Chapter 33
T he journey back to base camp was nearly silent aside from the O’Donnelly brothers talking quietly to Billy. The rest of us were still licking our wounds, catching our breath, and coming to grips with our grief over losing Tom.
Moll was a bundle of nerves, as if the trip couldn’t go fast enough, and I could hardly blame her. Now that we knew Tink was hurting Caleb—literally sucking his life away— every minute he had to be in her care felt like torture to us too.
“Can you take Garth back home as well?” Hook asked.
He’d already made a deal with the O’Donnellys to take most of the Jolly Roger crew to Blackbriar for a week off. They’d earned it, but more importantly, we were about to face off with Pan and Tink with no guarantee of winning.
As dangerous as Noru had been, Pan and Tink were just as big of a challenge in their own way. Maybe bigger. Noru was a killer, but had nothing other than instinct driving him.
Pan and Tink were wicked smart and cunning, to boot.
Hook, Moll, Xander and I were in full agreement. Not one of us wanted any more blood on our hands. We’d go in just the four of us.
“We’ll take the old man, too,” Paddy agreed as we prepared to part ways. “Got to admit, though, it’s a real kick in the prick that we didn’t stop and fill our pockets and satchels with opals when we had the chance. We coulda left that place filthy rich.”
“Money isn’t what makes a man rich, Paddy,” James muttered. It was the first time he’d spoken since we’d escaped The Fen. “Be thankful you got your sister back and your family is whole.”
Because the Jolly Roger family wasn’t.
Paddy looked away, shamefaced, shuffling from foot to foot. “Aye, you’re right about that. Tom seemed like a good man.”
“One of the best.” Xander sat on one of the benches, head hanging low. “It’s a hard pill to swallow. I can’t believe I’ll never see his face again. It’s like a bad dream.”
Andrew O’Donnelly stepped forward. “Do you think you can get this to Tom’s family?
They’ll need it now that he’s not around to support them anymore.
Maybe it’ll help some and I’m young, I can always make more money.
” He stuck a hand down the front of his pants, tugged his fist free and opened it to reveal a Maelstrom Opal the size of an apple.
Paddy let out a gasp. “Fookin’ hell, you clever little lad! Good on ya nabbing that. But maybe giving the whole stone away is a bit hasty though, yeah?”
“You can keep it,” Xander cut in with a quick glance at Hook, who tipped his head in agreement. “We were Tom’s family, and we’ve no need of it.”
The youngest O’Donnelly brother nodded and handed the stone to Billy.
“Good job, boy’o, I’m proud of you.” She turned to Hook. “And my thanks to you and your crew for helping get my brothers to the second level. I’d have been stuck there forever if you hadn't come.”
Hook stood, reaching for the railing to keep from weaving on his feet. The fight had completely exhausted him, and he didn’t waste the last of his energy to respond.
“This is your stop,” Scotty said as the skiff pulled up to the dock a moment later and Moll and I made our way over to Garth.
“You were very brave today, sir,” Molly said gravely.
“I’m so glad you snuck on board to join us,” I added. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
He sniffed and waved a dismissive hand. “Ah, go on with the two of you.”
Once the others said their goodbyes and Xander made good on the payment owed for services rendered, we reboarded the Jolly Roger.
It was time to put the next part of our plan into motion.
I reached into my pocket and tugged out the arrowhead I’d stashed there.
Even stained with dried blood, the fairy dust clung to it, making it seem as if it had been bathed in gold.
I’d fastened it to small piece of driftwood so that it would float.
You need to take this and fly West for a while, then drop it in the water. Got it?
He opened his beak and gently plucked the piece of wood from my fingers.
Once you’ve done that, head back in the direction of Neverland. We’ll be there waiting for you. And please…be careful.
We’d suffered one loss already, and even that felt like too many.
Fetch flapped his wings and took to the sky a moment later. Everything was riding on his success, and I watched until he was out of sight.
“And you’re sure you can find Neverland, even with Tink shielding its location?” Xander asked as Moll stood next to him, seeming to lean into his body.
“I can definitely sense her magic, and I know the approximate location.” I reached out and felt the magic even now as Fetch carried the arrowhead away. “If I can get close enough, I think the power she uses to shield the island will lead me the rest of the way there, like a beacon.”
