“Oh, it’s already plenty hard.”
Tiger Lily clears her throat. “Guardians, fan out. They could still be hiding in the trees. If you see a Lost Boy, you know what must be done.”
Several of the Guardians break off from our main group and disappear into the thickets and behind the thick trunks that mark this section of the island. The fantastical flowers bloom here, their petals reaching for the elusive moon.
I try to steel myself as best I can, but I know I’m one wrong word away from crumbling. “Did you … did you visit her?”
“Yes.” His answer makes a yawning pit open in my stomach, a swirling black hole that threatens to turn me inside out and swallow me whole. My mouth goes dry, my hands sweaty.
“Did you drive her mad?”
He sighs. “I don’t think so, no. But how can I be sure?”
A reprieve, one that saves me from falling apart … for now. “Tell me what happened.”
He glances at Tiger Lily. “I suppose you may as well hear it all now.”
“Finally,” she says tartly.
“I went to the heart of the island. In the cave beneath the tree, I heard the island speak to me. It offered me a wish.”
One of the Guardians behind us hisses.
Hook continues, unperturbed. “I took it.” His gaze softens as he meets my eyes again. Sure-footed as a goat, he carries me down a rocky hill toward the beach below. “When Wendy came to the island, she worked some sort of curse on me. On everyone here, really. She made me realize there could bemore. More than a life of murder and thievery—” He grins. “Though those are still plenty appealing.”
I smack his shoulder.
“Wendy was like the first drink of alcohol for a young lad. The first taste of something forbidden. She made me want something I’d never even considered.” He jumps down another bit of theincline. “She made me want love. Connection. Someone to share my cabin with.”
“You wanted Wendy?” I ask.
“That mealy-mouthed goodie two-shoes?” His lip curls in disgust. “I wanted her to walk my plank and be gone.”
“Jeez. That’s my great-great-great-grandmother you’re insulting!” There might be one more or one less ‘great’ in there, but I can’t remember.
“My father was a piss-poor excuse for a man. There, feel better?” He reaches the sand, his steps growing smoother. “She made me want the other half of my soul. I didn’t even realize it was missing, but like I said, she cursed me. That’s what drove me to the heart of the island. It’s what led me to you.”
“And you’re saying that was a curse?” I scoff.
“Of sorts, yes. Just think, lass. I was Captain James Hook, feared by all, even by Blackbeard. I maimed half of Atlantis and had an astronomical bounty on my head in the Triangle. I had it all.” He gives me a rueful smile. “Until Wendy made me realize Ididn’thave it all. And I wouldn’t have it all until I had you, lass.”
I’m so close to melting, but I can’t. Not until he tells me the truth. “I have to know if you hurt her.” My voice is barely a whisper, like a faint harmony with the waves of the sea.
He nods. “I know, lass. That’s the part I’ve been dreading, been trying to figure out. Once the island granted my request, it told me your name. Needless to say, I went running back to my ship and set sail to find the woman who would make me whole. I found you.” He shakes his head. “You were six. Playing in yourpool with your mother and a little yipping dog running around and trying to jump in with you.”
“Nana.” God, it’s been a long time since I’ve thought about her. She died when I was still little.
“I’d come to claim you. But you were yet a wee lass. So, I left you alone. Only visiting and checking in on you from afar. Eventually, I tasked one of my men with looking out for you.”
I arch a brow. “Yeah, I know. Not cool.”
“Shortly after that, I met your mother.”
A knot forms in my throat. “How?”
“She came to me. We were sailing around the Neverstorm, and she dropped right onto the deck, her clothes and hair soaking wet. She strode right up to me, put her finger in my face, and asked me what my intentions were with you.” He smiles a little as if it’s a fond memory.
“She was here?” I’m so damn tired of crying, but I can’t stop. Not when I imagine my mother in Neverland. “My mom was here?”
