Page 39 of Veiled in Stars and Silver
“I beg your pardon?”
“You stayed up all last night keeping watch and now you’ve stayed up half the night already and plan on going into a potentially perilous situation tomorrow. Go to sleep, James Hook. I’ll make sure nobody bothers Madame Pearl’s ladies.”
An uncommon sense of gratitude filled him. He did feel exhausted. It was nice that she noticed. “All right, I shall take your prescription. If you need me, I shall be in the third upstairs room on the north side of the building. The door will be locked, so you’ll have to fly to my window and rap four times to enter.” He took her hand in his and bent over it. “Goodnight, Wendy Darling.”
He thought he saw something almost tender flash in her eyes as she drew her hand away.
“Sleep well, Hook.”
Chapter 15
Wendy
I stood in the large open kitchen area with several of the other women lounging around. Despite it being late afternoon, I still wore the nightgown that they’d provided for me. It was lacy and a lot more suggestive than I was used to wearing, displaying the paleness of my shoulders. The other women were dressed in similar nightwear, some showing more skin than even my attire.
Hook and I had slept in adjacent rooms the previous night. Not that I had gotten much sleep. A yawn escaped me, and I tried to focus on the list and instructions that Hook had supplied for brewing the potion that should locate my brothers.
The captain of the Jolly Roger had left early that morning in search of the last ingredient that would probably take him most of the day to retrieve. I fingered the stone around my neck, biting my lip, my stomach doing strange flip-flops at the thought of something happening to him.
Pushing my worry aside, I refocused on the task at hand. It was my responsibility to make sure the potion was brewed to Hook’sspecifications. The pot heated over the stove, giving off an odd whiff of spice and clean linens.
Cora Pearl sauntered over, examining the concoction. “How goes it?”
“Almost done,” I said, a bit of pride filling my chest. This was my first potion.
Cora cast me a studious side glance. “James is a man of honor with the weight of a world on his shoulders. I trust you will keep that in mind,ma chère.”
I straightened. “You don’t believe I’m a woman of honor?”
“I believe you will do whatever it takes to get what you want. James doesn’t have the luxury of choosing between our world and your desires. He knows that. I hope you do, too.”
“And yet he is out retrieving the last ingredient I need to find my brothers.”
“While you selfishly withhold the thing he needs to free himself and all of us.”
“Hook told you about the dagger?”
“Of course he told me.”
I bristled. “If you’ll excuse me, Madame. I cannot afford to make any mistakes.”
Cora turned to leave. “As you wish,ma chère.”
It was true. I was keeping the location of the dagger from him. My uncle had it, and I was pretty sure he’d put it in his safe in his bedroom. That’s where he kept the things he wanted to hide from me and my cousin. Little did Uncle know, I had spied on him on one occasion and discovered the combination.
My teeth sank into my lip. I was holding Neverland in bondage to save my brothers. But what else could I do? I couldn’t rescue them on my own. I needed Hook. I needed someone on my side.
A while later, I lifted the pot from the heat to let it cool. When it stopped simmering, I took a small vial and scooped up the mixture. Now we only had to add the pickleweed to finish it. I shoved the stopper down and grabbed a knife, working a hole into the cork, then added the vial to the necklace with the stone. I’d removed Peter’s acorn button the previous night while Cora and the others dressed me. I couldn’t very well impress the inhabitants of Neverland with it on. It lay on the dresser in my room.
Ivy came to check on me. “Looks like you’re finished,” she observed. I smiled and showed her the potion in the vial.
“Nicely done. Come. James may return anytime. We must find you an outfit that you glow in.” She grabbed my arm and dragged me off to a side room. Shutting the door, she spun, clapping her hands and burying her face in the rack of dresses. “Now, what should we clothe you in?”
“Something comfortable and sensible?” I tried.
Ivy barked a loud laugh. “Ah, my dear. Comfortable and sensible are the enemies of beauty.” She shoved a few more gowns aside before gasping. “Yes! You will look absolutely ravishing in this.”
The dress was beautiful—a white floral print with lace around the edges. Only one side came up over the shoulder, while the other would be completely bare. The fabric hiked to the right and would come well above my knee. It was more revealing than the nightgown I was currently wearing.
