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

Chapter 22

After sailing a ways, we dropped anchor when we were sure that no wayward pirate could overtake us. My disguise had worn off as well, revealing my true form. James turned to me, looking grim.

“Pan isn’t going to be happy about this,” he said.

The large sails billowed in the wind, and waves lapped at the sides of the ship. My stomach was twisting in knots. “We have time. Nobody can attack us out here. Even if Peter tried, we’d see him coming.” The clouds from earlier had burned away, leaving clear skies, and the sea stretched around us for miles.

He nodded. “Let’s retrieve the book.”

He stepped toward his cabin when he froze, his head jerking to the right. The breeze had died, and the water had settled into a glassy calm. I followed his gaze and sucked in a breath to see a gray mist billowing over the railing and pouring onto the deck. It crept around our ankles, swirling about us.

I stepped close to James. “What is it?”

“It”s the ticking.” He stood rigid, his body hard, his breaths growing uneven. “The Crocodile.”

A chill ran down my spine. “We are on the boat. It can’t get you.”

He looked at me, his hands balling and unballing, his skin unusually pale. “Go below deck. Hide. Don’t come out. When we are gone, take the book. Save Neverland—”

“What do you mean? I’m not leaving you—”

He gripped my arms, his forget-me-not eyes sparking with a manic light . “Wendy, damn it, go before it”s too late!”

“I think it is too late,” a soft feminine voice said.

I turned and was surprised to see a woman in a flowing gown standing on the deck. Her dress fell to her ankles, but it hung loosely, billowing in the mist that seemed to pour out of her, from her fingertips, from her toes. She stared at us with eyes that glowed a bright, unnatural yellowish hue. Snow white hair curled around her beautiful yet deadly visage.

She smiled, showing off a row of sharp teeth. “Time has run out, James Hook. Again.”

He moved between me and the woman. “But you released me. Why now?”

“I chose to let you go before. And I have tried to restrain myself, but I cannot hold out any longer. The time has come.”

“James, who is she?” I demanded, my fingers twitched, and I watched the woman warily.

He never took his gaze from the figure. “This is the Crocodile.”

“What? No, she’s not.”

“She can take different forms, love.” He raised his chin and addressed the Crocodile. “You are not under Pan’s control.”

A spark came to her eyes. “Ah, you are right. I am not commanded by the One-Who-Controls’ power. We have existed together in Neverland on a delicate truce for many, many years. But over time, that relationship has become strained.”

I tried to process what I was learning. The Crocodile wasn’t only a crocodile but a creature of magic that may be the only one able to resist Peter’s mind control without the help of the stones. “You sent James the spellbook.”

The woman’s head tilted, and her eyes shuttered from the side, causing me to shiver. “You are clever. Yes, it was me. I hoped he might free Neverland from the One-Who-Controls. But alas, he has failed, and the One-Who-Controls insists I bring his head. I must collect.”

“If you aren’t under his power, why not refuse his demands?”

“The One-Who-Controls cannot control me, but can command everything else in this world. I’ve resisted for as long as possible, but they have been denying my attacks, denying my prey. I am slowly starving, wasting away. Hook is my property, and now that you are here to carry on his work, I can finally take what has long been mine.”

“The hell you will,” I said. “James, let’s go.”

He didn’t move. “I can’t. When she calls, I must go. I’m afraid I don’t have a choice in the matter. Even now, I cannot move or speak without her permission.”

The Crocodile woman’s grin turned cruel.

“I don’t understand.”

“When Pan threw my hand to the Crocodile, it was a deal that one day when my time came, she’d be able to claim me, and I’d be hers for eternity. To feast on or do… whatever she wishes.”

Hunger radiated in the other woman’s eyes. Again, she bared her sharp teeth. “Lifetimes of slow, unending pain.”

Fighting the nausea that gathered in my stomach, I drew my knives, then placed myself between James and the woman.

“I won’t let you take him,” I snarled. The mist swirled around me, whipping my skirts about my legs. I fought the cold. The temperature must have dropped at least twenty degrees.

The Crocodile waved a webbed hand. “You cannot stop me. He is my due.”

