Neverland (8 page)

A cold aura surrounds the captain when he moves his hands down to his belt and slowly walks over to me. The letter J is engraved in the silver buckle. Only on a second look do I realize it’s not a letter but a hook. And suddenly I wonder why he still has both his hands. The Lost Boys said he had a hook on his right arm. Apparently, he doesn’t.

“Why are you holding me prisoner on your ship?” I snap when he’s only a couple of steps away.

“Because you’re of great value. And because you have something that belongs to me.”

“Yeah? And what would that be?”

The captain takes another step forward, closing the distance between us until we share the same breath. “My heart,” he says in a strangely soft way, and caresses my cheek with his fingertips.

What the heck— Too baffled, I don’t get out a single word.

His eyes stay warm when his mouth twitches into a greedy grin. He lowers his hands to my hips then strokes them gently down to my thighs. “Ah, here it is.” His grin grows wider and this time his eyes match it with a dark glint. Violating my intimate zone without warning, he shoves his hand into the right pocket of my wet jeans. I gasp. But he withdraws it a moment later—and with it, the ruby from Peter Pan.

“Give that back!” I strain to get my wrists freed. “It was a gift! You goddamn thief!”

Hook tilts the gemstone in the sun, studying it with a frown that he directs at me next, and drawls, “ How…little Angel…can I be the thief when
you
carry something that’s rightfully mine?”

I hesitate with my answer and lower the level of my voice. “I didn’t steal it. Peter gave it to me.”

“Yes. Peter Pan,” he says through gritted teeth. “The one damn bug that has been annoying me for decades.”

Did he say decades? Oh my God, how long has Peter really been a teenager? And the entire island never aged a day? But then I realize I’m in deeper trouble than just stuck in a timeless area. I’m stuck on a ship that’s run by a ruthless captain and his ugly-as-hell pirates. I need a plan.

“Fine. You have back what you wanted. Now take off these ropes and let me go.”

A spine-chilling chuckle sounds from his throat. “Oh, Angel, Angel. You really don’t understand, do you? This little ruby is only a pebble of my original treasure. Heaps and heaps of gold, silver and diamonds.” He holds the gem between two fingers in front of my eyes, tilting his head, and studies me closely. Then he straightens and quickly wraps his fist around the stone. He tucks it into his pocket. His voice loses all warmth. “But I’m sure you already know this. You’ve seen it, haven’t you?”

Not daring to even blink, I shake my head.

“Where. Is. My treasure, Angel?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I shout, just short of a new panic. Peter Pan trusted me when he showed me the cave. I can’t betray him. Not even after he abandoned me last night. “Peter gave this to me yesterday. We sat on a hill, watched the freaking rainbow volcano, and he pulled the ruby from his shirt pocket. There sure weren’t heaps and heaps of gold hidden in
there
!”

He frowns, as if deliberating whether I was actually telling the truth. Spewing out a curse, he finally leaves me alone and walks to Smee who, until now, watched us silently from the railing. “What do you think, Jack? Is she lying?” Hook asks him in a lowered voice.

“I don’t know.” Smee casts a brief glance my way and scratches his left brow that’s parted by an old, whitening scar. I can’t stop wondering how many battles he’s already fought in the body of a twenty-year-old over the years. “A reckless jump off a ship?” he continues. “She seems like a tough one. Mighty fine blow she aimed at you before. I wouldn’t put it past her to lie to save the brats.”

“What do you suggest? Torture?”

I suck in a sharp breath at the thought of being hurt by these men, but both ignore me. Jack Smee raises an eyebrow at his captain. “She’s a kid, that one.”

Grimacing, Hook rubs his lower chest. “According to the blow that so obviously impressed you, she’s not.”

“Still. She’s a
girl
.”

His lips pursed, Hook gives me a thoughtful look. “She’s of no use to us, if she doesn’t reveal where the treasure is.” With resoluteness in his move, he turns back to Smee. “May as well let her walk the plank.”

“What?” We’ve sailed away from the island at a good speed for the past half hour. There’s nothing but water around us. “I don’t even know where the island is! You can’t expect me to swim back to the shore!”

