Veiled in Stars and Silver: A Peter Pan Fairy Tale Romance

Chapter 9

I crouched among the bushes, my mind spinning like water swirling in a drain.

Could Hook’s story be true?

Preposterous. He just wanted the dagger. Peter had said as much. I couldn”t be that wrong about the boy who would never grow up. There was no way I’d spent so much time here, with him, with my brothers, and never noticed, never realized everything was a sham.

And the pirate, Aaron. To think that I’d killed him for nothing. Because Peter wanted to give me some cheap thrill. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be.

Only in Neverland half a day and already my world was turned upside down. I ground my teeth. Peter had better bring John and Michael, or he wouldn’t see the dagger. Until they were safe with me, nobody would see it.

A rustling came from the foliage, and I tensed, my fingers brushing the cool handle of a throwing knife.

The leaves parted on the far side of a small glen, and out stepped a woman about my age dressed in beautiful, handcrafted skins. Her raven hair was braided around her head, and her eyes shot about the space, taking in everything that moved. She inched through the trees as quiet as a ghost, a bow and quiver of arrows attached to her back.

She appeared no different from the day I had left Neverland eight years ago.

Standing, I cleared my throat.

The other young woman crouched and spun. She froze, shock flitting across her face. “Wendy?”

“Hello, Tiger Lily. It”s been some time.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Looking for my brothers, John and Michael. You haven’t seen them, have you?”

Hook clumped out of the brush, glaring at me. “Just give us away, why don’t you?”

“Hook.” Tiger Lily grabbed an arrow and loaded her bow, pointing it at him.

He gave her a flat look. “Shoot me. Do it.”

But Tiger Lily didn’t release her arrow. “Stay back. Wendy, get behind me.”

I held my ground. “My brothers, Tiger Lily. Do you know where they are?”

“Yes. Last I saw, the mermaids were handing them off to his men.”

Hook swore. “She’s under Pan’s influence. She’s not going to tell you the truth, lass.”

“You can’t trust him.” Tiger Lily kept her arrow trained on him. “Help me get rid of him once and for all.”

My gaze shot between the two. Tiger Lily was my friend. We’d had many adventures together when I’d been here before in Neverland. My hand slipped to my knives, gritting my teeth. I already knew how good Hook was at manipulating me. He was just trying to keep me on his side so I’d give him the dagger.

“Damn it all to hell.” He stalked over to a tree, jerking the silver stone from his shirt and thrusting it against the bark. His hook raised and pressed into the stone.

Tiger Lily and I exchanged an uncertain glance.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

His focus never left the stone. “Getting you proof.” He pressed the tip of his hook against the hard surface and started chanting. A light burst out from the rock, so bright that we both had to shield our eyes. A loud cracking noise followed it. When the radiant brightness dimmed, Hook stood in front of both of us. The golden casing that housed the stone at his neck now only held half of the silver stone. The other half lay in Hook’s palm. Before either of us responded, he dropped the other half of the stone into the leather pouch belted at Tiger Lily’s waist.

She stiffened. Then relaxed her stance, placing her arrow in its quiver and her bow onto her back. Reaching into the pouch, she pulled out the stone, stared at it and then looked at Hook.

“Shit, James. What are you doing running around here with her?” Tiger Lily gestured at me. “Don’t you know Pan brought her here to kill you?”

“That part was obvious,” Hook said. “Do you have any idea where her brothers are, Lil?”

Tiger Lily cut me a nasty glare before facing him. “Mermaids handed them off to us and then we were ordered to take them to Devil’s Cave and leave them. From there, the Lost Boys picked them up and took them to who knows where.”

He swore again. “You don’t know why Pan wants them, do you?”

I watched the exchange in disbelief. The moment that stone touched her, it was like Tiger Lily was a completely different person.

“No. Everyone has this constant urge to do whatever it takes to keep them away from her.” Tiger Lily’s gaze shifted to me. “If Pan can get what he wants and keep your brothers indefinitely, he will.”

“Wait,” I said. “Everything he said is true? You’re really under Pan’s… mind powers?”

Hook held out his hand, and Tiger Lily took it. “Wendy, may I introduce you to Lillian Bearclaw?”

Tiger Lily gave a short curtsy before slugging Hook good-naturedly in the shoulder. “You’re late on that shipment of spices I ordered. Saving the world or not, I expect to be reimbursed if it”s not here before Pan is destroyed.”

I blinked. “Are you two friends?”

