Chapter 34
“ Y ou don’t want this, Harmony.” His jaw flexed and he winced like my words had caused him physical pain. “Be smart and go, while you still can. What I have can’t be fixed.”
I bit my bottom lip to stop it from trembling as I climbed onto the bed beside him. This was crazy. Absolutely insane. If he rejected me, I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover.
And if he didn’t?
I knew I never would.
“I can see your wheels turning,” he muttered, even as his eyes drifted to my mouth, making the breath catch in my throat. “You already know this can’t end well. It’s okay. You can still go…”
But he was already leaning into me, that musky scent of soap and sea filling my senses as surely as that silky, hypnotic voice. And when he lifted his arm and slipped that razor-sharp hook between the top two buttons of my shirt, any wheels that had been turning came to a screeching halt.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He flicked his wrist and my top button went flying, pinging off the wall.
When his mouth finally met mine, his kiss was soft at first—achingly gentle, as if he was being held back by an invisible rope.
But the second my tongue swept out to meet his, that rope snapped, and the kiss unraveled into something wild… something desperate.
I didn’t back away. I couldn’t. My heart was a thunderclap in my chest, far louder than the warning voice whispering in my head.
I dove into the heat and longing and every unsaid thing between us as he cupped my face with his hand, his thumb stroking the edge of my jaw with a tenderness that shattered me.
Whether I died before ever leaving this story, or I lived for another thousand years, I would never forget the way this felt.
Never.
When we broke apart, it was only to breathe. He rested his forehead against mine, his voice rough. “This is wrong. I know it, and I’m not strong enough to stop…”
“You’re stronger than anyone I know, and I don’t want you to stop.”
His low growl only added fuel to the fire, and I made quick work of my shirt buttons, baring myself to his hungry gaze.
He captured one of my nipples between his teeth, hissing as it pebbled beneath his tongue. I plunged my hand into his hair, pinning him closer.
“Mmm, yes!”
His nimble fingers unfastened my pants and tugged them down to my knees. Then his mouth was on mine again as he cupped my hip and then curled his hand lower. I arched my back when he found my heated center, so wet. So ready.
“Ah!”
I had to blink back the sting of tears as he slid two fingers inside me, so sure, so deep that stars exploded behind my eyelids.
His hard chest pressed against mine, branding me with his heat as he worked me in a relentless rhythm. My heart raced, my breaths turning ragged. Every nerve in my body pulsed like a drumbeat, pounding toward an unbearable crescendo.
“You feel so good,” he groaned against my mouth. “Just like in my dreams…”
I tore my lips from his on a gasp. “James, please—” My words caught, my mind barely able to form the thought.
He let out a rough growl before using the heel of his palm to grind against that tight bundle of nerves, enough to undo me completely.
My world tilted, shrinking down to a pinprick where only he existed.
The heat of his body, the scent of his skin, the pressure of those torturous fingers, pushing me closer and closer to the breaking point.
His gaze burned into mine, dark and all consuming. “Come for me, Princess.”
That was it—the spark that sent me over the edge. My vision blurred, and I heard myself calling his name in surrender.
“James!”
My body clenched around his fingers as I came, the waves of pleasure dragging me under before lifting me to some breathless, weightless place I’d only been to in my dreams.
Our dreams.
I was still shaking with the aftershock when I opened my eyes to find him staring down at me, his onyx eyes glittering with stark need.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.”
I wanted to say it back, because it was true. Instead, I reached for him…sliding my hand around the back of his neck, leaning in and nipping at his lip.
“Now you.” I whispered the words against his mouth, body still humming.
“Captain!”
The shout felt like it had come from another world, and I was content to pretend it had as I pressed closer, my nipples grazing his chest.
“Captain! We’ve spotted them!”
James let out a groan and pulled back, his breath coming in harsh gasps.
“That’s Xander…”
For one, frozen moment, we stared at each other, knowing that everything was about to change. That our stolen moment in the midst of this insanity was over.
I mourned its loss already.
“Harmony, I?—”
“Don’t say anything.”
