Page 117 of Freeing Hook

“Tink, it’ll be okay, I promise,” Peter says. “I’ll make it better. You have to understand. I had to do it. For the boys.”

I want to rush to her, to comfort her. But of course I can’t. Because although this Tink is very much real, she’s simply a figment of the past. A memory. Still existing somewhere underneath the calluses of the woman I’ve come to know and care for.

When the Sister’s shadow turns to look at me, a shiver races down my spine. My feet urge me to flee, but I remind myself myfear is lying to me. It’s not actually her. Just a memory. Just a shadow.

A shadow trying to tell me something.

Tink had been in so much pain up on the cliffs when the Sister took her voice, it had made an imprint by the storehouse. Hadn’t Peter come to save Wendy from a nightstalker that evening? According to Wendy’s account, she’d frozen up, the shadows enveloping her.

She’d heard a woman’s scream—Tink’s scream, reaching out to her from the past.

“Do the other wraiths know?” I ask, trembling as I approach the gathering of shadows. “Do you know what happened to Wendy? What happened to my sister?”

The wraith in the shape of Tink peers up at me. She shakes her head, somewhat sadly, and the hope billows out of me.

But then the shadows turn into wisps, then reshape, drifting unnaturally. The shadow version of Tink stands up, though it looks less like her pushing herself up with her legs and more like falling backward.

Like they’re rewinding time.

Tink’s talking again, and the Sister leans in to whisper in her ear. I’m still not close enough to hear, and by the time I draw near, the Sister has already backed away. Tink and the Sister look at me again. I’d assume they were blinking if I could see any semblance of eyes.

This time when the Sister leans in to whisper in Tink’s ear, I’m prepared.

At least, I’m prepared to listen. What I’m not prepared for is the revelation that changes everything.

As the Sister speaks, telling Tink of what’s to come, my legs begin to quake. Tink is breathing hard, but it’s nothing compared to my body’s reaction.

Some get physically ill when they hear dreadful news.

I wish I had that luxury.

My body won’t allow me to let it out. The truth just stays inside me, pressing outward against the inside of my skull, the flesh of my stomach, making me feel as if my skin is going to burst.

When the memory is done recounting itself, it must not think I heard because of my blank expression, my lack of reaction.

So when the Sister leans in again, I have to listen to every horrid detail again. It’s for the best, I have to remind myself. It’s for the best. That way I can memorize it. Recount it all perfectly to Wendy when I finally find her.

If she’ll believe me. That’s the worst part. I don’t think she will. I’m not sure even I believe what I’m hearing.

Until something shifts behind me, tethering me to reality. If you can even call Neverland that.

Whatever is there, I can’t see it. Likely a night creature. Hopefully not a nightstalker, but it reminds me that my mission is not over for the night.

If I’m going to discover the rest of the truth, I need to discover what happened to Wendy on the beach. Given the placement of the moon in the sky, I have less than two hours.

CHAPTER 45

WENDY

As the town of Endor grows ever closer, I make the mistake of wandering one night. My destination is the deck—all I want is some fresh air, to feel the sting of salt against my face—but hushed voices stop me from rounding the corner in the hall.

“Is there a reason you’re questioning my decisions?” says the first, unmistakably Astor.

“Oh, I don’t know. Possibly because your decisions lately have been idiotic,” says Maddox.

When Astor says nothing, Maddox sighs, his voice softening. “Listen. I’ll be right behind you, backing whatever decision you make. You know that. I just wish you would give yourself some time to consider what you’re throwing away.”

“Would you question me if I found a way to cast away shackles?”

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