Fierce as a Tiger Lily (Daughters of Neverland Book 2)
Page 21
When Wendy had suggested the lantern and the tradition of Hook’s crew when one of their own died, I’d known it was the perfect send off for a boy from the stars. Though he hadn’t died the boy he’d been, it felt right to remember him with the help of the celestial bodies looking down on us.
Carefully, I take the lantern Wendy offers and kneel before Aniya. She smiles when I hand it to her so we both hold a side, sharing the moment. When Hook and Wendy start to sing a song of mourning and loss, of sendoff, I can’t stop the tears from falling all over again, but they’re not as sad as before. Peter gave up everything for us to live. The least I can do is to remember him without the sadness.
“From stardust we were born,” I murmur, the words from Hook’s tradition.
“And so we return,” Aniya finishes without prompting, a smile on her face. Though she’s hardly old enough to understand all that life has thrown at us, she seems to understand more than I imagined, her eyes tracing up, up, up, to the second brightest star to the right. “One day,” she murmurs, “I’ll fly among them.”
I’ll see you on the other side of the stars. . .
“I don’t doubt that,” I tell her as we release the lantern and watch it float into the sky together. “You have stardust in your veins, Aniya. One day, it’ll take you into the stars.”
Then we sit together beneath the blanket of stars, watching them move. We followed the path of the lantern until it became one of the lights flickering, until we can’t tell them apart, and then we make our way back to the Coven together, comfortable in knowing we have a friend among the galaxies waiting for us when our time comes.
“From stardust we were born,” I whisper, “and so we return.”
Aniya smiles up at me. “Sometimes, though, Makau, returning doesn’t mean dying.”
I pause. “What, papoose?”
“Do you think March will make more of his fancy cake for me?” she asks, changing the subject, and I frown down at her even as she drags me into the Coven and squeals at March, asking for him to make her more cake. No matter the foods she seems to create, she always likes his cakes best, saying they taste different than hers.
I’m looking at the stars again when March wraps his arms around me from behind. He’s wearing his unnecessary glasses again and I kind of like it. “Pretty Lily,” he murmurs in my ear, putting his chin on my shoulder. “Would you like to dance?”
“There’s no music,” I chuckle.
“There is in my head,” he murmurs, making me sway from side to side. “Just follow my lead.”
And so I dance in March’s madness, letting him twirl me around to music I can’t hear beneath the stars dotting the sky, and I’m happy.
But happy thoughts out in the universe are never a good thing.
We should have known that. We should have prepared.
But we didn’t. . .
Chapter Thirty-Three
Five Months After Aging
A scream tears up my throat as the pain wracks my body, tearing me from the inside out, torture, pure torture.
“Push, Chieftess,” The Old Mother urges from between my legs. “You’re almost there. Push!”
I grit my teeth and push as hard as I can with the next contraction, my fingers clutching tightly in Bear’s as he helps support me at my back. He keeps making faces at whatever it is The Old Mother is doing but I try not to focus on it. Giving birth is new for all of us.
“He’s crowning,” the Old Mother coos. “Push. You’re almost there.”
“You have this,” Bear murmurs as I nearly crush the bones in his hands. “Even if it’s the most gruesome thing I’ve ever—”
“Not helping,” I growl between my teeth, hissing out a breath as I prepare for the next contraction.
“One more big push. Here it comes.”
As the next wave of pain reaches a crescendo, I scream with the force of my push, fighting through the pain. Around us, the rest of the Tribe gathers, watching, offering their comfort as they’re able. A few bring wet cloths to wipe my brow as we work for hours to birth the baby into the world. Some offer trinkets for blessings and good luck. Some choose not to watch, finding the scene as gruesome as Bear does, and I can’t blame them.
The scene is far more gruesome than I expected.
My throat feels raw with my scream and some of the Tribe shift uneasily at the sound of pain tearing from my lips, but the Old Mother’s coo reaches my ears seconds later and the soft cries of a baby. I’ve never heard a baby cry before, never heard the sound that echoes in the camp. A tear falls from my eye that I hastily wipe away, making sure they don’t see me weak. Even with sweat-slicked skin and exhaustion taking over my body, I try to sit up.
Bear helps me, holding me up while The Old Mother cleans up the baby with a cloth, before wrapping her in a blanket and moving around me.
“Congratulations, Chieftess,” she murmurs, encouraging me to hold my arms properly before passing me the baby. “You have a daughter.”
I stare down at the child with bright eyes the same color as my own and my heart squeezes painfully in my chest. A baby in Neverland is dangerous, a vulnerability, and if the deadly threats of our land know the little girl is mine, she’ll be in even more danger. I hold her close, careful not to harm her and rock her from side to side, a soft laugh of relief slipping from my lips. She looks normal, nothing strange about her.