I didn’t want false promises or apologies, and those were all he had to offer right now. We had a job to do, and we’d come too far not to see it done.
I tugged my clothes back into place with trembling hands as Hook stood to grab a shirt from his wardrobe. We dashed up to the main deck just in time to see Xander heading toward us, palming a telescope.
“Pan and Tink. I just saw them from the crow’s nest. They’re about a kilometer out and headed west, just like we planned!”
I reached into the pouch at my hip and tugged out my loupe as I leaned over the railing. It only took a few seconds of scanning the sky to spot the two fuzzy figures in the distance, zipping around overhead.
“Showtime,” I said, nerves suddenly bubbling up inside me. I’d already studied the clock and felt pretty confident, but what if I was wrong? What if I couldn’t get the hands moving?
All this would’ve been for nothing.
“I believe in you.” I turned to see Molly standing a few yards behind me, wringing her hands.
If she believed in me, the least I could do was believe in myself.
I ran my hands over the clock. Small divots, tiny rivets, the hands of the clock rusted from being inside Noru for so long.
Opening myself to my magic, I pulled it through me and wove it through the clock, looking for…
something. The clock wasn’t one of my own creations, and it was far more than just a clock.
There was magic curled through it—Tink’s magic.
Every time her magic brushed against mine, the energy sparked and hissed, like a pair of angry cats meeting in a dark alley.
I closed my eyes and tried to put the world around me away. Noru had taken a massive amount of power, without a lot of finesse.
This was the reverse. All the finesse and very little power.
Carefully, I pressed my magic deeper, looking for cracks in Tink’s spell that she’d woven into the clock.
The gears seemed to be jammed, thick with her magic as if it were…stuffed in?
Wrapping my magic carefully around Tink’s, I didn’t try to break it, but instead pulled it out of the clock piece by piece, cleaning the gears.
Sweat dripped down my face and my palms were sweaty as I worked slowly, methodically until the gears were free and the clock was no longer full of her magic stuffing.
For a second, nothing happened, and bitter disappointment welled up in my chest. Then, the tiniest click sounded and the second hand moved almost imperceptibly.
“Holy shit! It w-”
The clock flew out of my hands and landed on the deck, skittering in wild circles as if possessed. Molly dove toward it, but before she could lay hands on it, a dark blob came shooting out. Moll let out a short scream and Xander pulled her behind him as Hook advanced.
“No!” I grabbed his arm as the black blob began to morph right before my eyes. One second, it was a shapeless mass, the next, it was the silhouette of a lean young man with a jaunty cap.
Pan’s shadow…
It turned its head this way and that in seeming confusion. Then, it lifted its face to the sky. A moment later, it was airborne…and headed west.
“You did it! You fucking did it, you beautiful, magical, amazing princess!” Moll crowed, grabbing my arms and dancing me around the deck.
I couldn’t deny, I was buzzing with energy and excitement myself, but mostly relief.
“That’s my cue,” Hook muttered with a grim nod, all business now.
Magic seemed to bubble up from his very soul, spreading in every direction at once as he strode up to the helm. The winds surged overhead, and the violent roar of the roiling waves below drowned out everything else.
He bellowed, wielding both Tideblessings at once, his energy flaring even higher than it had when we’d escaped the whirlpool. And, as incredible as it was to watch, I couldn’t shake the tinge of sadness that tugged at my heart.
The time for his revenge was upon us, and he could hardly wait.
I gritted my teeth, wishing I could’ve stopped any of this from happening to him in the first place.
Revenge could be sweet. I’d seen it firsthand when Moll killed Heinrich, but it could never undo the horrible things that’d been done to her.
James would bear those scars for the rest of his life, same as Moll.
Her fingers found my hand at that moment, and she laced her fingers with mine. “We’re going to save them, Harm. No matter what.”
I dipped my head in agreement, shoving my own fears aside. “Of course. And we’ll make sure that no one ever has to go through this again.”