James moved, and my heart pounded. I couldn’t let this happen. I wouldn’t let this happen. Reaching out, I gripped his arm. “Stop.”

His eyes flickered with a resigned sorrow. “Sorry, love.”

He shrugged out of my grasp and continued for the Crocodile woman. He stopped before her and the Crocodile reached up, running her palms over his shoulders and across his chest.

I considered releasing the knife in my hand. The distance wasn’t far. I’d land my blade and follow it up with a swift blow to the—

“Don’t do it.” James stared at me with knowing eyes, even as the Crocodile rubbed her face against his neck, her forked tongue traveled up the length of his throat. “Attacking her will not stop her. She’s too powerful for that.”

My hold tightened on the knife, a burning in my chest, as I considered striking anyway. But if what he said was true…

“Then how about a deal?” I blurted desperately.

The other woman paused, her tongue disappearing between her lips and her expression twisting with interest as she turned to face me. “I’m listening.”

“You know the chances of me freeing Neverland alone aren’t great. I need James with me. Give us two days. If we don’t free this island and its inhabitants from Pan in two days, you can take him.”

“I could take him now.”

“And me. You can take me as well.”

Horror filled James’s face. “No, Wendy—”

The Crocodile held up a hand. “Silence.”

James’s mouth snapped shut, but his expression pleaded with me not to continue.

“Do not tempt me, child. The One-Who-Controls wants him gone, not you. Taking him and leaving you will be enough to get back into their good graces.”

“Why do you keep calling him that?”

“When I came to Neverland, I made a magically binding deal to never speak the name of the One-Who-Controls.” Something meaningful lingered in the Crocodile’s expression.

“And what is your name?”

“What I am known by, and how I am remembered, are two different things. I am nameless. Remember, the One-Who-Controls cannot command others except in the world where they are present.”

“Either world?” I asked, thinking of Neverland and London.

“Either world…”

“What does that mean?”

“Ask Hook about the night your brothers disappeared.”

I clenched the knives, my nails digging into the soft skin of my palm, hating these word games. “I need you to be more clear.”

“That is all I have to say. Now, name your offer.”

“Two days and you can claim both of us.” Tremors ran through my limbs at what I was offering, but I forced myself to stand firm. “For someone who has been denied sustenance, that must sound awfully good to you.”

“Hmm, indeed it does.” She sauntered over to me.

“If we succeed, Neverland will be released from the One-Who-Controls’ power and you can hunt to your soul’s content.” I beheld the Crocodile’s slow predatory approach, a tightness building in my throat. “But James and I go free. All you have to do is wait two more days.”

She stopped in front of me, looking me over, her face gleaming. “Be aware when you are mine, I shall go no easier on you because you are a woman. I shall have you however I want you.” She drew a nailed finger down my throat, her gaze dipping into the collar of my dress and a hungry smile crossed her lips, sharp teeth flashing. “Well, little Darling?”

James begged me with his eyes to refuse, but there was only one answer.

“It”s a deal.”

The Crocodile gripped my left hand in her own. Her skin was sodden and freezing. Foreboding twisted in my gut. Perhaps we needed to shake on it.

I found I couldn’t pull away. The other woman spread my fingers over her palm. Trepidation slid through me as I watched the Crocodile touch each of my fingers, the hunger on her face turning ravenous.

“Then you must pay the price,” the Crocodile said. Her teeth flashed into a wild snarl and she moved inhumanly fast.

Searing, horrible, writhing pain.

I screamed.

Blood bloomed over my fingers, dripping onto the deck of the Jolly Roger.

I bent over, my bloodied hand clutching it to my chest.

“Your scope is limited, little Darling. You must broaden your understanding if you are to win this fight.” Crimson glistened on the Crocodile’s teeth and lips. “You are missing too much.”

My left hand pulsed with agony, and my mind spun. My pinky finger was gone. It was gone.

The Crocodile stepped away, sliding over to James. She rose on her toes and pressed blood-covered lips to his. She looked back at me, who stood trembling, bleeding all over the deck, and ran a scaled finger over James’s hook in a slow caress.

And for the first time, I heard it.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

“The minutes are ticking. I’ll see you soon.”

The mist pulled around her and she vanished.