Hook smirked. “What do you say, Lil? After all this time? Friends?”

“You free us from Pan and I’ll be your best friend forever and always.”

My mouth hung open. I must look ridiculous, and yet I had more important things to worry about at the moment. “But…” I gazed at the other woman pleadingly. “Peter saved you when Hook kidnapped you. He—”

Lillian snorted. “First off, pirates are much fairer trading partners than the Lost Boys. Second, Pan can’t fight to save his life. You think he could have saved me from James if he hadn’t used his mind powers? Not to mention him taking James’s hand.”

I looked at Lillian and then Hook, who was no longer smiling. “What about it?” I asked.

“Cutting off someone’s hand isn’t as easy as you’d think.” Lillian raised her own as if in demonstration. “Not to mention Pan is a child half James’s size who thinks sword fighting is waving a sharp object around his head.”

“His form is terrible,” Hook muttered.

Nausea and horror twisted in my gut at the same time. Now that I knew how to handle a weapon, I realized they were right. I had been thinking about how terribly the boy wielded his weapon earlier that day. “You’re saying Peter forced Hook to stand there while he cut off his hand?”

“And threw it to that she-devil of a Crocodile,” Hook growled.

Could it be true? Or was this some elaborate ruse on Hook’s part? With Tiger Lily on board, that seemed less likely.

“And after Pan gets what he wants from me?” I asked.

Lillian shrugged. “He’ll turn you into one of us. Maybe have you work at Madame Pearl’s.” She said it matter-of-factly. As if she’d seen it happen a hundred times over.

Peter Pan, the monster of Neverland. James Hook, its savior. The idea was foreign. It was laughable. I touched my chest where Peter’s kiss hung beneath my shirt.

Lillian frowned at her half-stone then cast an untrusting glance at me. “You’re playing a dangerous game, James.”

“I am.” He ran his hand through his jet-black hair, giving it a ridiculously appealing, tousled appearance. “But she is the key to ending this.”

Her gaze turned appraising. “In that case, Pan will figure out at any moment what we are doing. Here.” She offered me the stone clutched in her palm.

Biting my lip, I reached out to take it, but Lillian snatched it up. “As soon as you take this, you can’t take it off again or your mind will be his.”

“Wait,” Hook said. “Let me fix it so it can hang from that cord around her neck.”

Tiger Lily, or Lillian, held it while Hook worked his hook into the stone, carving out a hole. I watched, wanting to scream. Wanting to protest that something must be off. My Neverland was tainted by a history that I’d never known. My Neverland had never really been mine. And Peter, the hero I’d always admired—not to mention our little childhood crush—it was all a lie.

If Hook and Lillian were telling the truth.

I hesitated. “Why him?” I asked Lillian. “Why make Hook Neverland’s savior?”

Hook’s shoulders dropped, his blue eyes flashing while he worked. “Tell us how you really feel, Wendy Darling.”

“Hell if I know,” Lillian replied. “But if he doesn’t succeed, I don’t think there will be any hope for us ever getting free from Pan’s power.”

“Done.” Hook stood back proudly. I saw the small hole he’d carved into the silver stone for me to hang about my neck. I took a deep breath.

“You’re saying I should trust him?” I asked Lillian.

Lillian’s gaze bored into me, the expression on her face solemn. “After you take this from me, he is the only one you should trust.”

I looked down at the stone that lay in Lillian’s hand. Reaching out, I lifted the silvery object from Lillian’s possession and slipped it into the pocket of my trousers. I’d add it onto my necklace later.

Lillian’s expression went blank.

Hook suddenly started backing up. He grabbed my arm and dragged me with him.

I jerked out of his grasp. I wanted to watch this. I wanted to be sure.

“Lillian?”

She blinked and looked at me. A calm grin crossed her lips. Then her eyes landed on Hook and all pleasantness fled.

Hook sucked in a sharp breath. “Wendy, I’m not sure if—”

“Step away from him.” Lillian pulled her bow off her back and loaded an arrow from her quiver. She pointed it at Hook’s chest.

He was still backing toward the tree line when she released her arrow. He dove to the side. The arrow sliced into his arm and lodged into the ground. Laying in the dirt, clutching his wounded arm, Hook released a torrent of curse words.

I stared in shock. But… Hook had claimed that nobody under Peter’s power could hurt him.

Unless splitting the stone had weakened its power.

A self-satisfied smirk crossed Lillian’s face as she loaded another arrow into her bow.