I released her hand and picked my way carefully over to the clock, taking extra care not to lose my footing as the ship rumbled and shook from the ever-increasing speed. The magic inside it sent a tingle up my arm as I touched the smooth brass, and I was happy to see that it appeared undamaged.
“Can you tell what it is capable of?” I asked, turning to Xander as I latched back onto the railing.
“Other than act as a home for Pan’s shadow to keep him from aging, it’s hard to say. Wish I could feel the magic in it the way you can. Maybe I’d be able to tell you more about it.”
“Maybe you’ll be able to slow down time or something,” Molly suggested. “That’d be a good little trick.”
I nodded, staring down at it. Whatever it was, I had a deep sense that it wasn’t going to come into play just yet. There was something more…complex about it, far different than the loupe. Like a magical labyrinth whose secrets I wasn’t yet strong enough to find.
I stuffed the clock into my bag, turning to glance over the railing.
Even though I couldn’t use my magic in a way that could help Hook get us to Neverland, my role here wasn’t done.
Magical energy flooded my vision on silent command, and I couldn’t help but be a little proud.
There was hardly even a dull throb in my temples, and it took far less focus than I’d been expecting.
“Amazin. You’ve improved so quickly,” Xander marveled.
“I think the trip to The Fen unlocked something in me,” I admitted, scanning the horizon for any trace of Tink’s magic.
“The opals are definitely a catalyst for the monsters that live there. And an improvement with a Tideblessing isn’t always gradual.
It has happened to me in a flash. Lion tried to attack me once, in the center ring at the circus.
I scrambled halfway up the fence before I even knew what happened.
That’s how I found out what my blessing was. ”
“Why were you even in the ring with a lion in the first place?” Moll asked with a disapproving frown.
“Because being in the ring with a lamb wouldn’t have paid the bills, lass,” he said, his shrug visible in my peripheral vision.
I opened my mouth to interject, but a twinkle of light appeared in the distance before I could make a sound. “There! Off the starboard bow!”
The whooshing of the wind slowed as Hook turned to see where I was pointing, then whipped right back up into full force, the ship tilting slightly to the side as he yanked the wheel in the direction I’d indicated. “You sure?”
“Absolutely,” I said, the twinkle growing to a full-on glow as I pressed even more magic into my eyes. There was no mistaking it. Visibly bright and sparkly, but now, with my enhanced magic, I could sense the sinister darkness that lay just beneath that surface glow.
Pulling back, I sucked in a breath. “And now, we wait.” I spared another glance at Hook, wishing there was some way to lend my own magic to his struggle, but I didn’t even know where to begin.
Tinkering and the connection with Fetch felt easy, but all the rest of it was like a whole different beast. I was overwhelmed and underprepared.
My fingers dug into my palm as I sent up a silent vow that I’d work like a dog to master all of it if the fates could just see us through this and give me a hot second to breathe before throwing another obstacle in my path.
I pushed a little magic back into my eyes, immediately regretting the decision as the blinding, purplish light of Tink’s shield magic came into view, just a few hundred yards in front of the ship.
“We’re getting close!” I shouted, gripping the railing.
We were coming in hot, and had no time to slow the Jolly Roger down when it came time to dock. This was a full-on race, and the lives of the three Lost Boys we’d left behind hung in the balance.
The island flickered into view, as if appearing out of thin air, as we crossed the invisible barrier.
“You did it! Now get ready for a rough landing, everyone!” Hook shouted, the ship careening sideways as he turned us toward the side of the island where Pan’s remaining ships were docked.
I looked up, sucking in a breath as a sudden new presence rushed up, tickling the very edge of my awareness. Were Pan and Tink really so close behind, despite Hook’s efforts?
I let out a sigh of relief as Fetch soared back into view, tucking his wings back to dive directly toward us.
Good job, bud.
A sense of calm flowed over me as his familiar weight settled onto my shoulder.
The team was finally all here and ready to rumble. All that was left to do?
Kill an immortal, soul-sucking hobgoblin and her delusional man-child lover before they killed me and the people I cared about.
Simple.