Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ROC
For most of my life, I have watched men chase power like a shiny object glittering on the horizon.
There was never enough power, no matter how much they possessed. If they had all the power, they wanted more. All the land, the money, the titles, however much they could get, they wanted to call it theirs.
Rarer was seeing a man who hated power in possession of so much of it, it vibrated on the air.
Currently, I am staring at one such man, and lucky for me, he is mine.
As much as Captain James Hook likes to believe he is a cutthroat pirate, at the heart of it, he is just a big gooey cinnamon cake who wants to be loved and accepted for who he is. But more than that, he wants to feel worthy.
He’s already told me seven times in seven different ways that he didn’t intend to take the Darkland Life Shadow, that he never coveted it, that we should figure out how to get it out of him, proving to me that the shadow chose him for exactly this reason.
Because he does not covet this power.
It is that reason that he now glows with it.
And yet, he is trying to reassure me again. “There must be a way,” he’s saying to me and Wendy.
It’s been hours since our vows were sealed, since we were announced husband and husband and wife.
The Captain tried to avoid the public spectacle of stepping out as the one now in possession of the shadow, but there was no way I was going to let him off the hook so easily. Pun intended? Of course.
We’re in the ballroom in the Darkland Palace. Wendy is in the middle, between us. All of the Darkland elite is in attendance, most of them fast approaching drunkenness.
“James,” Wendy starts, but I cut her off.
“Captain. Do you think I’m upset?”
“Aren’t you?”
I’m a little offended that he can’t tell. Does he not know me? Body and soul?
“Why would I be?”
“You’re meant to be the most powerful,” he says matter-of-factly.
“So you cannot be powerful too?”
Wendy takes his hand in hers and squeezes. But he carries on.
“You’re to be king. I would never try to undermine you!”
I can sense the shadow pulsing beneath his skin. If he’s not careful, he will float away again.
How I missed this change in the warehouse, and the carriage ride to the palace, is beyond me. I was still riding the high of killing those who thought they could take him from me. So I was a little distracted, I suppose.
Wendy reaches over and takes my hand too, linking us all together. It dawns on me that she may also be feeling alienated now that the Captain and I both have shadows. But if she does, she’s not portraying it.
Wendy is much like the Captain—power does not attract her. I think there is a little part of her that enjoys the adventure of magic and prestige, sure. But abandon all else for it? Not Wendy Darling. She’s too rational for that.
“This is my wedding day,” Wendy says to both of us. “I will never get this day back. So if we want to discuss rank and power and shadows, let us discuss it tomorrow? Hmm?”
“Of course, Darling.” I lean in and plant a kiss on her cheek and then smirk at the Captain because in a way I’ve gotten exactly what I wanted.
He frowns, but squeezes Wendy’s hand and then kisses the back of her knuckles. “I will do whatever you ask, love.”
“Thank you.” She smiles at both of us, her eyes glittering.
“More than anything, I want to survive this ball so that I can have you both in my bed tonight. And you may both have shadows, and you may both need to discuss who is actually king, but there was never any question about my role. I am your queen and tonight you will treat me as such.”
I let out a low whistle. “Wendy Darling, you make me hard when you talk like that.”
She demurs, but there is pride in her gaze. “Save it for later.”
“Oh Darling, you have my word.”