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“Have you seen the girl?” I barked the question at the two men working to maneuver the skiff closer to where I was standing on an outcropping of weathered boulders.
“No sign of her yet, Captain,” Linus said, his normally confident voice more brittle than usual. He worked the oars cautiously, clearly attempting to keep from damaging the small craft on the rocks.
“Oh, for crying out loud.” I stepped down into the water and yanked the skiff toward me, then hopped over the edge. “We need to get back to the ship as quickly as possible.” I held out my hands for the oars, but Linus only stared at me like I’d grown a second head.
“Sir?” he asked. I had to forgive him for questioning me because even I knew it was an unusual request. My men handled the rowing, just like I handled the sirens during a storm. We each had our duties, but I didn’t have the patience for their caution.
“Hand me the oars and move aside.”
He did as he was told, and I was fairly certain he was trying to be quick about it, but I still found myself grinding my teeth impatiently.
Anya was up to her old games, and the last thing I wanted was for Never to pay the price for my mistakes. I had my suspicions with the wicked pixie’s none-too-subtle barter for a kiss, but I hadn’t expected her to use her magic to hurl me into the sea.
I paused rowing long enough to wipe my sleeve across my lips for probably the thousandth time since I’d made the swim to the rocks. Kissing Anya had always felt a little off, even when we were in the throes of our forever-ago fling, but kissing her in front of Never had felt unequivocally wrong.
The look in her eyes, that scorching flash of betrayal I’d seen just before the sea had swallowed me out of thin air, clawed at my conscience.
Why? It was one of a thousand questions I had been asking myself since I’d laid eyes on her. Why did her feelings matter to me in the slightest?
But that look… it wasn’t betrayal, not exactly. I replayed the moment in my head again, as if it hadn’t been on a constant, torturous loop in my mind since it had happened. The look on her alluring face was a mix of disappointment and resignation, like she’d been waiting for me to hurt her, and I’d just met her expectations to a T.
Except it wasn’t a betrayal. For starters, I didn’t owe the girl anything. I might not have had complete control over my cock when she was around, but it wasn’t like we meant anything to each other. We were essentially strangers.
Secondly, there wasn’t a sliver of my being that had actually wanted to kiss Anya. I would have been perfectly content to never set eyes on the monstrous pixie again. The kiss was the price she’d demanded for the information Never needed to find her brother and I’d paid it, simple as that.
I looked over at the island as I rowed, checking for anything out of place. When I turned back around, both of my men were watching me.
“What is it?” My mind was already jumping ahead, imagining the worst things they could tell me.
They shared a look, then Linus gave me a resolute nod. “We’ll find her, sir.”
The scar on my chest tingled, reminding me again of just how heartless Anya was and how creative she could be when she didn’t get her way. If my men could see through me so easily, maybe she could too.
Was that why she’d bartered for a kiss, to see how I would react? Or was she testing Never?
The haunted look on Never’s face filled my mind again, and I rowed harder.
23
NEVER
I had officially lost track of how long I’d been laying there. My plan had been to rest for a minute or two, to just take a moment to bask in the fact that I’d survived my harrowing trip down the palm tree. At least, I was pretty sure I’d survived, except for the tiny fact that it was pitch black and dead quiet. A thread of unease wound an icy trail up my spine.
What if I was dead? Was that what it was like to die in Neverland? What if I was alive but I hit my head so hard I went blind?
That could happen. I knew it could. Well, I thought it could. I was pretty sure I’d read it somewhere.
I rolled my neck gently and winced, then my other injuries overrode my fear and adrenaline. When it finally dawned on me to open my eyes, I realized my throbbing head was resting on my boots and the rest of my body was splayed awkwardly on the ground.
So, I was actually alive. One point for me.
I tried to move each of my limbs, cataloguing potential injuries as I went. My feet were a little worse for wear, along with my ribs, but nothing felt broken. I sat up cautiously but still moaned out a self-serving “ow” as I examined the damage. There wasn’t much to see, what with the sun little more than a memory and the remnants of light fading from the shielded sky. I wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a curse.
Using my raw fingertips, I prodded gently along the soles of my feet, finding a series of fine cuts and scrapes. My arches were covered in a thin sheen of blood, but it wasn’t anything serious. Nothing a few days of rest and watching movies curled up on the couch couldn’t fix.
“I just have to find Matty,” I said into the inky woods.
When I did find him, and I would, his obnoxious teenage ass would be the one bringing me popcorn and iced tea while I was laid up. And veggie stir fry from the Thai restaurant down the street from our apartment.
