Chapter 27
Hook
“No!”
“James!”
“Shit!”
“Captain!”
The chorus of voices chased him. His boots slipped on the wet, rotting wood. Bloody hell, what a terrible idea. Wind howled through the gorge below, sending the bridge, and him, swaying and wobbling.
One glance over his shoulder nearly shattered his resolve. Tink stood at the end of the bridge. Smee had one arm on her shoulder, probably the only thing keeping her from running after him. Her cracked, pleading voice almost had him turning back. Almost.
But they had to finish this. The storms wouldn’t stop until they did, and the damn things would ruin him—all of them—if they kept up.
Hook clutched the frayed rope of the low railing. It wouldn’t hold if he stumbled and fell into it. Splintered boards creaked under foot.
The next two boards were already missing, challenging him to stretch across. Wind whistled. His friends had gone deathly silent behind him.
Just a few more planks.
A sharp crack split the air. The rope in his hand went slack.
His stomach dropped as his heart lurched into his throat. Shit.
“James!” Tink’s scream nearly rent his soul.
He lunged for the cliffside in front of him as the bridge dropped.
Breath fled his lungs as his chest slammed against the boards between him and the cliffside.
His fingers slid on wet wood. His hook dug into the soft fibers, wrenching his arm.
And his feet… Only crumbling cliffside met the tips of his boots.
Fuck.
Rain poured from above, dragging him down into certain death. He’d never make it. He’d—
“James!” Dainty hands hooked under his arms, tugging him upward.
His heart nearly stopped. “Tink?”
“Up!” Her wings buffeted him with frenzied gusts.
Shit. She’d flown…with her poor wings, in this rain. She couldn’t die because of him. Never. With a renewed burst of strength, he pulled at the boards and stretched his hook to dig into the cliffside.
“There,” she gasped. “Just…a little…”
His hand closed around a jagged rock at the top of the cliff, the edges biting into his skin. But he had it. Let it cut him, let him bleed—he’d give his one hand just to get them onto the cliff.
“Up! Now!” he yelled at Tink as she helped to pull him up. He needed her safe, couldn’t concentrate with her in danger.
Another burst of effort had his elbow over the cliff edge. Leverage. He sucked in a breath.
With a rasping gasp, Tink crawled onto the cliff next to him. Her wings collapsed across her back, limp as wet cloth. Hook’s boot found purchase on the last remnants of the bridge, and he pushed himself onto the cliff.
“Captain!” Smee’s shout reached across the gorge between them.
He glanced back over his shoulder. His crew stood along the edge of the far cliff. All there. Safe.
Lightning struck another tree, causing them to jump and crouch in the downpour.
Maybe not so safe.
“Get to cover!” he called.
They wouldn’t be crossing the gorge in this weather, especially not without a bridge.
Hook cupped his hands around his mouth. “Meet here after the storm!”
Whenever that would be. He didn’t wait for confirmation. They’d carry out his orders—so help them, they better. Last thing he needed was more of his crew in trouble.
“Tink!” He scrambled to the woman still lying on the ground. His heart nearly pounded right out of his chest. If she’d—
“James,” she gasped, pushing up on her arms. Rain soaked her like a wet rat. Bright red lips stood out against too-pale skin.
Tension slipped from his limbs as he pulled her to him. “What the bloody hell were you thinking?”
“I…I had to—” A shiver wracked her body.
Cold—too cold. And soaked.
They needed cover, shelter. Trees ringed the narrow clearing. Narrow paths wound off in two directions. “Come on.” Hook pulled Tink to her feet, linked his hand with hers, and took off down to the right.
Right is right, the witch had said.
A previous clue, but now was no time to search for the next. The eagle could wait. Such a proud bird wouldn’t be out in this squall anyway.
Just down the path, a shadowed opening loomed in the cliffside through the trees. “This way.”
Tink followed, stumbling along after him, her hand still too cold in his. His bruises and scrapes were long forgotten, shoved deep down in favor of his worry.
Hook unsheathed the sword at his side. He’d fight a bear to get her warm and sheltered. Mountain lion too.
The forest spat them out at the entrance to the cave, with just a few small boulders lingering between them and safety. Hook dropped Tink’s hand to leap one boulder, then reached back over for her. “Give me your hand. Careful.”
His voiced echoed back at him from the recesses of the cave as Tink took his hand and slid over the stones. Her wings were still plastered to her back, wet and limp as the rest of her.
“Is it…?” She looked past him into the gloom.
His gaze followed hers, but nothing stood out. Barely any light filtered in, and soon there’d be none when night fell—storms or no. Dry branches littered one side of the cave. “We need a fire. Help me gather these.”
The fire took forever and no time at all. He never went anywhere without flint—it could save a man’s life. Tink hugged her knees to her chest near the flames as Hook picked up a lit stick.
“James, I…” Hair clung to her face as she glanced up at him.
“Stay here, love. I’m going to check out the cave.”
Very slowly, his heart returned to its normal rhythm.
He rolled his shoulders as he picked his way into the darkness.
His muscles, even his bones, groaned in response.
Crashing against the bridge had bruised his ribs.
The climb had wrenched his arm. A cool chill seeped into his skin, but he was alive.
And Tink… He rubbed an arm across his face.
Reckless, foolish, bloody courageous woman.
He had half a mind to yell at her for what she’d done.
Would have if she hadn’t been so cold and weak, but part of him was grateful.
Without her help, he might not have made it up. She’d saved his life.
What he wouldn’t do for her. Once they got the scale and got out of there, back to sea… His chest constricted. His boot smashed into a stone, causing him to stumble.
Shit. Once they got the scale, she’d get her reward from Titania. She could go home. Away from him. Back to her people where she belonged. He kept forgetting that. Every smile or touch wiped that horrible truth straight out of his head.
He swung the torch this way and that, scowling at the stalactites. He had half a mind to forget this quest. But his crew… He swallowed. He was a captain. Had a responsibility. He couldn’t budge on that, not even for the woman he craved.
No bears jumped from the shadows. The rumbling growls of a predator he expected didn’t come. The cave was one long tunnel, like the butt of an oar punched into the mountain. Water dripped from somewhere above to a shallow pool at the back. There was no way out—at least that he could see.
Tink stood near the fire hugging her chest when he returned. Half her clothes were off, laid over nearby boulders to dry.
She glanced up at his approach. “James.”
The whispered word slipped under his skin, reigniting all the emotion that had cooled on his short trek.
“You…” Foolish, wonderful, brave woman. If he didn’t already crave her every moment of the day, the sight of her in only sodden underclothes clinging to her every curve would make him wild.
She was his own special drug, one he could never get enough of.
And in that moment, there was only one thing that would satisfy his hunger.