I place my hands on her shoulders. “Promise me that if things get dicey, you’ll run. Find Pete and the other Lost Boys and leave Everland for good,” I say. “Promise me.”
She nods, though her face scrunches with worry.
“Now let’s find my mother.”
“What a touching moment,” Hook shouts, applauding from the archway leading to the front terrace. Guards patrol just beyond the opening. Soldiers burst through a set of double doors, pausing when they see the Captain. Hook strolls into the courtyard, followed by Mikey wriggling in a soldier’s hold.
“Mikey!” I yell. “Let him go, Hook!”
The Captain nudges my brother to the edge of a pit as another soldier serves Hook with a silver platter of raw meat. Hook pulls a hunk from the tray and throws it into the black chasm, coating his fingers in a dark red sheen. Reptilian hisses rise into the chilly night air, competing with the roll of thunder. Recognizing the crocodiles’ menacing call, terror courses through my veins. The savage animals snap violently, growling and thrashing. Gazing down at Mikey, Hook wipes a finger across his cheek, leaving a red streak on his tear-stained face.
“I intend to. But first, the negotiations,” he says.
“Negotiations?” I say. “There’s no need for negotiations. I know exactly what you want.” Placing my dagger against my palm, I cut a shallow groove into my hand. The blade bites into my skin, sending hot pain up my arm. Blood seeps from the cut and pools in my hand as I march toward Hook, holding my palm up to his face. “This is what you’re after. Take it!” I spit.
“No! Don’t do it!” Bella yells. I ignore her pleas.
“Gwen, no.” Mikey’s voice quivers as he watches me with wide eyes.
Scarlet streaks run down my arm and drip onto the wet brick. Hook stares at my palm, shakes his head, and throws the last of the raw remains into the pit. “I’m afraid that won’t be enough,” Hook says, confirming my suspicions. Of course he’d never let me go. My fate was written in the stars, the two I’d wished on: safety for my family, and for Pete and the Lost Boys. But not for me.
I drop my hand and feel the drip, drip, drip of blood from my fingertips like the ticking of a clock.
Hook wipes the blood from the raw meat off his hands. “Bring the other one,” he says.
A Marauder escorts a vociferously protesting Jack from the palace doors to the reptiles’ pit. Jack stumbles to the edge. He pulls his arms free from the soldier’s hold and glares at him with disdain. His goggles tumble from his head and into the hole. Regaining his balance, he casts his gaze down. At the bottom of the pit, the two large crocodiles snap their powerful jaws, hissing at each other as they fight over the leather-and-chrome goggles.
“Careful. You don’t want to get too close. Tick is all bark and Tock is all bite,” Hook says, rubbing a pink scar on his arm. As if recognizing its name, the larger of the crocodiles growls.
“You have Gwen. Now let the Lost Boys go,” he shouts, refusing to meet my gaze.
I glare at Jack.
Jack frowns. “How about it, Hook? Your turn to hold up your end of the deal.”
“Not quite, little brother,” Hook says.
“Brother?” Bella and I say in unison.
Mikey’s bottom lip juts out in a pout.
Hook circles Jack. “Stepbrother, to be exact. Jack is a Marauder. He was the one who helped me find the Lost City.”
I scowl at Jack and shake my head. “Traitor,” I say with venom in my voice.
Bella breaks free from her guard and storms Jack. She beats on him with her tiny fists.
“We trusted you! Gwen is a Lost Girl—how could you give her up?” Bella screams.
Jack kneels, blocking her punches until he is able to pull her into a hug. She shoves herself from him, stumbles, and teeters at the edge of the crocodile pit. Jack lunges for her, grasping her wrist just as she loses her balance.
“Bella!” I scream.
Mikey wails.
Bella’s arms flail, her feet kicking wildly beneath her. The crocodiles snap and growl, their jaws lifted in anticipation. Jack hauls her away from the lip of the pit and pulls her close. Breathing heavily, he asks, “Are you okay?”
Bella stares at him, her face contorted into rage. Her jaw tightens. “You’re nothing but a bloody pirate,” she spits. A soldier yanks Bella from Jack, but she doesn’t break her enraged glare. Mikey wipes a tear with the back of his sleeve and wraps his arm around Bella.