Hook closes his eyes for a second longer and the corner of his mouth twitches up in a peculiar way. “Oh, I don’t.” He draws nearer, the heels of his boots clacking eerily on the wooden deck. “We let you get off here and the sharks will do the rest.”

Over his shoulder, I catch a glimpse of multiple dark triangular fins cutting through the water. They hadn’t been there a few minutes ago. We must be out really far. I start to tremble. Is this the right time to tell him I do know where Pan’s treasure is? Peter would hate me, and I mean
really
hate me, not just be miffed because I’m not aiming to stay in Neverland. And once I tell Hook, what guarantee is there he doesn’t push me off the plank anyway? Once he has the treasure, I’m definitely
of no use
to him.

Freaking hell, what am I supposed to do?

Jack Smee loosens the rope around my wrists and pushes me a few steps away from the mast, then he ties my hands in the small of my back once more. As he leads me through the two rows of men, the crew cheers in anticipation of me being a shark meal.

Three men set up a board on the railing that leads out into the sea. Smee pulls me to a stop right in front of it and turns me to face Hook who’s standing with his hands clasped at his back and flashes a delighted grin.

“Any last words?” he asks me.

“Go to hell, you freaking…filthy…godforsaken…”

With a single step, he closes the distance between us. Our noses almost touch as he dips his head and brushes a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Darling, the word you’re looking for is pirate.” And there it is again, the dangerous gleam in his eyes. Ruthlessly, he grabs my upper arm and pushes me onto the plank.

One of the men fetches a broom and pokes me forward with it until I stand on the very edge. My knees wobble, my heart races like a machine gun. Only a few hours ago, I considered finding Melody and making her drown me in the sea to wake up. Now, with the sharks only a few meters beneath me, this plan doesn’t seem so brilliant after all. But in the end it might be the solution to all my problems. I’m stuck in some strange dreamland, and dying would get me out. Wake me up. Bring me back. I close my eyes…

“Wait!”

Hook’s sudden yell startles me. I look over my shoulder.

“Take her back in, Smee. I have an idea.” That’s all he says before he strides toward the ship’s stern and disappears in a cabin beneath the bridge.

I let go of a long sigh of relief as Smee takes me back on board. He leaves me in the care of the man who smells like rotten fish then follows his captain.

James Hook

OH, PETER PAN, this time I’m going to squish you beneath my boot.

Slamming the door behind me in irritation, I stride to the wide wooden desk in front of the row of tall windows overlooking the sea. In this study I usually plan battle strategies with Smee, but now I pull the ruby heart from my pocket, drop it on the desk together with my hat and pace the room.

You dare give away part of my treasure? I’ll teach you a lesson you won’t forget, you nasty little piece of work.

Removing the cufflinks from my shirt, I yank it over my head and toss it on the swivel chair between the desk and the windows. In front of the tall mirror in the corner I stop and brush my fingers over my chest. There’s a bruise forming on the right side. Damn, that girl has some strength in her. And an unbreakable will, too. The whereabouts of my treasure is still unknown. Not even in the eye of death did she succumb but instead shot down my excellent plan. None of the scared rats outside would have shown such courage. Well, probably Smee, but he’s the only one.

I close my fist around the golden key dangling from a chain around my neck and make a promise. I will find my treasure—together with the little chest. And then I’ll stop this whole remaining a child shit.

A rap sounds on the door.

“Come in, Jack!” I say, knowing it’s my first mate, because he’s the only one who I allow in here.

Smee steps in and shuts the door behind him, but not fast enough. Over his shoulder, I catch a glimpse of Angel in the middle of my crew. The men are teasing her, but none of them lay a hand on the girl. And they won’t. Not if they know what’s good for them.

“James?” Jack pulls me out of my staring at the now-closed door. “You look concerned. Is everything all right?”

“I find it highly disturbing to have a woman on my ship,” I admit through a clenched jaw. “This is pirates’ domain, for God’s sake.” You don’t toss a kitten into a cage of ravenous wolves.

“Then why did you bring her on board?”

“She had my ruby. There was no other choice. And when she said she got it from the Pan, I was ready to bet my right leg on him coming to save her from the sharks.”

Smee leans against the door and folds his arms over his chest. “Yeah, I thought so too. What do you think, why didn’t he come?”

