She glanced at James. He glared at Sophus, who snorted.
“You can stay there. Come, Wendy Darling. I want to show you something.”
Ice slid down her neck and into her extremities. Did Sophus know about her brothers, or was he using that pet name ignorantly?
They reached the railing. “There. Do you see that?” He pointed to what looked like empty ocean in the morning mist.
Wendy shook her head. “I see nothing.”
Sophus patted the arm he held. “Just wait.”
The fading fog swirled in mesmerizing patterns over the water as it slowly dissipated. Several minutes later, jarring movements became visible. There, on a bump of land, lounged a prime example of Wendy’s least favoritespecies, flicking her tail back and forth in undisguised annoyance. As the ship continued forward, the creature propped herself up and started waving.
“A mermaid?” Wendy couldn’t help asking with disgust.
He chuckled. “I see you’re as big a fan as I am. No, that part is a surprise to me, too.” He drew in a slow, steady breath.
The ship came within shouting distance, and the mermaid took advantage. “Yoohoo, Sophie!”
The man at Wendy’s side grit his teeth, then smiled with all the charm he usually oozed. “Hello there, enchanting one. What brings you to this inauspicious island?”
Wendy doubted you could call the tiny sandbar an island. It housed a single, scraggly palm tree that seemed to be surviving out of sheer spite. She also seriously doubted the faery could wrap her fish mind around the word “inauspicious.”
The mermaid giggled and preened.
When waiting got no other response, Sophus asked again, “Why are you here?”
“Oh! Peter wants you back on Neverland as soon as possible.” She threw a flirtatious smile at him.
“Thank you, gorgeous. I’ll finish the nasty part of today’s business and head there straightaway.” He turned his back to the faery and sneered all the scorn he apparently couldn’t let her see. Then he stalked over to the trussed captive lying on the deck.
“As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, Hook, Peter is tired of your antics and has decided your death is of more use than your life,” Sophus addressed James with friendly indifference. “I asked if I could be the one to dispose of you, and my lord granted my request.” His smile held an inner joy. “It’s been fun, but . . .” He shrugged and walked over to Wendy.
She straightened her back and met him eye-to-eye, realizing for the first time that he wasn’t much taller than she was.
“Wendy, Wendy, Wendy.” He stalked a circle around her. “I had no plans to drag you into this. I don’t have any instructions from Peter about you because . . . he doesn’t know you're here,” he said with a light laugh. “If you want to ditch this partial man and become the lady ofmyship, we could end this unpleasantness here and now. Whaddaya say?”
“No, thank you,” she answered with utmost politeness. Her chances were grim with James but abysmal without him.
The congeniality dropped from Sophus’ face and voice. “Have it your way. Toss ’em,” he directed his men.
Two of his crew—Berach and Mergen, Wendy thought—grabbed James and bodily dragged him to the side ofthe ship. Neither expected him to fight back, so he was able to lunge for Sophus and grabbed the hilt of the oversized sword before they succeeded in shoving him over. Wendy peered into the water and saw James resurface. He began swimming the short distance to the microbeach.
Sophus was yelling, but she missed the sense of it because someone seized her around the knees and launched her into the air. The cold water smacked her in the face before she fully realized she was falling. The suddenness meant Wendy hadn’t been able to grab a lungful of air. Panic tried to control her limbs, but she forced a modicum of calm.
With desperate determination, she stopped thrashing and focused on letting herself float. The dress tangled around her legs, and her bound wrists made it harder to relax. A second later, strong arms hauled her toward what she assumed was the surface.
When they broke the surface, Wendy dragged in air, only to cough and splutter when she took in a splash of water, too. James held her while she recovered, and she slowly came to the realization that he was standing. She straightened her legs and just brushed sand when she pointed her toes.
Seeing that she was no longer in danger of drowning, James began wading toward the palm tree and the mermaid. Wendy’s feet touched the bottom soon after, but he still helped her slog the rest of the way. He paused to pick up the sword he had most likely thrown as far as he could when he saw her go overboard.She was impressed that he had gotten it as close to the “island” as the waist-deep water.
The mermaid occupying their miniscule refuge alternated between batting her eyes at Captain James and glaring at her perceived rival. Her companion paid the faery no heed as he plucked the knife from his boot and went to work on the ropes still binding Wendy’s hands. The dunking had caused the fibers to swell, which slowed the process considerably. As he worked, she eyed the female taking up precious dry land. Wendy didn’t recognize her as an individual and therefore had no idea if this was one of the mermaids that had tried to drown her a couple of months ago. Seconds later, the rope snapped. James secured his knife and began massaging her wrists. It hurt, but she accepted that it was necessary.
“Tricky, Hook, very tricky,” Sophus reprimanded from his lofty position aboard theDrunken Kraken. Several sailors lined the railing. “You left before my final words of blessing.”
James made a rude gesture with his hand, surprising a laugh out of Wendy.
Sophus emphatically ignored that. “Did you know that my lord benefits from any death—or any action, really—” He glanced at his men for confirmation, and a couple of them nodded. “Yeah, anything done in the name of Peter Pan works in his favor. Then, subsequently, mine.” His smile invited them to be pleased with his good fortune.
