“Ari, not right now, darling.” Coy’s voice is gentle. “We’re in a bit of a rush.”
“Too rushed for treasures?” She opens her worn hands and shows me large, polished pearls. “Beautiful treasures for you, lovely one.”
I peer at them, surprised at how well they shine in the filtered moonlight. “They’re gorgeous.”
“Take one. Take all.” She steps closer, the smell of the sea wafting off her. “I have more.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t have any money.”
“Free. Free to beautiful maidens like yourself.” She smiles, her front teeth missing.
“Nothing’s ever free, Moira. Not in Neverland.” The warning in Coy’s voice is clear, not that he needs to warn me. I know my fairytales backwards and forwards.
“No offense, ma’am, but I’ve seen this before. It’s straight from the evil witch playbook. They may not be poison apples, but there’s no way I’m taking one of your pearls. Sorry.” I step back.
She scowls and closes her hands. “Pearls. Pearls before swine!” She makes a sign with her hands, the pearls vanishing as she moves. “A swine you shall be!” A sizzle ignites in the air between us, and before Coy can intervene, the sizzling current hits me right in the chest.
I yelp and fall backwards, pain scoring my veins and up into my head.
“Get back!” Coy shoves the witch as I writhe in the dirty sand.
“Moira! Are you okay?” Coy tries to grab me, but I curl into myself against the agony. It’s like my body is tearing itself apart on the inside, and there’s a constant ringing in my ears.
“Stop!” I scream. Then, as suddenly as it began, it ends. I can breathe again. Uncurling I sit up and rub the spot on my chest where the sizzle hit me.
“A curse.” Nibs holds his blade at the witch’s throat. “A nasty one at that.”
The witch’s eyes grow wide, her pupils huge as she glares at me. “What is this? You should be a wee piggy!”
“You tried to turn me into a pig?” I get to my feet with Coy’s help.
“There’s something off about you, girl. Something wrong.” She tries to move toward me, but Nibs holds her fast. “You aren’t what she told me you’d be.”
“What who told you?” My head’s spinning a little as I take another deep breath.
“Ari, what are you talking about?”
“She lied. Lied to me. The bitch,” she hisses. “Our deal is off. Done. She promised me I could return to the sea, to my home. Lies. No more deals. No more contracts. I should’ve learned the first time.” She looks past us to the water. “Never again. Never.”
“Who did you make a deal with, Ari?” Coy presses.
“It was—” Her lips clamp tight, and the slightest golden aura shines around her mouth.
“She can’t say. It’s part of the agreement, I’m sure.” Coy sighs. “I think I know who it was. Let her go, Nibs.”
“Never again.” She’s still staring at the waves. “I’m doomed to stay here on land. Forever. Trapped.”
I know she just tried to turn me into a pig, but I can’t help but feel sorry for her. The depth of agony in her voice, the way tears are rolling down her wrinkled cheeks—it moves me. “Don’t hurt her.”
Her eyes snap to me, surprise in their watery depths.
“She tried to curse Moira.” Nibs doesn’t move. “We should finish her.”
“Moira?” Coy asks me. “What do you want us to do?”
“Never to feel the feather touch of seaweed or swim with my sisters of the deep. Never. Never again. Tricked. Again, tricked.” Her eyes are on the surf as she sobs, her body shaking with grief. Then she turns to me, her watery eyes seeking mine. “Let them kill me, girl. Let them.”
I can’t help the pity I feel for her. She’s desperate, her sadness like an oil coating her skin and poisoning her mind. “Let her go.”