Jack, still sitting on the wet stone, hangs his head. His ebony hair curtains his pale face.
Hook chortles and slaps Jack on his back. “Looks like it’s going to be a pirate’s life for you after all, Jack.” Taking a katana from another soldier, he drops the sword in front of Jack. Jack doesn’t move to pick it up.
Hook kneels so he is face-to-face with my brother. A soldier hands Mikey’s dirty teddy bear to Hook. “I believe this is yours, young man,” Hook says, holding the bear with an outstretched hand.
Mikey withdraws, clutching Bella’s hand and scooting behind me. I shield him from Hook. My pulse increases, thrumming in my ears like the whir of a zeppelin.
“Leave him alone,” I growl, slapping Hook’s face, leaving a bloodied handprint on his cheek.
Hook hardly flinches. With his hand, he wipes the scarlet liquid from his face, inspecting it between his fingers. Standing, he turns. “Bring the child,” he says.
“No!” I scream. I try to stop him, but my guard holds me back. His arms wrap around me so tight that he squeezes the breath out of me, and I tumble to my knees. Picking up Mikey, a Marauder follows Hook closer to the crocodile pit. My little brother wriggles violently in the Marauder’s grasp, screaming loudly.
“Let him go!” I shout.
Hook tosses the bear into the pit. I can hear the crocodiles gnash at it. Mikey breathes heavily, but does not cry.
“What? No more tears? What a brave little Lost Boy you are. If only your mother could see you now,” Hook says, peering down at Mikey. The Marauder swings my brother over the trench and dangles him by one arm. Mikey screams in horror.
“Please, please don’t hurt him,” Bella cries.
“Stop!” I shout, struggling in the guard’s grip.
“This has gone too far!” Jack says, standing and picking up his sword. “You promised you wouldn’t hurt any of the Lost Boys in exchange for information.”
“I’m afraid you are mistaken. I promised that I wouldn’t lay a finger on any of the Lost Boys. I have held my word. My men, on the other hand, have made no such promise.”
“Dirty fink,” Jack spits. He aims his sword at Hook.
“What more do you want?” I ask, holding my bloodied hand to him. “I know you need my blood. Take as much as you want. Take it all! I am not afraid of death. But let my brother go,” I say, quickly and breathlessly.
Hook’s eyes narrow, cold and devoid of compassion. “I don’t want just your blood. I want you, alive.”
“What?” I ask, confused. I had expected to die at the hands of Hook.
“Do you think I’d let someone as valuable as you die?” He holds his hand up, his fingers stained with my blood. “Do you know what a drop of this is worth if the rest of the world is anything like Everland?”
An icy chill grates down my back. I had accepted that today might be the end of my life, but I had never considered the possibility of a greater horror: becoming Hook’s prisoner, forever.
Hook holds his index finger up and looks greedily at the red liquid coating it, rubbing his forefinger and thumb together. “This is more precious than any treasure in the world.” He wipes the blood off on his black trousers. “And I’m not leaving without it. All of it.”
A palace door slams behind me. I spin, my hands gripping the hilt of my dagger.
“Mum!” Mikey yells as a shoe slips from his foot and plunges into the pit.
“Mikey!” exclaims a new voice. My mother and Joanna, escorted by a soldier, take in the scene. Terror replaces the s
tunned look on my mother’s face.
“Surprise, Professor,” Hook says, grinning.
That’s my son. Let him go,” my mother demands. She races toward Hook. Before she reaches him, Hook pulls the trigger on his Gatling gun, spraying bullets in her direction. Shards fly as the bullets pierce the stone in front of her. She leaps back, but is struck in the leg. My mother collapses to the ground, groaning in pain while ribbons of blood drip from her wound.
“Mum!” I cry out, lunging toward her. When Hook turns the aim of his Gatling gun on me, I hold my hands up, terrified to move.
Joanna rushes to my mother’s side and cries quietly next to her.
My mother grimaces as she sits up. She rips the sleeve of her lab coat off and ties it around the wound. The bullet appears to have only grazed her, but my heart crushes seeing her in pain. She fixes her daggered stare onto the Captain and stands, unsteady on her feet.
“I said let him go,” she says through gritted teeth.
