is.
The wind begins to falter. Just a little at first, then more until it’s no longer whistling past my ears. Lightning still strikes all around the ship, but the waves seem to lessen, the splash from the ship crashing down one side and up the other not as brutal.
It’s some sort of enchantment, some magic of Neverland that keeps this perpetual tempest blowing while calm waters are within sight.
I ease my hold on the rope around me and get to my knees.
Hook seems to sense me, because he turns, his gaze on me as he gives me a cocky smirk. He can be such an asshole, but he’s good at it. He’s so fucking good at it that I can’t help but love him. I realize I never had a chance. Not when he came for me or anytime thereafter. He was already in my heart somehow. Waiting. Dormant. My love for him prepared to burst forth like the first bloom from a frozen ground.
He tips his hat at me, water sluicing off it, then turns back to the wheel.
Something moves on the staircase to the lower decks, and then I see Anne. Her eyes are wild as she runs for Hook, something in her hand. It looks like a knife from the galley.
“Hook!” I scream, but he doesn’t see her fast enough. She hits him full force and stabs her knife into his back.
I stand and run for him, but the tightened rope yanks me back, slamming me onto my back and sending agony racing through my wings.
“James!” I scream and get back up, then work at the knot at my waist.
“Captain!” Smee unties himself, then struggles to his feet as the ship crests another wave. He falls to the side, his arms flailing as he loses his balance.
When I get free, I run for Hook, but he and Anne are fighting hand-to-hand in a blur as we ride down another large wave.
I’m almost to them when we hit the bottom, the ship lists forward and then to the side with no one at the wheel. A wave crashes onto the deck, swamping it. The sheer force of it washes both Hook and Anne overboard into the turbulent black water.
ChapterSeventeen
“Hook!” I scramble toward the side of the ship.
Smee wraps his arm around my waist and drags me back from the railing.
“Let go!” I scream and try to look over the side. He has to be there somewhere, maybe swimming or hanging onto one of the ropes.
“No! You’ll go over too!” Smee yanks me back to the wheel, then grabs hold of it.
The ship evens out, and I throw my elbow into him, hitting him in the ribs. He lets me go with a grunt, and I rush back to the railing.
“Hook!” I scream, but the rain still pours, and thunder dims my cries. I can’t see him. I can’t see anything except foamy black water that roils and seethes.
“We have to go back!” I yell at Smee.
“There’s no going back!”
