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

Chapter 1

A row of swans soared through the sky, their soft white feathers stark against the night. A large uninhabited forest stretched out beneath them, opening to a shallow pond. The moonlight reflected off its glassy surface. As one, they dipped downward, dropping to the clear, calm water, gliding onto it with an elegant ease.

It churned and rippled. Suddenly a row of women in white dresses stood where the swans had once been. Odette felt the cool water lap at her legs. The breeze blew through her thin cotton dress, making her shiver. She stepped up on the grassy shore, the others following close behind.

“He should come tonight,” said Elna, the blackness in her gaze matching the graceful swoop of ebony painted around her eyes. A sign of her cursing. They all had the mark. She handed Odette a knife fashioned out of fishbone and stone and held together with the reeds found near the lake”s edge. ”You know what to do.”

Odette lifted the odd weight into her hands. It wasn”t the weapon made of fine steel she was used to, but it was all they had. She would make do.

”And you”re sure this will break the curse?” She looked over at Yessly, who danced from foot to foot. That was nothing new. The woman could never stand still.

”The power stems from him. If we kill him, the curse ends and we should be set free,” she said.

”Okay.” Odette ran a hand over her chest, a part of her worrying that may not be fully true.

A random breeze whipped Elna’s short, cropped hair into her face. She brushed it back with a fierce stroke. ”We”ll wait here as usual. Call for us when it is done.”

Odette bristled at the older woman”s command. ”I’m aware of the plan. Thank you, Elna,” she said dismissively.

Elna”s eyes warned her not to mess it up. The other women surrounding them watched, that violent eagerness in their expressions. The yearning to be free, no matter the cost. Odette also felt it. She’d see it through. And avenge her mother”s death in the process.

She stepped onto the path that led through the trees to the overgrown pavilion. A light mist curled around her ankles. The handmade knife was slim but sturdy. They had made sure of that. Her thin dress lacked hiding places—a condition of her bondage, and in her bare feet, she consistently felt so vulnerable. Part of her worried about what might happen to them with the approaching winter in only a few months. Odette tucked the weapon in between her breasts, rearranging the fabric to keep it hidden as she walked to meet her captor.

If this worked, there would be no worrying about winter.

The pavilion was old and dilapidated. The greenery of the forest surrounding it was doing its best to fold it into the wilds from which it originally sprung. Flowers blooming off the overgrowth cast a softening air about the scene as if hiding the decaying designs of the woods. She hoped she”d be able to hide her dark intentions just as well tonight. Until it was time to strike.

”Good evening, Odette.”

She stiffened at that deep yet soft voice, fighting to keep her hands from balling. How she despised the way he invariably appeared out of nowhere. Slowly, she turned toward the voice’s owner.

Rothbart, the man who had cursed her, stood at the edge of the small clearing wearing a cloak. His hands lifted, and he threw back the hood, revealing his midnight black skin and smooth face. His threatening expression. He was in his mid-twenties. Young for casting one of the most powerful curses known to humanity. His shadowy gaze flashed as he took her in, and his square jaw clenched.

Odette raised her chin. ”Rothbart. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” She added extra spite to her words, knowing if she acted too nice, that would be suspicious.

”I came to ask you if you remember anything new?”

She stepped toward him, holding that black gaze that always sent shivers down her spine. The wicked point of the stone knife dug into her skin, threatening to cut into her if she wasn’t careful.

He was tall, and even though the cloak shrouded his body, she”d seen enough of him on one occasion to know of the toned physique that lay beneath the layers.

”Every time you visit, you ask the same question. And I give you the same answer.”

A dangerous impatience crossed his face. ”And the others?”

She came closer. ”Is this what you”ll do? Come and ask us over and over? What do you offer us in return? Our release?”

”You shall never be free.”

Odette”s eyes widened, a little shocked that he”d said that out loud. ”Then tell me, my lord, why should we help you?”

”Because, unlike my curse, you are on a time limit.” He pointed to the blue human skull sunk into the skin of her wrist. ”Your deal expires in what? Ten months? I hear breaking a skull pact brings quite an excruciating death.”

So he”d discovered what the mark meant. Odette fought a grimace. Actually, she had only six months. No matter. Tonight, she”d free herself from the curse and then she’d solve the problem of the mark.

She took yet another step closer to him, letting her hand drift through her dark curls before sliding it down towards her breasts. Rothbart watched the movement, something fierce and hungry stirring in his gaze, mixing with the angry vindictiveness.

”It is not my death you should be worried about,” she murmured.

Fury slashed across his face right as she went for the knife and bowled into him. She placed her leg behind him as he stumbled back, and a grunt tore out of him as he hit the ground. Odette jumped, straddling him and pressing the jagged edge of her weapon to his throat.

”Don”t be surprised,” she hissed. ”You had to realize this was coming.”

He broke out laughing, startling her. ”Indeed, I did. If you kill me, Odette, there will be no way to free you from the curse at all.”

She ground her teeth. ”You lie.”

”Then go ahead.” He gripped her wrist, keeping her from retracting her hand, his eyes challenging. ”See what your blood lust will cost you.” A scorching heat passed through her at his touch, at the warmth of his body radiating up through her thighs that clutched him, and for a moment she was unsure whether rage or desire coursed through her veins.

She let a long breath out between her teeth. “You cast the curse, so killing you should end it.” She recited Yessly’s reasoning.

“Except I placed half of the curse’s anchor inside myself. So if I die, then the anchor will be destroyed and you will be cursed forever.”

She touched her chest. “And you placed the other half inside me.”

He smirked. “That’s right.”

“Meaning only I can break it?”

He didn’t answer. But she took his silence as a confirmation. Yessly had told Odette everything she knew about the swan curse. That it was usually anchored to one person. That the only way to break it was for the cursed one who held the anchor to meet a man willing to vow undying love to her before the world. Obviously, Rothbart didn’t think that was likely to happen. And it wasn’t, as they were trapped out in the woods, miles from any civilization. They could only change into human form when they were on the water of the lake and the moon reflected in its depths. No matter how hard they’d tried, cutting their shoeless feet on sharp stones and pointed twigs, they just couldn’t make it even close to any settlements within a night of traveling.

The taste of disappointment was sour on her tongue.

She was bound to this man against her will.

Rothbart released her hand, and she lifted the knife from his throat. He grabbed her and rolled, pinning her in the grass, his body shoved on top of her. His face was so close, his breath mingled with hers. He glared at her with a searing triumph.

“You don’t think I know how to deal with your kind?” he growled.

He had her arms pinned to her side so she couldn’t move. Odette didn’t struggle. An inkling of guilt raced through her, agreeing that she deserved this. That she was almost glad he’d cursed her. No, she was being dramatic. The sudden pressure of his body on hers and the hatred mixed with desire in his expression muddied her thoughts.

“Now go, my swan,” he murmured, his voice dark, “return to the others and see if there isn’t something one of you might have forgotten to tell me. Your worthless little lives depend on it.”

He released her, standing, taking his pressure and warmth with him. He readjusted his cloak and looked down on her, an arrogant, dismissive air to his movements. Odette glared back, guilt and despair, battling her training that said to just jump up and kill him, to hell with the consequences.

But killing him would only bring damnation. Not freedom.

He turned from her. “You cannot escape your punishment, Odette. I’ll return in a few days to ask you again, and I hope, for your sake, you have a better answer.”

And with that, he vanished into the trees from which he came.

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