Page 65 of Veiled in Stars and Silver
I sat up to get a better view of his face. “Wait, Tink was there?”
He nodded. “Maybe he channeled his power through her so I’d remain under his control.”
My mind spun. “But the Crocodile said that he couldn’t command others in a world he wasn’t in. What if… what if she has been the one controlling you the whole time?”
He scowled. “No, it has always been Pan’s voice in my head.”
“I saw it for myself, James, how their numbers have grown. Their kind is thriving. They’ve taken over a sizeable chunk of the island—”
“The Crocodile hopes to trick you. She wants to divide us. Pan is the one. It’s his land. It’s not like I’m not aware that it's him. I can tell when he’s in my mind.”
“You’re always aware?”
“Always. All of us are. That’s what makes it so torturous.”
I stood and grabbed a shirt and a pair of James’s trousers that were strewn about the room. James had destroyed my clothes, so I’d have to wear his. I pulled on one of his fancy shirts and rolled the sleeve.Tink had been here this whole time. She’d retrieved me and brought me to Neverland. She’d been at Marooners’ Rock when my brother had disappeared. She’d been there that night at Madame Pearl’s with Peter, hovering over his shoulder.
She’d been there the whole damn time.
“But,” I said, “what does Peter get out of it? And why would so many fairies come here only to be enslaved?”
“Peter gets an island of people to bow to his every whim. And perhaps the fairies were tricked like the rest of us,” James said darkly.
“Whatever we do, we have to be right about this.” I still wasn’t sure how I would save my brothers and James, but I was going to try. But if it came down to it—I trembled—I would put John and Michael first.
“It. Is. Pan.” He rose, grabbing a pair of trousers and shrugging them on.
I pulled on his other pair and looped a belt through it, yanking it tight and shoving a new hole into the leather. I gave him an exasperated look. “I know how long you’ve believed it is him. How long you’ve wanted revenge—”
But James was no longer in a mood to humor me. He stepped forward, anger on his face. “You are still searching for a way to make him innocent.”
“But it’s clear that they are at least working together.”
“We have to go after Pan. I have what I need.” He jerked on his own shirt. “And you will leave Neverland.”
I stared at him. “W-what? The hell I am.”
His annoyance melted a little. “Please, Wendy, you’ve done enough. I promise I’ll save your brothers. I’ll send them home once Pan is defeated.”
“Done enough.” I paused to consider his words. “I’ve done enough and you haven’t?”
He spoke through gritted teeth. “Yes.”
“Because you are a villain and I’m not.”
“I left my family! Abandoned them! How long did you fight to get to your brothers? Did you once even consider giving up? That is the difference between you and me.”
“There is no difference. Since you received the book, how often did you think about giving up?”
“Every damn day.”
I sucked in a breath.
He stood rigid, glaring at me. “Every damn day I considered taking the shitty stone around my neck and running back to your world. I was free, Wendy, I was free from this land, from the cursed Crocodile, from Pan…” His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. “I wanted to run so badly.”
“But you didn’t,” I said. “You’ve changed, James. And I’m staying.”
“No.Iwill defeat Pan—”
