The Dockyard Devil threw Peter off and jumped to his feet, blood streaming from his mouth and forehead, and glowered. As he went to wipe some of the blood and sweat out of his eyes, Peter attacked, feigning a punch before dropping and sweeping his leg. The older man went down with a crash and aimed a kick at Peter that connected with a heavy thump.
Peter winced as he took the blow, but sprang into action, pummeling the other man until he curled up, then jumped onto his back and looped his arm around the man’s throat. He squeezed until the Dockyard Devil slapped the floor with his hand to surrender.
The fight was over.
The crowd gave a thunderous cheer, and Peter held out a hand to help his opponent to his feet.
“Good fight,” he told him. “You almost had me several times.”
The Dockyard Devil shook his head. “I was overconfident. You deserved to win that one. You could’ve pulled your punches a little more, though.” He gingerly touched his temple where blood was still streaming down his face.
Peter rolled his eyes and let out a crowing laugh. “No I couldn’t have. If I had, you would’ve had me on the ground in a second and you know it. Weakness is never rewarded in the ring.”
His opponent grinned. “You learn quick.”
Peter looked up, caught my eye, and his entire face lit up. “Gil!” He ran over to see me.
“Peter Pan!” I grasped his hand, grinning ear to ear. “It’s been forever! Last I saw you, you were rowing away into the ocean all by yourself. I thought a shark or a siren might have eaten you before you got to land.”
“It’s only been about a year,” he answered, pulling me in by our grasped hands to clap me on the shoulder. “And no shark would like the taste of me. I’m too gamey. How’ve you been? Did you find a new position as a cabin boy?” He looked me up and down. “Still haven’t hit your growth spurt yet, huh?”
“Not yet. I can’t very well work for Captain Tyrone anymore, and Haven Harbor’s navy is policing the seas a lot more now. There are fewer pirates, which means fewer cabin boy positions.”
“You could come work with me,” Peter offered.
I eyed the ring. Hustling fighters wouldn’t help me track down my family. “Nah, I’m not as good a fighter as you are, Peter. I didn’t realize you did this all the time.”
“No, no, this is just what I do for fun when I have a day off. This was my first time at this ring, actually. I can’t stay in one place too long or they’ll recognize me. But I need to get back. Come on, walk with me.” He collected his substantial earnings and I was handed a payout as well.
Peter eyed the bag in my hands with a grin. “You thought I’d win, did you?”
“I remember your fights aboard Tyrone’s ship. I wasn’t about to bet against you after that.” I jingled the bag’s cheerful-sounding contents as we ducked out of the dim warehouse and blinked in the bright sunshine. “So, what do you do when you aren’t hustling fights?”
“Oh, trade, mostly. We could always use a trustworthy errand boy.” He turned down an alleyway leading to the town market.
“We? It’s you and who else?”
“I work for one of Tyrone’s former associates,” Peter said, nimbly sidestepping giving a name.
“I’d need to ask my mam first,” I said, pretending to chew thoughtfully on my lip. “I think she’d like that better than me being a cabin boy, though. Then I wouldn’t be at sea for so long.”
“Ask her,” Peter urged me. “If she says yes, then find me and I’ll—” He broke off and ducked down behind a shrub. “Get down!”
I copied him, crouching next to him in the bushes. “What?”
Peter’s eyes were locked on a tall, dark-haired pirate strolling next to a… I shut my eyes hard and opened them again, sure I had been hallucinating. The pirate was holding hands with a graceful woman who had golden, glittering wings sprouting out of her back.
“Is she a fairy?”
“A pixie,” Peter corrected in a low hiss.
I watched, mesmerized, as swirls of golden glitter floated off the pixie’s wings on the breeze.
“She’s just wasting it,” Peter snarled under his breath.
“Wasting what?”
A crafty look spread across Peter’s face. “You like making money, don’t you, Gil?”
