“What about Hook? We should wait for him.” I wipe my face, my hand coming away wet. “We can’t—”
“I’ll stay here.” Smee’s voice sounds a million miles away. “I’ll wait for him.”
How can I leave the ship when this is where he’ll be headed? I can’t.
“Moira.” Widow pulls away and forces me to look her in the eye. “You have to get up.”
“I don’t think I can.” I shake my head.
“You must. For the island. For all of us. Youmustbe brave.”
They’rehiswords. He told me to be brave once. But I’ve never been like him, not stalwart and strong. I’m just me.
“Moira!” Widow shakes me. “You have to remember why he brought you here. Do you think he’d want you to sit here and fall apart when you could finally set Neverland right again?”
I blink, her words sinking in slowly.
“He brought you to the heart of the island. This is where you’re meant to be. You have to finish what you started. That’s what he would want.”
She’s right. I know she’s right. But that doesn’t do anything to plug the gaping hole in my heart where Hook used to live. He should be here.
“How did she get out?” I ask. “Anne.”
“She worried one of the bolts out of the floor and used it to pick the lock.” Her gaze drops for a moment. “She cut Alf Mason from ear to ear when he stumbled on her making her escape.”
More blood on my hands. I prevented Hook from killing Anne. I’m the reason she was able to escape. “Corey. He lived in the dorm room next to mine. He was there to protect me. Hook sent him.” I feel dazed, unsure of everything around me. “He’s dead?”
“Yes, but you aren’t, Moira. You’re alive, and you’re right here where you need to be to fix this. All of it.”
A fresh wave of tears roll down my cheeks. “Will it bring him back?” I ask quietly.
She sighs, her eyes sad. “James Hook belongs to the sea. Always has.” She grips my shoulder and pulls me closer until our foreheads are touching. “If he could be here with you, he would. You know that.”
I do know that. Hook would’ve done anything to keep me out of harm’s way.
“Come on,” she whispers. “Let’s get this done. For Hook. For all the ones we’ve lost.”
I refuse to believe I’ve lost him. My heart can’t go there. Not now. Maybe not ever. But she’s right. I have to finish this.
I sniff and wipe my cheeks again. “I’m ready.”
She gets to her feet, then offers me her hand.
When she pulls me up, I find the entire crew on the deck, all of them watching us with somber faces. Their grief is just as keen as mine, the pain in their eyes like a mirror. My soul hangs in tatters, ripped to shreds by loss, and I feel the same echo in them. Cookson weeps quietly and mops his cheeks with his kerchief.
Shiner follows us solemnly to the rowboat where Starkey lowers it to the sea.
I climb down with numb hands and an even number heart. The boat rocks, but I can’t feel the motion of it. All I can do is stare at the now-distant storm that swirls and rages, feasting on the lifeblood of the only man I’ll ever love.
* * *
We makecamp at the mouth of the caves. They form a labyrinth, the crystal structures hiding pitfalls and dead ends as they rise and dip. But the mouth is easy to spot. It gapes into the night, darker than the clear stone around it, as if it eats what little light shines from the moon.
“You need ter eat.” Cookson puts a bowl of stew in my hand.
I’ve lost track of time again and hadn’t realized he was on the beach yet, much less that he’d cooked an entire meal.
“Thank you.” I take it from him, my movement mechanical.
