Neverland (16 page)

I stop tying my laces and feel an invisible hand choke my throat. “What is it, Jamie?” I whisper.

A deep sigh rumbles from him. He reaches for my hand to pull me to my feet. “That isn’t London outside. Or any other island.”

My chest tightens. Breathing becomes harder. “What are you saying?”

“That we’re anchored at Neverland again.”

The gentle strokes of his fingers on the back of my hand do nothing to soothe my breaking heart. “Why?” I croak. But then I already know why. “You lied to me.”

“What?
No.
”

“Yes, you did!” Loaded with anger, I yank my hand away. “You said you’d take me home, but all you did was sail out into the ocean and then back again during the night. You’re a goddamned liar!” Spinning around, I run with untied shoelaces out of his room and across the decks. From the corner of my eye, I see the wide green isle that is Neverland. Jamie calls my name from behind. Tears choke me and I run faster.

When I reach my own cabin, I slip inside and lock the door then flop on the bed. My tears escape faster as I cry into my pillow. Why did he do this to me? Why did he introduce me to the caring Jamie last night, when
Jamie
is nothing but an illusion? There’s only Captain Hook, and he is a cruel man.

Worse, I know I lost more of my past in my sleep. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I sit up against the wall at one side of the bed and reach into my pocket. There’s still this little card inside. The
travelcard
. I sniff and tenderly stroke the worn surface of the paper. It bears the name of my hometown. But
London
is a black hole in my memory now with a single white house standing in its middle. Smells, sounds, colors and feelings are still awake inside that house, but the world around it has crumbled away.

In another day or two, my life as I knew it might be swept completely off the surface of my mind. What is going to happen once I forget everything? Will I believe that I’ve lived in Neverland all my life? Will I stay on the Jolly Roger and become a pirate, or will I find a place to live in the small seaport?

Will I be happy not knowing that somewhere, in a different world, two girls are crying over my disappearance?

All these thoughts scare me. I rise from the narrow bed and cross the two steps to the small table in front of a single square window. Everything in this room is much smaller than the captain’s quarters, but Smee managed to make it look cozy with the pink carpet rolled out on the floor—certainly a stolen good—and the purple bows which he’d used to tie the curtains aside. Yesterday I liked his creativity. Today it only reminds me of Brittney Renae, and I start crying again.

There’s a rap on the door. I turn around but I don’t answer.

Someone’s knocking again then trying the knob. “Angel, open the door. Please.”

“No!” I tell Hook. I don’t want to face him after what he did to me. “Go away!”

“Dammit, Angel, open the door or I swear I’ll break this one, too.”

He sounds angry—like he means it. Wiping my nose with the back of my hand, I grip the travelcard tighter in my other. In hesitant steps, I walk across the room and open the door. Hook is not wearing his hat, that’s the first thing I notice. The second is a map in his hand.

His hard expression changes to silent shock when he sees me. I don’t know what it is that stuns him so, but in another moment the map slips from his hand and he reaches out for my face. Callused thumbs brush my tears away. “Please, don’t do that,” Jamie whispers and pulls me against his chest.

Honestly, I don’t know how to stop my tears when my last bit of hope slipped away this morning. “I thought we had become more than just pirate and prisoner last night,” I mumble into the fabric of his white shirt. The words hurt my tight throat. “I thought we had become friends. Why did you lie to me, Jamie?”

His muscles tense for a brief moment and he stops caressing my hair. “I don’t know what we became last night,” he says then and it sounds soft and honest. “But I didn’t lie to you about this. To find we’re back at Neverland was as great a shock to me as it was to you.”

I look up at his face, sniffing. “Then what happened? Why are we back?”

Jamie wraps his fingers around my shoulders and pushes me a little away from him. “It’s weird,” he says. Then he leans down to pick up the map. “Basically, what happened is we started off here—” Holding the yellowed paper out so I can see Neverland in the middle of the ocean, he taps the east side of the island with his finger. Then he runs his finger in a horizontal line across the ocean while turning the map in a circle, finally tapping the west side of Neverland. “And we landed here.”

“How is that possible?”

He shrugs. In his eyes I see the truth.