Xander scratched his head, glancing in the direction Fetch had flown. “So odd…her magic is completely untraceable to me. But, if you can sense it on something as small as the arrow, I tend to agree. It’s a good plan.”
“What do we do in the meantime?” Moll asked, sounding lost and afraid.
Hook stood at the bow of the ship a few yards away, just staring at the moon, shoulders hunched and silent. His shirt was in tatters, covered in blood.
Noru’s.
His own.
Tom’s…
I wondered if it was just the magic and physical energy he’d expended that had made him near catatonic, or if he was in shock after having to mercy kill his friend.
That would have done me in had I been in his place, and Molly in Tom’s.
Why had Tom been so adamant that Hook deal the final death blow? Was it some sort of pirate ritual or superstition? Would it help him travel to the afterlife?
Whatever the case, it wasn’t the time to ask. We all needed to process, regroup, and then prepare.
There was still work to be done. I’d looked at the clock with my magical jeweler’s loupe and had a sense of how to get it working again.
Still, I was afraid to touch it until Fetch lured Pan and Tink away from Neverland to track what they would think was Noru emerging from The Fen early.
If I made one false move and the hands started moving before then, they’d be tipped off to the fact that we had the clock in our possession.
That said, being patient while we knew the kids were still on that island and in real danger was tough. Especially Caleb.
“Let’s all get cleaned up and change into clothes not covered in crocodile guts,” I said to a nervously pacing Molly and the others. “Then I’ll see if I can heat us something to fill our bellies with.”
Hook didn’t acknowledge that he’d heard my suggestion, but a moment later, he wheeled around and marched past us, towards the steps that led down to the personal quarters.
It was more than an hour later, and the sun was kissing the horizon when I headed below deck with a tray in hand. A rasher of bacon, some leftover potato soup, and a mug of ale.
Once I’d bathed and gotten the sweat and gore off and downed a few bites of soup, I was feeling less like a bag of shit.
I could only hope the same helped James some, too.
James. Hook. I was having trouble deciding which persona I truly saw him as.
The man from my dreams? Or the pirate in front of me?
I sucked in a steadying breath when I reached his door and rapped gently. There was no answer, and I was about to leave the tray on the floor and go, but then I heard a snarl.
“Fuck!”
“James?” I turned the knob and opened the door a few inches. “Are you alright in there?”
A groan and a grunt. “I don’t want to hurt you, my friend.”
My hand shook as I shoved the door open the rest of the way to find him sprawled on his bed, brow bathed in sweat as his head tossed back and forth.
Nightmare.
I could so relate.
I hesitated for a moment and then crept forward. Better I woke him up, because he was reliving something hellish, and that was the last thing he needed right now.
I set the tray beside the softly glowing lantern on the table beside the bed as he rolled fitfully onto his stomach and kicked off the blanket, letting out a low groan.
He was shirtless and his back was covered in ink. Tideblessings. Dozens of them. Small, simple, and almost symbolic, as opposed to fully developed, detailed images, same as Cissy’s had been. No color. All were black or had faded to varying shades of gray.
An ear surrounded by three lines radiating outward.
A jagged slash. It took me a second to realize it was a bolt of lightning.
Three wavy lines, faded and barely legible.
I held my breath, leaning even closer, barely resisting the urge to trace one in particular with my fingertip. It was a tornado, darker and more saturated than all the others, it fairly pulsed with energy. But it didn't feel menacing or scary, just felt… alive.
I cocked my head and searched out another, this one a pair of crossed daggers and much more menacing. Despite the simplicity of each design, as I continued to look from one to the next, I realized they all had a different energy to varying degrees.
“There are a dozen more on the front.”
I swallowed a gasp and drew back as Hook’s gritty voice rumbled through the room.
“Can…will you tell me about them?” I asked gently.
He was silent for so long, I almost wondered if he’d gone back to sleep, but the fresh tension in his body told me different.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to. It’s already been a long and terrible day. Rest, and?—”
“I don’t need rest. I need vengeance.” The fury that had always come hand in hand when he spoke of vengeance on Pan and Tink was gone. Now his tone was bleak and solemn in a way that made me feel cold inside.
Had losing Tom been the last straw?
Suddenly, the thought of using the clock filled me with something like terror. He’d give it to me once the job was complete, and I’d achieve what I set out to. But to what end?
“Is Xander at the wheel?”