Chapter 7 #4
“I don’t know, but just by being here, it feels like the island might be beginning to heal. Hook is still trying to tear it apart, to grip the power at the heart of it, but you’ve changed something.” He taps two fingers over his heart. “I feel it in here.”
“I’m not the key to anything. I’m just a grad student, and I really wish—”
He claps his hand over my mouth, his eyes going wide. “Don’t say that word.”
What the hell? I grip his wrist and try to yank it from my mouth, but he’s a lot stronger than I am. I get nowhere, his earthy scent in my nostrils, on my lips.
“Promise me, Moira. Promise me you won’t say that word in Neverland.” For the first time since I met him, Peter seems … scared.
I glare at him.
He slowly drops his hand. “Promise me.”
“What’s wrong with the word w—”
His hand comes up again, and I hastily rephrase. “With that word?”
He sighs with relief. “Neverland is a place born of magic. Magical creatures are everywhere—though perhaps not now as much as they used to be, thanks to Hook. But that word has great power here. If a creature were to take you up on that—” He winces.
“—‘Word’, then you’d be bound to it. Don’t make deals here.
Don’t make promises. And never, ever make a—” He cuts himself off, but his eyes tell me exactly which word is forbidden.
“Okay.” I can just add this to my mile-high list of things I don’t understand. But it does lead to another question: “What about the shadows?”
He rolls his eyes. “The boys have got it into their heads that the island is cursed and sends out shadows on the full moon.”
“That’s kind of … scary. What do the shadows do?”
“Geo believes—and he’s been telling the others—” He pauses and shoots a nasty look into the room we just left. “That the shadows are sent from the heart of the island to kill Lost Boys.”
“Why? Why would the island want to kill Lost Boys?”
“It wouldn’t.” Peter shakes his head. “Geo doesn’t want to admit that his crew was ambushed by pirates at the last full moon.
Hook is the one who killed my men. Not some so-called shadows.
Geo just doesn’t want to take the blame for what happened.
He knew he shouldn’t have taken any of the Lost Boys away from the tree on the night of the full moon, but he did it anyway.
He was warned. He didn’t listen, and several of my men paid the price.
” He pauses and looks at me, as if weighing what else he should tell me.
“Moira, the island is safe for you as long as you’re with me.
But the island is dangerous all over on a full moon.
The beasts get hungrier, the entire island comes alive, and the Lost Boys are well aware that we always keep close to home on those nights.
The tree and the cave are our sanctuaries. The safest places on the whole island.”
“All those eyes I’ve seen in the forest.” I shiver. “I can’t imagine them looking even hungrier. Sheesh.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll be with me.”
“You realize the more you tell me, the creepier this sounds, right?” I wrap my arms around my waist. “Maybe it would be better if you and I went to the mainland and you guarded me there? There’s still a full moon sometimes, but it doesn’t get quite as wild as it does here.”
“The only place you’ll ever be truly safe is by my side in Neverland. My powers fade on the mainland. The magic here still flows through me, even though it’s diminished. But I can use it to protect you. Together, we can fight Hook and take the island back.”
“That sounds great, but you know I’m not a fighter, right? I can’t do any super moves to kick pirate ass.”
“When the time comes, you won’t have to. You’ll be as fierce as Tinker Bell in your own way.”
“Speaking of Tinker Bell, where are the rest of the fairies? I’ve only seen the one, and that didn’t go so well. Are there any nicer fairies around? I think I’d like to meet them. Maybe they can give me some tips on winning over Tinker Bell.”
He reaches out absentmindedly and rubs a lock of my hair between his thumb and forefinger. “No. The fairies are almost pure magic, their souls like crystals that focus the island’s energy. Hook drained them all, stole their magic and their lives.”
My mouth falls open. “You mean Tinker Bell is the last fairy?”
“As far as I know.” He nods solemnly. “She survived Hook’s attempt on her life, but only barely. I’m sure you saw the mark on her face.”
“He did that to her?” My stomach churns. Did he slash her with his hook? The thought of anyone hurting a fairy seems so wrong. Tinker Bell may not be pleasant, but she doesn’t deserve to be hunted just because of what she is.
Peter finally leans back, his fingers dropping from my hair. “Hook would do much, much worse if he could get his hands on her again.”
A noise overhead catches my attention, and I see a man swinging down through the vines as if he was born in this tree.
He lands beside us with a light thump. “Peter, Hook has gone anchor up. They’re sailing back to deeper waters.”
“Finally.” Peter claps his hands and gives me a mischievous smile. “Now it’s time for a swim.”