“All in due time, Professor,” Hook responds with an unsettling calm. He approaches my mother and stops close enough that he is eye to eye with her. “We have some things we must discuss first.”
Hook nods to the Marauder holding my brother. He sets Mikey down on the ground, keeping his grip on my brother’s arm. Bella bolts to Mikey, wrapping her small arms around him.
My mother sighs, visibly relieved. “What do you want, Hook?”
“I’m a reasonable man. I’m certainly not a child killer. At least not yet,” he says, circling my mother.
“Not a child killer?” I say. My voice trembles with rage. “You are responsible for this, for all of this!” I hold my arms outstretched. “You bombed London, you let loose a deadly virus, you killed the entire adult population, and who knows how many children? And you say you’re not a child killer?”
“Casualties of war,” Hook says, bowing. “Not murder.”
“Get to your point,” I insist.
Hook juts a finger in my direction. “You are my point. You and her.” He points at my mother. “All I need is you and your mother, and the world will be mine. The rest of the kids, they’re just sniveling dead weight. Extra baggage. They’ll be staying.”
Mikey bawls loudly as Bella hugs him tight.
Jack shifts unsteadily.
Hook stops in front of my mother. He caresses my mum’s forehead, brushing the back of his hand against the stray lock of hair hanging in front of her transparent mask.
My mother jerks away, her lips pressed tightly together before she speaks. “You don’t need Gwen. All you need is a small blood sample.”
“Once the other nations find out she’s the cure, who’s to stop them from coming for her?” Hook says, pacing. Each step like a clock, counting down time. To what, I don’t know.
Tick! Tick! Tick!
“She’ll keep quiet,” my mother says. “She won’t tell anyone that the cure came from her. Take a sample. I’ll come with you back to Germany to work on the cure—like you wanted. But leave Gwen here.”
“No!” I protest. “You’re not going with him!”
“I can’t take that chance,” Hook says.
My mother’s eyes narrow and she gives him a smug look. “Well, you better take that chance, because I’d rather die than let my daughter go anywhere with you.”
His complexion reddens and he shoves me from her. Towering over my mother, he raises a hand as if to slap her. My mother frowns at him, unwavering, as I throw myself in front of her. Hook clenches his fist and shakes it. “One year, Professor! For a year, you’ve been working with me. Hunting for the cure, and this whole time the cure was out there and it lay within your daughter, a daughter you never told me about. If you had just told me, we could have left this blasted place months ago.” Hook takes a step back, straightens his military vest. “What else have you not told me?”
Hook turns his eyes to the stormy sky and screams so loud that I cover my ears. Fury crackles across his face, making him appear older than he is. Then he reaches for my mother’s hand. She tries to pull it from his grasp, but he holds her tight. “I’m taking both you and Gwen, regardless. It will do me no good if you refuse to produce the cure. My proposal is this: No more secrets. No more lies. It’s just you and me. With you by my side, I will rule the world.”
I suddenly want to vomit.
“And if I refuse?” my mother says with venom in her voice. “What can you do to me that you haven’t already done? You’ve kidnapped my children, killed my husband, and imprisoned me. You’ve taken everything!” she screams.
I’m startled by her reaction, but her defiance fuels my own anger.
Hook turns to me and throws me to the rain-soaked ground. Frantic, I crawl backward as he approaches, but he is too quick. He grabs my hand, slaps it on the brick, and pulls a knife out. My mother cries and struggles in the grip of a guard.
“See? There is still something left you care about. So you will produce the cure, even if I have to deliver your daughter’s blood body part by body part,” Hook says, snarling.
“Or there’s always plan B,” says a familiar voice. I look toward the courtyard entrance. Pete stands beneath the limestone archway. My pulse quickens. What’s he doing here? He folds his arms across his bare chest. Under the light of the gas lamps, the inked cogs and gears glisten, and my heart swells with hope.
“Pete!” Bella says, bolting from her seated position toward the leader of the Lost Boys.
Doc also appears, a smirk spread wide across his face.
“Another Lost Boy, I presume?” Hook asks, his brows knit together so tightly they converge into one dark line. He releases my wrist and stands. “How did you get in here?”
