Page 85 of Devour the Dark

I suppose I was wrong about a great many things, mostly both Darling women.

“Darkland King, huh?” I say.

“There aren’t many people left to oppose me. And even if there were, I doubt they’d have the balls.”

“Juliette?” I ask.

“Nah. She won’t be a problem. She loves me, for one, and two, she had wanted to study astronomy at the Dark University. She was told she couldn’t. This will give her the perfect excuse.”

“Is this really what you want?”

He thinks again, his hands clasped over his stomach. “I’m tired of running, Vane.”

He rarely says my name. It’s too close to his, the one he was born with, the one he detests.

Hearing him say it, I realize…he has changed. He has become something more.

“Neverland will support you and your claim,” I say. “You have my word.”

He laughs. “You think Peter Pan will agree with you?”

“Leave Pan to me.”

“Gladly.” He stands up and comes over to me, waggling his fingers. I grunt and stand so he can wrap me in an aggressive hug. “Thank you for coming to my aid,” he says.

“I couldn’t have you devouring half the Seven Isles.”

“At least a third of them fuckers deserve to be devoured.”

From the breakfast room, Win calls my name. Roc and I break apart and I make my way to the door.

“You’re welcome,” I tell him, half in the hallway, hand on the doorframe. He and I have been alive a very long time. We’ve made new families, formed new friendships, but he and I are all that remain of our old life. I thought I had left that behind, but in this moment, I’m glad to have him back.

“The Madd Brothers reunited,” he says. “Go on. Your Darling calls.”

I nod and follow the pull of my own shadow, the pull of my Darling.

EPILOGUE

ROC

The warehouse isas we left it, with a faint tracking of our footprints in the accumulated dust.

There’s so much history here, some of it I’d rather stay buried.

Vane and I make our way through the aisles of stacked crates and shelves to the back of the warehouse, where half the Variant Collection is stored in an oak cabinet.

The front is unadorned save for a thick iron lock.

I have to admit, I’m impressed Malachi managed not only to locate our warehouse, break inside, but also pick the cabinet lock. Impressed, yes, but also annoyed. How did he manage it? I have half a mind to recruit him. Maybe I will, if I can talk him out of returning to Lostland to the infighting of the Myths.

Using our skeleton key, I unlock the bolt and pull the doors open.

The others are gathered behind us, peering over our shoulders.

“It really is just a hat collection?” Wendy says, the disappointment clear in her voice.

I glance back at her. “Did you expect something else when I said ‘hat collection’?”

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