Page 35 of Veiled in Stars and Silver
The pirates laughed. Hook crossed his arms, never taking his steady gaze off of me.
“I’ll make this quick,” Mason said and charged at me. I danced around his attack. Mason swung his blade, and I raised mine to block.
Clang.
The strike went straight to my bones. Shit. He was strong.
He swung again, and I backed up, taking the hit. Mason laughed with triumph. When our swords struck again, I let the blade fly from my grasp.
“How about you lie down for me, and we’ll get this whole hand-chopping part over with?”
I reached into my dress and dove under Mason’s blade, bringing out my knife and striking, cutting deep into his sword arm, severing muscle and tendons. I came up on the other side, my weapon dripping with blood.
Mason swore as he clutched his useless sword arm.
He switched hands and rushed wildly at me, enraged. I circled around him, then jumped on his back, ramming my blade into his good arm before jumping off him. The force caused him to hit the ground.
I yanked the rope from my waist and jerked his injured arm behind him, tying it to his calf, then backed up.
There. Half hog-tied in a manner of seconds.
He lay there spitting, calling me every foul name known to pirate. I gripped my skirt and tore some fabric from it and stuffed it in his mouth. The crowd clambered with laughter.
“Nobody will lose their hand today. However, if you don’t get that arm tended to, you may lose one within the next week.” I straightened, sweeping strands of hair out of my face that had come loose from Ivy’s updo, and looked around at the pirates, who watched me with a new level of respect in their eyes. “Does anyone else wish to duel?” I asked in a quiet voice.
Silence.
“Then hear me. I am not your enemy. I’m aware that it will cost you to trust in me. To allow me freedom while so many of you are bound. But I will do everything I can to help Hook free this land from Peter Pan.” My heart burned with the words even while I wasn't sure how true any part of them were. But I wanted them to be true. Could I do both? Save my brothers and free Neverland?
The men gathered around didn’t cheer me, but they didn’t challenge me either. They gradually dispersed.
I turned to Hook, only to see him attempting to hide a smile. Pride shone in his eyes. I glared at him and walked up to the porch that surrounded the length of Madame Pearl’s. I moved around the building until I was out of sight, leaning against the siding and taking deep breaths. The bloody knife I still held clanked to the wooden planks beneath my feet.
Hook clomped up after me, his sword clutched in his hand. “Wendy, that was—”
“How dare you put me in that position,” I spat.
He stopped. “Position?”
“Forcing me to fight. To prove myself.”
His eyes slitted, and he stepped close. “You were already in that position. I merely manipulated it to your advantage.”
“Did you?” My gaze fell to his shirt, only partially buttoned to show off his tattooed chest. He came closer, the smell of the sea mixed with that sweetness washing over me.
“Yes,” he said. “No offense, love, but you are a woman. And a young one at that. Not to mention your known associations with Pan. If you didn’t prove you could hold your own now, we very well might have been dealing with a mutiny later.”
My hands clenched at my sides as I stared into his face. The tiny, hooped ring in his left ear reflected the daylight. The breeze ruffled his dark hair. My heart raced as I traced that tiny scar along his strong jaw, the one spot of skin among the light stubble peppering his chin, giving him that roguish air.
My examination stopped abruptly at his lips. His firm disapproving lips.
I flattened my bloodied palms to the cool stone of the building to ground myself. “You don't think I understand all that?”
“Then why are you angry with me?”
I gritted my teeth. Because I had wanted to see some moment of concern. Some sign that he was really on my side.
“I don't know,” I said. “Although their actions aren't making me believe that they deserve to be saved.”
