His stomach dropped.Tell me what? What offer?He pleaded with Tink in silence, but she looked away. The world spun around him. He dropped her hand as if it burned.
The witch knew her name. She hadn’t given it while they were there. Hook stared between them again, breaths coming short and quick.
“I do see you managed to make some dust.” Her fingertips danced across the tabletop as merry as her grin. “Took my advice, huh?”
Dust. Her glow. Of course… It was pixie dust the witch used. And Tink had used him to make more of the precious, wicked substance. Once a trickster, always a trickster. Didn’t he know?Bloody hell. She’d fooled him.
Tink glanced over her shoulder. “I reject your offer.” Her voice warbled, but her pace was stiff as she fled the room.
“Pity,” the witch said as the curtains closed behind the pixie.
“If you’ve played me…” He shook his hook at her.
“I gave you exactly what you wanted, Captain.”
Worn nails dug into his palm. It took everything he had not to wipe the serpentine smile off her face. One more moment and he would.
Hook stormed after his companions and brushed past the shopkeep who said something in an all-too-pleasant voice. Cloudy drizzle greeted him as he stepped out the door. A fierce wind whipped down the street, a match for his inner fury.
“You.” He nearly shook as he stared Tink down.
Smee stepped back, taken unawares. “Captain—”
Hook silenced him with a look. His teeth ground together as he focused on the scowling pixie. “You met with her.”
She crossed her arms and notched her chin higher.
“Without us. Didn’t even tell me.”
Smee looked between them, wide-eyed.
“Because I had so much time? I was drunk, then you…” Her cheeks flushed. “You were gone when I woke up! Besides, we’ve got bigger problems.” As if on cue, thunder boomed.
They didn’t have time for this. Loathe as he was to admit it, they did have bigger issues, and they demanded attention. Now. He couldn’t put his crew—his family—at risk. They’d wasted enough time.
“There!” Tink gaped, pointing down the street. In a heartbeat she was sprinting past him, boots slapping on the wet cobblestones.
Hook grabbed her, nearly sending her slipping to the ground as he pulled her to a halt. “Where do you think—”
“The boy! We have to get him!”
He twisted his head in the direction of her frantic waving. A boy stood frozen, looking back at them, before he darted down an alley.
“Now!” she screeched, tugging against him.
Why take an interest in this one kid? “He’s fine. We have bigger worries.”
“No!” She wrenched free and glanced either way, her eyes wide. “He’s one of Peter’s. They’re with Captain Blackbeard.”
The words smacked him like an icy squall.
Fuck.
“If he heard the witch’s instructions…” Her body shook.
Fuck.
Smee ran a hand through his damp hair. “We gotta—”
