Chapter 18 #2
“Welcome back, Wendy,” says one of the Twins, and I jolt in shock. I almost pass out when the second twin grins and says, “Yeah, what took you so long to find us?”
I blink, sure now that I’m dreaming, as I’ve never heard either of the Twins’ voices except for whispers spoken to one another when they hadn’t realized I’d walked into the room.
“Oh, yeah, they talk now,” says Victor.
“When did that happen?” I murmur to him, hoping they can’t hear.
“As soon as we made it out of the Warping. It was like something in them flipped.”
Something squirms in my gut. There’s been a part of me that, this past year, has worried I made a mistake in getting the Lost Boys out of Neverland, in tricking them into leaving the only home they remember, the guardian they so clearly adored.
Could it be that they too had been suffering in Neverland? Had I somehow missed that, too wrapped up in my own pain?
Seconds later, and the moment I hadn’t realized I’d been longing for arrives. The Lost Boys descend on me, practically shoving Nolan out of the way to stampede me and wrap me up in a series of warm hugs and lanky arms.
I glance at Nolan apologetically, my face smashed against Benjamin’s cheek, but my husband just looks down at me in admiration.
Once I’m sufficiently smothered, the Lost Boys jump back at Victor’s command, the oldest reminding them they don’t want to cut off my airway when I’ve only just gotten here.
Upon backing up, Benjamin examines me thoroughly, looking pensive.
“What is it?” I ask.
“You’ve put on some fat since we last saw you,” he says matter-of-factly. “You can mostly tell in your neck. I suppose that means you’re healthy now and not quite so depressed.”
Nolan glances at me wide-eyed, gauging my response, but I just laugh.
Benjamin has always reminded me of Michael in some ways.
They both have activities they prefer to the neglect of all others.
Though, where my brother’s messages are cryptic, Benjamin is more likely to be too precise in telling you exactly what he thinks.
“I’ve missed you,” I say, and my friend sweeps his gaze across the privateers.
“Where’s Michael?” Benjamin says, sounding alarmed.
“Back on the ship. Probably playing with his train set,” I say.
Benjamin frowns, as if this is the worst news he’s heard in his entire life.
It soon becomes clear that he’s misunderstood, thinking Michael managed to get one of Benjamin’s train sets out of Neverland.
“That’s unacceptable,” he says. “My skills have greatly improved since the last time I whittled a toy for your brother. How humiliating that he’s still playing with some of my worst work. I’ll have to make him a new set.”
And with that as his means of saying goodbye, Benjamin stalks off down the hallway and, I assume, toward his room.
We spend the evening around the fire with the Lost Boys, Benjamin eventually returning to the den, perching on a stool in the corner as he furiously whittles away at a piece of wood.
Smalls tells me how they ended up in Serba, that Victor just had a feeling in his chest pulling them here.
Benjamin pipes in, explaining how the tourist culture has offered them plenty of odd jobs.
Benjamin whittles figurines of the Youngest Sister and the others take turns selling them in the marketplace during the day.
I finally learn the Twins’ names—Christopher and Aaron—though I still have no way of telling them apart.
After they retire to bed, Victor tells me, “Those aren’t their actual names.”
I raise my brow, and he continues. “Peter never told them what their names were, and since they had no recollection of their lives before Neverland, they eventually came up with names for each other.”
Charlie lets out a noise of distinct disapproval, though she doesn’t comment. Instead, she gives Maddox and Nolan a look, and with a gesture of her head, beckons them to follow her.
She stands and stretches dramatically, yawning. “Well, if you’ll just point us in the direction of our rooms, I think I’ll need to retire for the night.”
Victor nods, and when he jumps from his seat to lead them to their rooms, Charlie shakes her head. “We can see ourselves there,” she says.
Maddox and Nolan both look at her quizzically. Nolan glances at me with a silent question, but I nod at him with a smile.
“Down the hall and to your right,” says Victor. “There are a few extra rooms, and bedding in the closets.”
Charlie winks at him and saunters down the hallway, Maddox following her—Nolan too, after brushing a kiss against my forehead.
Victor watches my husband leave the room. As soon as he’s out of earshot, Victor whispers, “So you’re really okay, then? He didn’t force you into marrying him?”
“I’m really okay,” I say with a smile.
“Then why do you look so sad when you say it?” Victor asks, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.
When I don’t answer, he asks, “Does it have anything to do with those sickly looking tattoos that aren’t tattoos on his chest?”
When I shoot him a confused look, he says, “They’re coming up out of his shirt.”
“Nolan was my original mate,” I explain.
“It’s a long story, how Peter ended up with part of the Mating Mark, but Nolan still had the other segment on his hand.
I fell in love with him during those six months he’d bargained for me.
He betrayed me, just before Peter brought me back to Neverland and called in my bargain. I was so upset, well…”
Victor raises a brow. “Don’t tell me you’re the one responsible for that hook?”
“Well, technically, I didn’t craft the hook.”
Victor smiles, the shape of it plastered on his face like he’s stuck in time, gazing at me in wonder. “All that time in Neverland, I thought you were so helpless, and there you were, secretly having chopped off the hand of the most dreaded pirate in the world.”
Something tugs at my chest. There’s a part of me that still looks back at my time imprisoned with Peter with shame. Shame at not being strong enough to break my curse. Shame at what I welcomed he do to my body, just out of anger at Nolan. Shame at how I let my brother’s murderer touch me.
But there’s something healing about the way Victor’s looking at me right now. As if all along, I’d possessed more power than even now I give myself credit for.
“Anyway,” I continue. “The Eldest Sister doesn’t take kindly to her Marks being removed. Sees it as an affront to her ability to choose a Mate wisely for others. He fell ill as soon as the Mark was gone. He’s been battling that illness ever since.”
“You mean that he’s dying.”
I nod, squeezing my eyes shut for half a second. “Yes.”
Victor leans back further in his chair and stares up at the ceiling rafters. “So that’s why you’re here. You’re hoping the Youngest Sister can help.”
I bite my lip, suddenly self-conscious.
“Why are you looking like that?” Victor asks.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re ashamed?”
“Because I know that more than likely you think me a lovesick fool willing to grasp at legends and false hopes rather than accept that my time with my Mate is running out.”
Victor examines me with sharp eyes. It’s strange, looking at him now.
His usually sallow cheeks have darkened from sun exposure, and shadows no longer leave bruises underneath his eyes.
I wonder if the village girls and tourists fawn all over him.
Now that he’s grown himself a beard, he looks to be in his mid-twenties, not the youth I know him to be.
Though, I suppose due to the fact he didn’t age in Neverland, he’s significantly older than that. Older than me, even. I keep forgetting that for some reason.
“I might think you’re lovesick, but I don’t think you’re a fool.”
“Really?”
“Really,” he says.
“So you believe then? In the Youngest Sister, I mean?”
“They say she cleans up her Sisters’ messes, right?” says Victor.
“So it’s said.”
Victor runs his hands through his hair. “Well, you and I are here, aren’t we? Escaped from Neverland? Happy, even. Or, at least, getting a taste of it. Seems rather impossible, when you think about it. At least without a little help.”
My heart goes warm with hope, genuine hope, for the first time.
Then I hear Charlie scream.