He nods. “Theirs is a sad story, but it happened so long ago that I’ve forgotten most of it. That’s the way it is with Neverland.Stories layered on top of each other until you don’t know who’s a hero and who’s a villain.”
“Maybe someone can be both.” I give him a pointed look.
He scoffs. “I’m all villain, lass. You’ll find that out as soon as the Spinner fixes you up.” The salacious glint in his eye is so damn sexy. What am I going to do with him?
The rowboat glides into the sand, and Hook jumps out and hoists me above the surf, carrying me to the dry beach.
When he puts me on my feet, I look around, still trying to make out a village, still failing.
“Where is it?” Starkey calls as his rowboat lands beside ours.
“Right? I can’t see a thing.” I shrug.
“Let’s go.” Hook takes my hand and leads me up the gentle slope beneath a few palm trees. The terrain turns greener at an impossibly quick pace, and before we’ve even gone ten steps, there’s moss beneath our feet and trees towering overhead.
“How?” I gaze around as buildings come into view, their architecture soaring and airy. “This must be some serious magic.”
“It is.” He leads me forward until we’re walking along a cobblestone street with glowing green moss along the sides.
The fairy village is beautiful but silent. I don’t even hear the murmur of bugs or the call of wild things from the forest. It’s … dead.
A wide arch crosses over the pathway ahead of us, and flowery vines curl around it and hang down in a perfumed curtain. Statues stand at either side of it—children with butterflies intheir hair. And beyond is a grand fountain with a mermaid atop it, though the water no longer flows. It’s as quiet as the rest of the buildings here.
“They’re all gone,” I whisper. A gnawing melancholy settles inside me as I look around at the cream-colored houses with thatch roofs. There are no families inside, no children running around, no music, no life. It’s unnatural. Even the air has a clammy feeling, as if it clings to me with tendrils of dread.
“Here, lass. Let me carry you.” Hook reaches for me.
“No. I need to do this on my own.” I put up a hand. “I have to see it through.” I hurt all over, and I’m already winded, but if I’m going to find the Spinner, I have to do it on my own two feet.
He looks to argue, then takes a breath and my hand. “All right. We’ll do it your way.”
We keep going past several houses and what looks to have been a creative district. Windows are lined with seashells, and mannequins inside wear ornate clothing that I’m certain would impress even Nessie.
The glowing green moss lights the way past the town and deeper into some rolling hills where farmhouses stand in disrepair, the small fields around them growing wild. Farther still, the road narrows and turns into hard-packed dirt. When we come to a rise, I look up to find a set of jagged mountains, the tops dusted with white and veins of silver glinting in the moonlight. They’re something from a dream, a beautiful vista of sharp edges and cold beauty.
“Have a rest.” Hook eases me onto a stone bench at the roadside, then strides off toward Starkey.
They have a whispered conversation as Shiner and Widow come over to me.
“It’s sad.” I stare at the nearest farmhouse, the front door off its hinges and the inside dark. “It feels like there’s so much missing.”
“There is.” Widow sits beside me. “This should be a village with hundreds of fae. Now, there’s no one.”
“I thought we’d find the Spinner.” I glance at Hook. From the look on his face, I can tell he thought we should’ve found her by now, too. “She was supposed to be here. But there’s no one.”
“Maybe she’s fled to the mountains.” Shiner leans on a fence post. “We have enough supplies to do an expedition into the foothills, at the very least.”
“She doesn’t have time for an expedition,” Widow says quietly.
Shiner turns to me, her face falling somewhat. “Yeah. You’re right.”
“I look that bad, huh?” I let Widow pull me to her side. Resting my head on her shoulder, I close my eyes.
“We’re going to figure this out, my darling.” Widow presses her cheek to my crown. “We have to.”
I take that as a ‘yes, you look that bad.’
“Where the fuck is she?” Hook yells, desperation in his plea.