Ignoring the eyes high up in the tree, the eyes of a man too scared to do more than watch, I press a kiss to the baby’s forehead.
“What will you name her?” Bear asks, staring down at the baby with wide eyes. He reaches out a finger and gently touches the tiny hand, melting when the baby curls her hand around his large finger and holding on. He melts around me, cooing at the baby, going softer than I’ve ever seen him.
For a moment, I can’t think of a name, my eyes locked on the glittering color of the baby’s. In their depths, I see the stars her father flies, the stars he belongs to, and I know my answer.
“Aniya,” I whisper, holding her close, determined to protect her at all costs. “Her name will be Aniya.”
The tribe sends up a howl for the new member joining our people, and I join in, celebrating. But I focus on the baby rooting for food and place her on my breast, amazed with something so small and fragile that I gave birth to.
Aniya, daughter of the Tribe and the stars.
Aniya. . .my beautiful, bright, little star. . .
To continue the adventure
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Acknowledgments
First, I always gotta shoutout to my girls, Poppy Woods, Katie Knight, and Mallory Kent. Honestly, y’all listen to me ramble so much, I wonder how you even know what I’m talking about anymore. All three of you are bad influences and yet also the best influences, because I don’t know where I’d be if you weren’t cheering me on the sidelines. I love celebrating everything with y’all, rather it’s finishing a book, remembering to eat, or putting on real clothes for the day. Lol. Y’all somehow both keep me sane and also fuel my crazy, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
I always have to thank my parents and my kiddo, because they’re supportive (well, my kiddo mostly just demands more junk food while I attempt to write) and though they don’t know what I’m talking about most of the time when I start talking about book stuff, they still always listen and encourage me.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this book amazing. Dani for awesome edits (One day, I’ll get my books to you without rushing through everything). Cynthia for awesome proofreading and catching those typos that I still miss. Ruxandra Tudorica of Methyss Design who knocks the covers for this series out of the park each time. And Mallory for formatting the pretties and nodding your head when I ask for something a little wild. You all series help make my books look pretty. Thank you for that.
And finally, thank you to the readers who pick up my books. Every time y’all reach out, send me attempted “hate mail” and let me know ho
w much you enjoy my book or relate to a character, it seriously makes my day. Some of you demand for characters to die. Just remember, be careful what you wish for when you send me things. I might just be evil enough to make you regret it in the next book. Lol.
Get ready for the Wicked Queen. She’s coming up next.
About the Author
Kendra Moreno is secretly a spy but when she’s not dealing in secrets and espionage, you can find her writing her latest adventure. She lives in Texas where the summer days will make you melt, and southern charm comes free with every meal. She’s a recovering Road Rager (kind of) and slowly overcoming her Star Wars addiction (nope!), and she definitely didn’t pass on her addiction to her son (she did). She has one hellhound named Mayhem who got tired of guarding the Gates of Hell and now guards her home against monsters. She’s a geek, a mother, a scuba diver, a tyrannosaurus rex, and a wordsmith who sometimes switches out her pen for a sword.
If you see Kendra on the streets, don’t worry: you can distract her with talks about Kylo Ren or Loki.
#LokiLives #BringBackBenSolo
To find out more about Kendra, you can check her out on her website or join her Facebook Group.
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Also By Kendra
Sons Of Wonderland
Book 1 - Mad as a Hatter
Book 2 - Late as a Rabbit
Book 3 - Feral as a Cat
Companion novel - Cruel as a Queen
Daughters Of Neverland
Book 1 - Vicious as a Darling
Book 2 - Fierce As A Tiger Lily
Book 3 - Wicked As A Pixie
Companion Novel coming soon!
Clockwork Almanac
Book 1 - Clockwork Butterfly
Book 2 - Clockwork Octopus
The Valhalla Mechanism
Book 1 - Gears of Mischief
Book 2 - Gears of Thunder
Co-Writes
Head Case (Co-write with Poppy Woods)
The Blooming Courts (Co-write with Poppy Woods)
Book 1 - Resurrect
Book 2 - Sprout
Book 3 - Flourish
Book 4 - Emerge
Book 5 - Blossom
The Dinoverse
(Shared universe with Poppy Woods)
Book 1 – Dances with Raptors by Poppy Woods
Book 2 – Rexes & Robbers by Kendra Moreno
From The Three-Way (Co-write with K.A Knight & Poppy Woods)
Shipwreck Souls
The Horror Emporium