Page 26 of Veiled in Stars and Silver
Hook’s shoulders dropped, his blue eyes flashing while he worked. “Tell us how you really feel, Wendy Darling.”
“Hell if I know,” Lillian replied. “But if he doesn’t succeed, I don’t think there will be any hope for us ever getting free from Pan’s power.”
“Done.” Hook stood back proudly. I saw the small hole he’d carved into the silver stone for me to hang about my neck. I took a deep breath.
“You’re saying I should trust him?” I asked Lillian.
Lillian’s gaze bored into me, the expression on her face solemn. “After you take this from me, he is theonlyone you should trust.”
I looked down at the stone that lay in Lillian’s hand. Reaching out, I lifted the silvery object from Lillian’s possession and slipped it into the pocket of my trousers. I’d add it onto my necklace later.
Lillian’s expression went blank.
Hook suddenly started backing up. He grabbed my arm and dragged me with him.
I jerked out of his grasp. I wanted to watch this. I wanted to be sure.
“Lillian?”
She blinked and looked at me. A calm grin crossed her lips. Then her eyes landed on Hook and all pleasantness fled.
Hook sucked in a sharp breath. “Wendy, I’m not sure if—”
“Step away from him.” Lillian pulled her bow off her back and loaded an arrow from her quiver. She pointed it at Hook’s chest.
He was still backing toward the tree line when she released her arrow. He dove to the side. The arrow sliced into his arm and lodged into the ground. Laying in the dirt, clutching his wounded arm, Hook released a torrent of curse words.
I stared in shock. But… Hook had claimed that nobody under Peter’s power could hurt him.
Unless splitting the stone had weakened its power.
A self-satisfied smirk crossed Lillian’s face as she loaded another arrow into her bow.
Chapter 10
Wendy
Hook scrambled to his feet and made a beeline for the jungle’s edge, but Tiger Lily already had him in her sights. From this angle, I could tell the arrow would lodge between his shoulders. A death kill.
Without really thinking, I drew a knife and lunged forward, severing the string on the bow before Tiger Lily took the shot. The arrow flipped to the ground, harmless.
Tiger Lily let out a shout of rage and turned furious eyes on me. But then she spun and raced after where Hook had disappeared into the brush.
I stood there, my mind spinning. Had I saved the life of my mortal enemy? Suddenly Hook burst out of the trees and grabbed my hand. “Time to flee, Wendy Darling.”
And I moved with him, running blindly after wherever he led. After a while, he slowed, and I nearly bumped into him from behind, my heart pounding from our frantic escape.
“The stone… it still works?” I asked.
“Partially.” Hook stayed low, on high alert. The left sleeve of his shirt was slick with blood. “I think it still protects us from Pan’s mind attack, but now that I split the stone and weakened it, all of Neverland will be hunting us.”
“Can’t you use the spell in the book to make a new stone?”
“Tried that already. That particular spell only works once.”
“What if someone else cast the spell—”
“You don’t think I’ve tried all that?” he snarled at me, and I tensed.
