Chapter 63
Chapter Sixty-Three
ALICE
A sword.
That’s what he needs. Not a spear, not a branch. A goddamn sword.
I don’t run. I won’t. I’m not leaving him. I don’t care what he said. I won’t leave him.
Hook doesn’t die today.
The Bandersnatch crashes into him, all muscle and smoke, its claws and teeth snapping too close, too fast. Hook barely manages to dodge, but there’s no space, no time, no room to breathe.
The Bandersnatch slams into him, knocking him back. Hook twists, trying to stab at its side, trying to dig the spear into its body—but it doesn’t bleed. It doesn’t even react, like Hook is nothing, like his efforts don’t count.
Hook twists, trying to pull back, but the Bandersnatch moves faster. Too fast. Too damn fast. Something that size shouldn’t be able to move like that. It shouldn’t be this quick.
Its massive paw lashes out, claws tearing through the air, and Hook barely manages to stumble back in time. If he were even a second slower, that thing would have ripped him open right there.
But he’s not fast enough.
The Bandersnatch lunges, all raw power and snapping teeth. Hook moves to block, shoving the spear up, ramming it between the monster’s jaws. The wood locks between its fangs, holding them apart just inches from Hook’s throat.
But the thing is too strong.
Its teeth clamp down, biting into the spear with brutal force. The wood groans and cracks, splinters flying everywhere. Hook digs his boots into the ground, muscles straining, pushing back with everything he has. But he’s losing.
The spear won’t hold.
I can see it—feel it. It’s about to snap and then that thing will rip into him, and there’s nothing I can do. He’ll die, and I’ll be next.
No.
I move.
I don’t think. I don’t hesitate. My body reacts before my brain does, feet slamming into the ground as I sprint forward, faster than I thought I could move.
I need to stop this.
Now.
Hook shouts—I don’t know if it’s at me, at the monster, but it doesn’t matter.
The Bandersnatch rears back and its massive jaws snap shut—right onto Hook’s thigh.
No—
Hook crashes down. The Bandersnatch drags him backward, its teeth buried deep, and then—it shakes him.Violently. Like he’s nothing.
Like he’s already dead.
Hook grits his teeth, gasping through the pain, fighting back. His hand fumbles for his knife, yanks it free, and slashes at the monster’s hide.
He stabs. He fights. The blade tears into thick, dark fur, but the Bandersnatch doesn’t let go.
It shakes him harder, Hook’s body jerking like a rag doll.
His knife arm weakens.
He’s not winning.
And I’m not letting him die.
I throw my hands out, forcing the magic forward.
My entire body tenses, like something pulls at my bones, my skin, my breath—
The stick in his hand changes.
The brittle wood shifts—warps—twists.
Steel.
The blade erupts into something sharper, stronger, real. A sword. A weapon.
Hook’s eyes widen for a split second. Then, with one last, desperate effort, he plunges the sword deep into the Bandersnatch’s side.
The Bandersnatch howls, a sound that rips through the air, shaking the trees, the ground, my bones. it snaps and snarls. Smoke explodes from its body, twisting around Hook, wrapping around them both—
One second they’re there—
The next—
Hook is thrown back, the force sending him skidding across the dirt. He rolls, twisting onto his side, scrambling to get away.
He pushes up, dragging himself to his feet, but his body betrays him. His knee buckles, slamming into the ground. His breath hitches, his teeth grit hard against the pain. He grips the sword, bracing it against the earth, using it to keep himself upright.
His eyes snap to me.
He knows.
He knows what I did.
But there’s no time to acknowledge it.
The Bandersnatch is still standing.
It’s not done.