“It’s over,” I whisper. “I’ll be stuck here forever.” My heart feels like it’s spiked with lances that stab me at every beat. Jamie drops his arm with the map and shapes his other hand to my cheek, clearly not knowing how to soothe me. “I don’t want to stay here forever!” The words burst free from my throat. “I want to go home, Jamie. I want to go back to my family.”

The sigh that escapes him sounds like his throat is aching as much as mine. It’s hard to believe it from the man who acted like he didn’t give a damn about my life only two days ago, but right now I can feel that he cares for me. Suddenly he abandons his forlorn look. In its place slips determination. “Come with me,” he says and takes my hand.

“Where are we going?” I demand as he drags me across the deck. Moments later, he has Brant Skyler extend the gangplank so we can get on land. There’s barely enough time for me to tie my shoelaces.

Although Jamie walks first, he doesn’t let go of my hand. Instead he reaches back to steady me and looks over his shoulder every few seconds. “We’re going to meet a fairy.”

“A fairy—like a pixie?” I wonder if he’s talking about Tami, but when I realize we’re heading to the seaport and not toward the jungle, the thought vaporizes.

“No, not like a pixie. More like a nymph from the forest. Actually two of them.”

“Is there a difference?”

Jamie gives me a sidelong glance, pursing his lips. “You’ll see yourself.”

“And why are we going to see them?”

“Because they are the only ones who can help you get home. If anyone can, that is.”

I have trouble keeping up with his pace. He must believe there’s a real chance. So much euphoria in his eyes is new to me. It gives me hope.

When we reach the small town, we don’t walk down the main road but angle off right and soon reach a lush green forest with low trees, mushrooms and moss everywhere, and bunnies ducking under the bushes. I have to stop to catch my breath for a minute, twisting on the spot and taking in all of this fabulous scenery. It’s more than just romantic. It’s bewitching.

“I hope they’re home,” Jamie mumbles as I follow him over the grassy ground without any real path. The deeper we get into the forest, the taller and thicker the trees grow. They create a dusky atmosphere. Only specks of light get through the crowns and land like glinting coins on the ground. They tempt me to stoop over and try to pick them up.

Behind a group of conifers ahead, a low white picket fence comes into view. It winds around a small house with a roof made of a thick layer of thread rush. From the chimney, a thin line of smoke rises toward the sky.

“We’re here,” Jamie informs me, then he stops and makes me face him. Suddenly I get nervous. Maybe it’s the lines of seriousness around his eyes that worry me. Cupping my chin, he produces a little smile. “You don’t have to be scared. They are really nice women. But whatever you do, don’t talk to Remona.”

His last warning raises my hackles.

There’s no time to ask questions. The low green door opens. My attention pastes onto the beautiful, tall woman who ducks through the doorframe, then straightens and lifts her long gown of cascading silk the color of pomegranate. She wears no shoes and still towers a few inches over Jamie when she nears us. Her lips shine in a glossy green that seems to be their natural color and blend in with her pale skin. Enchanting turquoise eyes flash when she smiles.

“James Hook,” she drawls with a joyous sigh. “How long has it been since you last came to the forest?”

“A while,” Jamie replies with guilt in his voice and lets the fairy place a chaste kiss on his cheek. “I was busy.”

“I realize that. The time keeps standing still.”

Even if I don’t, Jamie obviously knows what she’s talking about. Grimacing, he rubs his neck. “Yeah, I haven’t found the watch yet. But I’m getting closer.”

“There will be no tomorrow if you fail.”

“I know,” he murmurs. I’m dying to know what this is all about, but since I have no chance to tell if this is Remona or not, I don’t dare ask. As if to distract the fairy from their current topic, he places a hand at the small of my back and pushes me a step forward. “This is my friend, Angelina. Angel, meet Bre’Shun.” With a smile he encourages me to shake her hand.

The fairy’s skin is cold like spring water. My fingers start to numb within only a moment. She doesn’t release me but steps closer and tilts her head to one side, while she searches my face.

“Angelina McFarland. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

My mouth sags open. I cut a brief glance to Jamie, mouthing, “Did you—” But he shakes his head with quirked brows. Obviously he’s as surprised as I am about the fairy knowing my full name.

