“She is quite a common fairy,” Peter explained apologetically.
Ifight the urge to scoot away from her. After all, she’s as tall as I am while I’m sitting down. Then again, there’s something wild about her. Like a feral cat—so cute until it gets its claws and fangs into you. And it’s not even the cat’s fault. It’s just their nature. Like hers. Scary.
“If you’re finished feeling sorry for yourself, we need to talk.” She hovers off the floor, her beautiful wings flapping lazily.
“Does Peter know I’m here?”
She holds her hand up and presses her fingers together in a ‘shut your mouth’ motion. “When I said ‘we need to talk’ I meantI’mgoing to talk andyouare going to listen.”
“Rude.”
Her eyes flash, and she hovers closer. “Do you have any idea the mess you’re in?”
“No,” I snap back. “No one will tell me the truth, so no, I don’t.”
“The truth is you belong to this island, and all you’ve done since you’ve gotten here is fuck up. So let me help you out. In three nights’ time, you are going to walk out of here and through the woods. That way.” She points. “Geo will be waiting for you the night before the full moon. I’ve given him enough fairy dust to take you back to the mainland. When you get there, you will hide. Understand?”
“You mean Peter wants me?—”
“Do I look like Peter to you?” She puts her hands on her hips.
“No, he’s prettier.”
Her nose wrinkles, the scar wrinkling along with it. “You will stay far away from Peter. He ismine. Not yours.”
“This jealousy thing you’ve got going on isn’t healthy. You know that, right?” I don’t know why I’m taunting the violent fairy. I guess I’m out of fucks to give at this point.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. As usual.” She floats backwards.
“Last time I took your advice, I got all sorts of messed up. So, thank you for stopping by, but no, I will absolutely not be walking into the deep, dark woods tosupposedlymeet a Lost Boy who willsupposedlytake me back to the mainland.”
She drops and stamps her foot on the floor. “Yes, you will.”
“Nope.” I scoot back into the bed and yank the covers over me. “Now I’m tired. You can see yourself out.”
“Get up!” Her voice rises, the melodic sound of it still marred. A broken bell.
“No.” I pull the blanket over my head, fully aware she might knife me through it. I don’t care. I’m done negotiating with creatures who want to do me harm. I need to wise up. I need to be brave for once. Standing up to a pixie seems like a good start.
“I’m trying to help you.” She yanks at the edge of the blanket.
I keep it firmly over my head. “No, you aren’t. You’re trying to trick me. Just like Hook. Just like Peter. I know you all have your own bullshit motivations that are way bigger than I am. They’ve been going on for centuries or more, and I just stepped into it like a big old pile of bullshit. So, no. You can go.”
“You really are a stupid bitch,” she screeches, her voice a needle in my ear.
“I guess that makes two of us.” I roll over, turning my back on her. God, it feels good telling her off. Likereallygood.
She flits around to the other side of bed, her jingling sound perilously close to my face. “Stop behaving like this. Wendy would never act this way.”
“I’m not Wendy.”
The bed shifts a little, like a cat has jumped up to steal warmth for a short while.
“You’re not sleeping with me.”
“Don’t be an idiot.” She finally manages to yank the blanket away from my face.
“I think you already made it clear I’m an idiot.”