I shrug and pull on the black tee I left on the ottoman this morning in exchange for the finer shirt to go to town with. “She was alone when I met her. Maybe Peter thought she had already gone back home. The ruby could have been a gift of farewell.”

“I knew you wouldn’t toss her to the sharks in the first place, but what’s the idea you spoke of? You have another plan?”

“Maybe she can’t lead us to the treasure.” I let a smug smile enter my face. “But she sure knows where Peter Pan and his friends are hiding.”

“You want her to lead us through the jungle? Excellent idea. If she stayed with them for some time, she certainly knows where all the traps are and can lead us around.”

I nod. “Give them orders to return to the isle and have four men get ready to go ashore with us at nightfall. The rest will stay aboard to defend the ship.”

Smee leaves immediately. I lock the ruby in a drawer of my desk and put my hat back on, pulling the brim lower down my forehead.

Your last hour has come, Peter Pan.

Chapter 6

WE HAVE BEEN walking along a path leading away from the shore for at least an hour and a half with night surrounding us, and still no one wants to tell me where we’re heading. Smee and Hook flank me, four pirates following us. They hollered and made dirty jokes for the better part of this journey, but since we reached the jungle a few minutes ago, their chatting has gradually ceased. Now they are so silent I peek over my shoulder to make sure they’re still there. And only in the dim moonlight can I make out their shapes.

Hook didn’t say a word the entire time. He seemed deep in thought. Smee, apparently too scared to disturb his captain in his musing, was silent too. Or maybe they just didn’t want to discuss whatever they planned to do in front of me. However, while Hook set a fast pace at the beginning—I could hardly match his steps without jogging alongside him—I realize that his entire body has become cautious since we entered the thicker jungle, as if expecting trouble.

“Light a torch,” he orders Smee.

His companion pulls a long piece of wood from the bag he brought and kindles a flame with a match that he strikes on the sole of his boot. The burning torch casts a circle of comforting light around us. “Which way?” Smee asks then.

“I don’t know.” Hook shrugs. “Why don’t we ask our little Angel?” His gaze skates to me. “If you’d be so kind and lead the way, Miss London.”

My mouth sags open and I surely make wider eyes than a koala bear at him. “You want me to lead you through the jungle?”

“And show us to the Pan’s hideout, yes. You’re the only one who knows where all the traps are.”

I squeeze my eyes closed and would have pinched the spot between them, but I can’t because my wrists are still tied at my back. “What traps?” I say through gritted teeth.

“The ones Peter Pan and the Lost Boys set up for us, of course,” Jack Smee explains with a parody of a smile.

Last night haunts me. If there really are traps in the jungle, I was lucky I didn’t venture inside alone. “I don’t know of any traps! And I don’t know how to get to his place either! We never hiked through the jungle.” Biting pain shoots up my arms as I struggle against the rope around my wrist. It’s no use; they’re awfully tight. “If you know him so well, it’s probably not a secret to you that he’s capable of flying. And he does it a lot!” My head starts to ache. I feel groggy and tired. Stepping aside, I lean against a tree. “Go find the way yourself.”

“You gave us a convincing show on the plank,” says Hook. “This time we won’t let you get away so easily. If you don’t know where the traps are, then you better start praying, because you
will
lead us through the jungle and to Pan’s den.”

I want nothing more than to lie down and rest. When is this nightmare going to end? My legs feel like rubber and I can barely see straight. What wouldn’t I give for Peter to find me and lift me in his arms again, flying me back to their tree. The cozy sleeping booths inside are all I can think of right now.

An idea pops up in my mind. Everything is quiet out here. My yell should carry over miles. I suck in a deep breath then scream, “Peeeeteeer!” with all the strength I have in my lungs. “Peter Pa—”

Hook grabs my arm, spinning me around. My back is flush against his front and his big hand presses over my mouth. “If you want to survive the night, you better stop this shit,” he growls in my ear.

Only when my thrashing and whimpering cease does he let go, turning me so he can glare at me. “Good. Now go and lead the way around the traps. And Angel…I swear if you’re trying to trick us, you’re going to regret it.”

“How can I trick you? I don’t know the way nor where the traps are!” Tears spring to my eyes but I blink them back. “I’ll be the first to fall into one. And you won’t even take off the bonds.”