“How should I know?” Starkey throws his hands up.
“Go back through the village. Tell the crew to go house by house. Look everywhere. Find her.”
“Yes, Captain.” Starkey turns and takes off at a run.
Hook stalks toward me, then stops, taking a deep breath.
It makes my lips twitch—the way he reins in his temper before he gets anywhere near me.
“We’ll find her.” He moves to my side and rests his gaze on the mountains. “She’s here. Shehasto be here.”
“But what if she’s not?” I take his hand.
He shakes his head. “Don’t talk like that, lass.”
I ask the question that I know he’s been thinking. “If my mother couldn’t find her, what chance did I really have?”
“This isn’t over.” He pulls me away from Widow and into his lap. “Don’t give up, lass.” He grips my jaw lightly and forces me to look at him. “Promise me you won’t give up.”
I want to say the words, but I don’t want to lie to him. Not now.
“Lass, please.” His eyes water.
It destroys me in ways I never knew existed. “I’m okay,” I say, my body shaking. “It’s going to be okay.”
“No.” He bites the word. “It won’t. If you’re not here, nothing will be okay. Fight, Moira. I need you to be brave.”
I want to be brave, but I don’t think I am.
“You have to be brave for me, lass. I need you.” He cradles me close to his chest, and I realize we’re alone. Shiner and Widow are checking the farmhouses, everyone on Hook’s crew desperately searching for the Spinner.
I close my eyes again and breathe him in. His strong arms hold me close as my mind drifts off. The walk took more out of me than I realized, my limbs heavy, my heart sluggish.
“Lass.” Hook’s voice comes to me through a tunnel, a long, dark one. “Wake up, Moira!”
“There you are.”A golden pop bursts in front of my eyes.
I jump to my feet and stumble backwards into one of the abandoned fields. “What the hell?” I reach for my sword, but I don’t have one. Not since I was in Peter’s cage.
Another golden flash, and a fairy appears before me, her hair so black it looks blue and her skin a light brown. She floats above the ground, her golden wings beating lazily. Her pearly dress is gossamer and thin, a beautiful thing unadorned except for its own glossy thread. Above all else, I notice that I’m not afraid of her, even though her eyes glow like white opal and she has two fangs that graze her bottom lip.
“Are you the Spinner?” I get to my feet.
“I am.” She floats around me, giving me an appraising look. “And so are you.”
“So it’s true? I’m from your line?”
“You’re fae.” She moves closer and runs a finger down my spine. “And you’re a Spinner, but your line is far, far older than mine. Your ancestors were here when the island was new, just a babe waking in its mother’s arms.”
My skin tickles on my shoulder blades, and I dart forward, away from her strange touch. “What are you doing?”
“Just seeing.” She shrugs and moves to my front again, her sandaled feet still not touching the ground.
“Wait.” I look around. “Where’s Hook and the others?”
“They’re awake.” She points.
I spin to find Hook sitting on the bench, me in his arms as he rocks me and sings about dreams for sale. The amount of pain in him, the way his head hangs, my heart breaks again and again.
