“Coy’s fine.” She shrugs. “He’s just a pain in the ass.”
“Sounds like you two know each other pretty well.” I eye the fire and ease toward it, not wanting to look too eager. But, of course, my damn teeth chatter again.
“Coy?” She grins. “Yeah, ever since the Lost Boys grew up, I’ve had a use for him. A few, in fact.”
So Peter was telling the truth about the whole sex thing. Makes sense. Coy’s handsome and has a good heart. At least Shiner has good taste in men.
“Come on. Warm up. I promise I won’t bite.” She gestures to the fire where three others are already seated. One is the brute who carried me—Bunk. And there are two more, a man and a woman who look at me with nothing short of suspicion.
“Cobweb and Wraith.” Shiner points out the woman and then the man. “They won’t bite either, but Bunk—well, you never know how hungry he might get.”
I pause.
“Kidding.” Shiner sits next to the woman, Cobweb. “Only kidding. Please, sit. We won’t hurt you. Doesn’t make sense going to all the trouble to take you from Coy if we wanted you dead, right?”
“That’s not exactly reassuring.” I sit on one of the fluffy animal-hide pillows and scooch closer to the fire. It crackles, as if welcoming an old friend. “Why am I here? And where even is here?” I glance around, but the room gives me no clues. I make a guess. “You’re the Neverians?”
Cobweb snorts a laugh. “Peter came up with that name.”
“Then what do you call yourselves?”
“We’re the guardians of the island.” Wraith twirls a knife in his palm. “Always have been. Always will be.”
“Okay, Guardians then. You were all born here?” I ask.
“We’re here, and we’ll do what we have to do to protect this place.” Wraith’s answer doesn’t shed much light.
“From Hook?”
“From anyone or anything who threatens it.” Shiner squeezes the water from her braids and flicks it into the fire. It hisses but settles back down quickly.
“Anyone.” Wraith points his blade at me.
“Me?” I gawk at him. “I don’t want to hurt the island. I don’t even want to be here in the first place!”
“Go easy, Wraith.” Cobweb leans down and yanks off her wet boots, then her thick socks that are covered in patches. “We don’t know anything yet.”
“Okay, can we stop with the vague shit?” I throw my hands up. “I’d like some answers. Why am I here? What are you going to do with me?”
Wraith and Shiner look at each other, but no one speaks.
“Ugh! I’m tired of cryptic nonsense!” I get to my feet and stomp toward the wide door. “How about this? Why don’t I just walk out of here, eh? I don’t see why?—”
A series of howls cut through my tirade.
“Moon’s high.” Wraith smirks. “You can go out there if you want.”
“Go ahead.” Bunk snickers.
I want to smack both of them, especially when I realize how much I miss the warmth of the fire.
Another round of howls is met with something deeper, a roar that I could swear comes from nearby.
I back away from the door and re-take my seat.
“Good decision.” Shiner reaches over and grabs a small towel and hands it to me. “For your hair.”
“Thanks.” I take it. It’s not exactly the softest thing I’ve ever used, but it wicks up some of the rain water that’s soaked me through.