“I’d like to say your men put up a good fight,” Pete says, striding in with a smirk, “but I’d be lying. Turns out they get awfully squirrelly when you tamper with their masks.” Pete holds up a Marauder’s mask before he throws it at Hook’s feet.
Hook reaches down and lifts the mask. “Impossible!” he says with a puzzled stare.
An explosion erupts from the royal gardens beyond the palace walls. The ground shakes, sending a few lanterns falling from the building, spilling gas on their descent and smashing onto the stone. Flames lick the night sky.
“Oh, our engineer, Cogs, wanted me to remind you that you ought not to leave volatile materials around for children to play with. They could start a fire or even blow up a few zeppelins,” Pete says smugly.
Hook’s dark eyes reflect flames as he watches the yellow and orange blaze dance above the limestone walls. He clenches a fist and nods to the building. “Go look into it.”
“Aye, Captain,” a soldier says, running past Pete toward the front of the palace.
“As for you two, I don’t recall inviting you to this party,” Hook growls.
Pete takes a few determined steps toward the leader of the Marauders. “What do you mean, Hook? You’ve been chasing me for months. All this time I’ve evaded you, and now I’m practically within reach and suddenly you don’t want me. I’m hurt,” Pete says with a mocking pout.
“I don’t need you,” Hook says, retrieving his revolver from its holster.
Pete ignores the weapon aimed at him. “Nice brand there, Jack,” Pete says, folding his arms. “The only thing that’s missing is the word traitor across your forehead.”
Hook throws his head back and laughs. “Ah, yes. I forgot that you didn’t know that my prodigal stepbrother has returned. Once a Marauder, always a Marauder.”
Pete snatches his dagger and charges Jack, knocking him to the ground. He holds the blade to Jack’s throat.
“It’s not what you think,” Jack says tersely. “I swear!”
His blade pricks Jack’s neck, releasing a bead of blood. “It ripped me into a thousand shreds to leave you behind. You betrayed us! How could you?”
“No, I told him we’d give him Gwen,” Jack grunts. “He promised he wouldn’t hurt the Lost Kids. Gwen was all he wanted.”
&
nbsp; “She’s more of a Lost Kid than you are,” Pete growls through clenched teeth. He digs the knife slightly deeper. Blood leaks down Jack’s neck.
“Pete, stop it!” I shout.
“I thought I was doing the right thing by giving up Gwen. He promised he’d take her and leave Everland. I knew you’d all be mad at me, but I did what I thought was right for the Lost Boys. I didn’t think I could show my face again, so … so I pledged my allegiance to Hook.”
“An honorable Lost Boy wouldn’t have given up his clan, but even if he had, he’d have rather died than pledge his allegiance to a pirate,” Pete snaps.
With Doc’s help, I yank Pete off Jack just as he lifts his dagger, ready to drive it into Jack’s chest.
“Let him go,” Doc says with disgust. “He’s not worth it.”
Pete stands and spits on Jack’s face.
“When I get my hands on you, you’re going to wish you were dead,” Pete growls.
Hook chuckles. “Good form, Lost Boy. Taking vengeance on my double-crossing brother. You’d make an excellent Marauder. It’s a shame I have to kill you.” He aims his gun back at the boys and nods to a soldier. “Take them out to the garden and put them out of their misery. Then feed them to the crocs.”
As the soldiers advance on the boys, Doc pulls a syringe from his back pocket. “If you kill us, you’ll never have this.” Hook stares at the vial in Doc’s hand. Its iridescent tint glitters in the light. “It’s the cure, Hook. This vial is all you will need to reproduce the antidote. You don’t need Gwen or the Professor, but you do need this.”
Hook scowls. “The cure hasn’t been developed yet. I’d know if it had.”
Doc hands the vial to Pete, who grips each end of it, poised to snap it in two.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Pete shrugs. “But this is the only vial. Are you sure you want to risk finding out?”
Hesitating, Hook stares at the glass container. “What’s your proof?”
Pete nods to Bella. “Show him.”
Bella rips off her gloves. Her tiny fingers reveal the pink tint of new skin where her open sores once were. A hush falls as we stare, astonished at her nearly perfect hands. “Less than an hour ago I was dying. My fingers hurt so bad I thought they were going to fall off. Pete gave me that antidote and now look!” She wiggles her fingers.
Everland Page 24