Bre’Shun laughs. “I know many things, Angelina. For instance that you’re a visitor and can’t find your home.”

“Smee told you,” Jamie states.

“No.” When she shakes her head, her long fair locks glisten like stardust in the pixel-like sunlight. “I told
him
.”

Right. This is probably what you get when dealing with a fairy. I find her fascinating and am happy to follow when she invites us into her house. The arc of the door is so low that even I have to stoop when I walk through. From the neat, tiny outside, I expect to be crammed into a three-by-three-meter living room. But the inside is huge. In fact, it’s bigger than huge. It’s like someone fit a palace into a shoebox.

Turning around to check if we really walked through that door, I can see the open gate of the picket fence. “What the heck—” I whisper to Jamie, but he only shakes his head. He certainly knew what to expect in here. A warning would have been nice.

Bre’Shun lays her hand on my shoulder to steer me toward a wide glass table in the middle of the hall. The contact with her skin again makes me shudder. This time the cold travels even faster through my body. I’m glad when she lets go and quickly rub the spot to warm it up again.

The walls in this empty hall are made of rocks fitted against each other. The floor is a marble chessboard of black and white tiles. Even though there are no windows, the inside is flooded with daylight. I can’t explain to myself where that comes from.

Three medieval chairs with rosé-colored upholstery appear around the table. Jamie and I sit down at Bre’Shun’s invitation. Out of thin air, a silver tray with three white porcelain cups and a round pot on it appears in her hands. She places it in the middle of the table and slowly lowers herself into the third chair. Then she laces her fingers and tilts her head to Jamie with a warm smile. “What can you do for me?”

Her question takes me by surprise. That was surely just a slip of her tongue I decide and take a sip of my herbal tea, waiting for her to correct herself. But she doesn’t. And then something strange happens in the corner of the hall which draws all my attention. A tall grandfather clock appears by the wall and strikes half past one.

Bre’Shun has noticed my fixated attention and gives me an understanding nod. Either I missed the clock at the beginning, or something very weird is going on inside this house. I don’t feel like asking her about this.

When the fairy’s attention returns to Jamie, she places a hand on top of his and a shudder twitches through him. Obviously, he doesn’t like the chilling sensation any more than I do. “Now, your offer?” she demands.

“The roof looks a little rundown from the outside. I can fix it.”

“Oh, dear James. The answer you want is worth more than adding a layer of thread rush to our roof.”

Jamie shrugs. “That and fresh seawater in bottles every morning? For…a year?”

Heck, now I get it. He’s bargaining with her for an answer. And the question is…how can I leave Neverland? Impressed by the lengths to which he would go to help me, I tilt my head at him and study his face. He ignores me and takes a sip of his own tea. For a brief moment, his gaze zeroes in on something over Bre’Shun’s shoulder, but I see nothing there.

“Nice try,” the fairy tells him in a soft tone. “But it’s not what I want from you.”

Then what does she want? An odd conversation I eavesdropped on yesterday resurfaces in my mind. Hook asked Smee what he had to give the fairy for the map. His guess was Smee’s firstborn. Yesterday I thought it was only a joke. Now I wonder if this is what the fairy could bribe out of Jamie for helping me.

Bre’Shun laughs. “No, not his firstborn, Angelina. We cannot use babes for charms.”

So it’s ingredients she wants. Ashamed of my assumption, and even more ashamed that she could somehow hear my thoughts and voiced them in front of Jamie, too, I lower my head and take a second sip of the tea. Right then, another object appears next to the grandfather clock. A rocking chair. Immediately, I put the cup down and it clinks angrily on the saucer. What freaking sorcery is this?

I feel Jamie’s curious stare on me and for some reason I know it’s because of what I’d thought and not how weird I’m acting right now. I give him a sidelong glance and shrug, grimacing. He chuckles, which eases my tension eventually.

“I know you already have something in mind, Bre,” he says to the fairy. “What is it?”

She studies him for a long moment, her expression unchanging but warm. “The bathwater of a toddler,” she finally says. “After a new moon.”

Holy cow, how could he ever bring her such a strange thing? He has to break into somebody’s house to get it.

“Agreed.”

I suck in a sharp breath at Jamie’s response.