Planet Neverland: A Space Age Fairy Tale (Star-Crossed Tales)
Page 23
Michael and Tink barely tried to hide their fling at all, but John was much more secretive about his mermaid paramour. He didn't know that Wendy had found the familiar-looking necklace in his room one day, and she wasn't going to press it. If her brother wanted to have a secret, that was his right. He was an adult now, after all.
"Okay, I guess we're leaving?" Wendy said, even though it sounded like a question.
Peter tapped a button on the luggage and it levitated, hovering at his side. "Yes, we definitely are," he said, kissing her temple. "Before you change your mind again."
Wendy shook her head, laughing. "I never changed my mind... I just didn't know if the timing was right." There had been a lot going on and it felt a little like they were leaving in the middle of it all, but she had to admit she was ready for the vacation.
After everything with Hook was settled, Wendy and the boys had briefly returned home to collect their belongings. Wendy submitted her resignation to her job, but as she'd suspected, no one even noticed her absence. They'd even kept sending her paychecks. It was back at the townhouse that Peter had spotted her computer wallpaper and asked what it was. She didn't think about it again until months later when they were planning a honeymoon and Peter suggested Hong Kong. She’d never told him about the secret yearn for exploration she’d harbored her whole life, but he seemed to know about it anyway. That was what made him so perfect.
"No time like the present, love," Peter said, steering her toward the door.
Before they were all out of sight, Wendy turned to her brothers and blew them a kiss. "Be good! I love you!"
"Have a great trip!" Michael called back.
By the time they were ascending in the glass elevator up to the port authority, Wendy convinced herself to relax, taking a deep breath and exhaling it as Neverland shrank below.
"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Peter teased.
Wendy shot him a sharp look, but her smile betrayed her. It always did that with him. She could never keep a straight face, even when she tried. He just made her too happy. "No, I guess not. I don't think I could have ever left them for a whole month before I met you."
Peter squeezed her hand, sending a familiar thrill through her. "And now look at you. Downright neglectful."
She bumped her shoulder into his. "That's not very nice."
"No? How about this?" he asked, taking her face in his hands and kissing her with such warmth and raw emotion that her toes curled.
"Better," she said, breathless.
Peter shook his head, his eyes shining. "I don't know what I did to deserve you. You saved me and my show... maybe all of Neverland," he said, awed.
Wendy's face heated, but she wouldn't accept his worship. "I didn't do any of that alone, you know. You had a pretty big role in all of that, too. I was just a bossy girl from another planet."
He kissed her again as the elevator zipped through the lower levels of the garage, up to customs. "I guess that's exactly what I needed. Being an irresponsible charlatan and all."
Wendy smirked. "I prefer to think of it as 'fun.'"
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Chapter 1
Snow watched the fire spread, her face carefully neutral as flames engulfed her childhood home.
Her mind was at war with itself, questioning if this was the right thing, fighting against the instinct to run back and quench the blaze she’d started.
But she let it burn.
This was about more than memories in old walls or symbols of a happier time. This was a message.
I’m taking back what’s mine, the inferno said. Bring your worst.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Snow whipped around at the strange voice interrupting her private moment. The dense woods were dark, trees huddled close together as if to shelter each other from the brewing storm. But the glow of the fire offered illumination, lighting the stranger in silhouette, his muscular frame highlighted by the pyre.
“I’m sorry?” she said, her voice tight. She didn’t know this man, or why he was in her wood commenting on her fire.
He smiled, his teeth stark white through the shadows cast by the canopy. “The fire, it’s gorgeous.”
Snow frowned, wondering if the man was a spy, unhinged, or perhaps both.
“That’s the Summer Palace burning,” she said matter-of-factly, her lips pursed against a fresh wave of guilt.
He shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets as he stepped up next to her, their shoulders only inches apart. Snow took a shuffling step sideways, rustling damp leaves beneath her feet, increasing the distance.
“Makes a pretty fire,” he said, seemingly unconcerned with one of the Empire’s landmarks being reduced to kindling.
Her frown turned to a scowl. “It doesn’t bother you?”
“Why should it?” he asked with a soft laugh. “The Queen deserves all the headaches she gets.”
Snow looked around suspiciously for any sign of recording devices or people lying in wait for an ambush.
“You shouldn’t say things like that so near to Her Majesty,” she said, the last words leaving bitterness on her tongue.
He shrugged, the glow of the blaze illuminating his profile. “She doesn’t scare me,” he said.
Snow scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. “Then you’re either an idiot or have a death wish,” she said. Or a spy, she added in her head, her hand drifting to the weapon holstered at her hip. She wouldn’t hesitate to blast him to bits if that turned out to be the case.
The man turned to her with an easy smile that sent a pang of jealousy through her. When was the last time she’d been able to smile like that? Without any cares or worries?
Years ago. Before the Queen destroyed her life and took what was rightfully hers. There was no time for smiles of laughter until she’d reclaimed her throne and set the galaxy back to rights.
“Maybe a little of both,” he said, extending a hand toward her. “I’m Hunter.”
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The Prince and the Cyborg
Beauty and the Space Beast
Alien Frog Prince
Cinderstellar
Lady and the Space Tramp
Planet Neverland
Snow White and the Seven Dwarf Planets — Coming Soon!
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