Page 21 of Veiled in Stars and Silver
“Ah, yes. Hook and the mermaids are working together. They delivered them to pirates waiting on the shore along Princess Tiger Lily’s borders. I saw Hook. He told his men to keep them away from you.”
“That makes little sense,” I said. “If he did that, he wouldn’t get his…” I stopped too late, glancing at Peter.
He watched me carefully. “Hook said he could get what he wanted from you without them.”
I threw my hands up, releasing a frustrated cry. “Why does he even want them? What are they to him?”
Peter shrugged. “He’s Hook.” As if that were the definitive explanation for everything to do with the elusive captain.
I drew my hands into fists. “He wants a dagger. A jeweled dagger with a skull on the hilt. I used to have it until recently.”
Peter’s eyes grew wide. “You mean the Dagger of Forgotten Souls? That is the artifact needed to destroy all of Neverland.” He flew right up to me. “Tell me where it is. I will get it.”
“I thought it was the spellbook that could destroy Neverland?”
“You need both. They go together. Where can I find it?” There was an eagerness in his expression.
Perhaps too eager? “It was taken from me. I’m not sure where it is.” True enough. Even though I had a sneaking suspicion of where Uncle kept it.
His shoulders slumped and his head bowed.
“But I may know how to get it,” I said.
Peter looked up, hopeful.
“I’ll distract Hook while you retrieve my brothers. Then, when we return to London together, I will procure the dagger for you.”
“Why not kill Hook when he surfaces?”
I shook my head. “If he has my brothers and I kill him, what’s stopping his crew from killing them in retaliation?”
He scrunched up his face and nodded. “Good point.” He drew his sword and flailed it through the air. “I like this. The game is on, Wendy!” He took off flying into the sky until the clouds obscured him from sight.
Mere moments later, Hook broke the surface, sputtering and cursing mermaids to high heaven. Water dripped from his black hair and off his stubbled chin. His shirt clung to his chest, revealing the outline of his tattoos. I hated the warmth that pooled in my stomach watching him. He wiped water from his face and took me in with his forget-me-not eyes as he stood on the shore. “Are you all right, lass?”
So far from it.
“My brothers?”
He turned and pointed out to the sea. “Taken toward the shores to the east. That’s Princess Tiger Lily’s land.”
“What took you solong?”
“Well, that’s rather rude, considering the distance I swam on your behalf.” He swiped a lock of hair out of his face. “But if you must know, mermaids attempted to stop my progression—”
“No. You said that you’d rescue my brothers. You should have been here way before now. And your men were—”
“Those men were not under my orders.” His gaze traveled past me to the dead man on the hill. He paled, and something dangerous swirled in his eyes. “And I tried to get here to retrieve your brothers, but again, mermaids blocked the inlet. Tied up our rudder and wouldn’t let us through. I managed to lower a dinghy and paddle partway, but the mermaids, again, stopped me. So I dove in and swam the rest of the way.”
I snorted. What a load of rubbish. “If they were so determined to stop you, why didn’t they kill you once you were in the water?”
“They couldn’t.” He reached into his shirt and jerked out a silver stone held within a golden casing attached to a chain around his neck. His breaths came fast, and he glared at me. His voice sounded rough. “This is more than a pretty bauble. It affords me protection from anyone that is under Pan’s power.”
I tensed at the darkness gathered in his expression. “What do you mean?”
A coldness raged in his eyes, something wild and verging on violence. I felt for my knives. But he turned to the east and stalked for the woods. “Come. This day is far from over.”
“Where are we going?”
