Maybe she could do it: drink the potion, become human again. If she did, they would have a real chance, the two of them. But was it a chance worth giving up everything she’d just found for? And if he was worth it, she didn’t think it was something he would ever ask her to do.
Suddenly, James, who had been bent low over one of the maps, looked up at Jae. “It’s her.”
“What?” Jae asked, perking up.
“It’s her.” He was pointing not to a map but to a fairy. “The fairy who loved a pirate. She says she knows which one it is, and how to read it.”
Chapter 7
The fairy’s name was Clove, and she had hair as red as a rose and thorns on her legs. They’d already pricked James once when he got too close, and Jae had helped him wrap his finger in a handkerchief to stop the bleeding. It had been a surprising amount considering the size of the thorn, and she wondered if they weren’t poisoned somehow.
James had moved over closer to the riverbank and the three of them studied the map that Clove had identified. It had what looked like the shape of the island on it, but very little else, and certainly no hint as to where the potion was stashed.
“Before she helps us,” James interpreted, “she wants to know why we want the potion. She says Jinx hid it for a reason, so that it would not fall into the wrong hands.”
Jae nodded. “I was human once, and I want to become human again.”
“She wants to know why. She wants to know why you don’t like being a mermaid.”
Jae studied James while she answered, wondering if the questions were coming from him or from the fairy. “I don’t mind it, no, but it’s not what I imagined for myself.”
“Does that make it bad?”
Jae narrowed her eyes at him.
He held up two hands, palms up. “She wants to know.”
“My sister is human, and I don’t want to leave her.”
Clove jingled some more and James shook his head.
Jingle.
Shake.
“What is she saying?” Jae demanded.
He sighed. “She wants to know if you want to become human so that you can . . . be . . . with me.”
“No, no, that’s not, I mean—” She looked up at him. Her cheeks would have flushed if she’d still been human. “That would maybe be a perk, but it’s not the reason.”
The fairy gave what looked like a satisfied nod.
“She says that’s why she didn’t drink it. It would allow her to take on the form of the one she loved, but she realized that she was changing her entire life for a man who wouldn’t do the same for her.”
Jae nodded, but said, “It’s not like that at all.”
Clove had heard enough. She stepped onto the map and clapped her hands together. Gold dust floated down onto the parchment. At first, nothing happened, but then the map seemed to absorb the dust and more detail began to appear. A triangle that likely represented the mountain, a winding line that was the river. Another triangle, smaller . . . maybe a house?
“She says that Jinx lived in a house in the Neverwood when she was on the island,” James said as the fairy pointed to the smaller triangle.
They watched until nothing else appeared.
“It doesn’t show the trail, though, or the location of the potion,” Jae objected.
The fairy jingled at them.
“She says it will appear as you follow it. She thinks we should start at Jinx’s house.”
“Do we know anything more about where it is? Will she help us find it?”
The fairy pointed to the mountain and the winding river.
“We have to use the map,” James said. “Find it for ourselves, or it won’t work.”
They thanked Clove and the other fairies for their help and turned to leave. They had only gotten a few yards away when a fairy tugged at James’ collar, jingling at him.
He looked back over his shoulder. “The other maps?” he said. “You can keep them. See if there are any other treasures you can find.”
The fairy jingled excitedly and Jae watched as the fairies collected the rest of the maps and flew them away from the riverbank and deeper into Fairyhome.
“That wasn’t very pirate-like of you,” she teased.
He shrugged. “I told you. I’m not sure that I am a pirate anymore.”
With that, they set off back down the river the way they had come, though James was noticeably more careful about where he put his feet this time
When they reached a fork in the river, turning right would take Jae back to the mermaid colony, while turning left would follow it through the pirate village and into the Neverwood, and maybe to the ruins of Jinx’s home. The captain immediately started walking to the left, but Jae hesitated.
He stopped and looked back at her over his shoulder. “What is it?”
“I should deliver the map to my sister.”
His fingers tightened around the rolled up parchment. “Why?”
“So she can find the potion.”
“We can find the potion,” he said, pointing between himself and Jae.
Jae bit at her lip but made herself stop before she drew blood this time. “I don’t think that’s what she wants.”
James quirked his own lip. “So?”
“What do you mean, ‘so?’”
He squatted down on the bank of the river so that they were more at eye level. “I mean, isn’t it maybe time you stopped doing what everyone else wanted? Take some control of your own decisions and your own life?”
“I am in control,” Jae objected.
“Are you? I think the only time you were ever in control was when you left Starlake with me. Other than that, you’ve just skated through life, doing whatever everyone else tells you to do.”
The words cut too deep. She felt exposed, like he’d turned her inside out without her even realizing it.
“Do you even want to find the potion?” he asked, this time with a gentler tone.
“Yes,” she said. “I want to be human again.”
He studied her face and she was afraid he would pull some more painful truths out of her eyes, but he just gave a nod. “OK. Then let’s find it. You and me. Not Wren. Take this decision—this power—into your own hands.”
“OK,” she agreed. “But you have to help me. There may be some places where I can’t go.”
“Don’t worry,” he said, pushing to his feet. “I’ll be your legs.”
“Good,” Jae agreed. “I’ll be the brains.”
The last thing she heard was James’ delightful laugh before she flipped backward into the water and let the current sweep her away.
It wasn’t much longer before they reached the pirate’s village, James took a detour into his flat to change, leaving Jae at the docks where she hid beside a small rowboat. The tavern was doing a good business, even in the middle of the day. She guessed that the pirates really didn’t have much to do, what with the Lost Boys distracted by the fairies, and Captain Hook without a ship.
When James emerged, he looked less like a pirate captain and more like a crew member about to go pillaging. He’d left his coat behind and wore a loose shirt, open at the neck. He still had his leather belt and sword, and his trousers were tucked into leather boots. His hair was tied back with a bandana that was pulled low across his eyes. He looked dashing and dangerous all at once, and it made Jae’s heart stutter to see him smile at her from across the road.
He came down to the docks and pointed to a small skiff. “I’m taking that one.”
“Is it yours?” she asked.
He was already unwinding the ropes from the dock cleats. “They’re all mine.”
“Why don’t you just walk?” she teased.
“Maybe because I want to be closer to you,” he said in the same tone of voice.
She was glad for the second time that day that she couldn’t blush.
He got into the boat and shoved it away from the dock, picking up the oars and using them to maneuver his way
out of the marina. Even without one hand, he was skilled enough to be able to use his hook to control the paddle. Beyond the docks, they kept again to the left. She swam beside him, and even though he set a slower pace, she didn’t mind. It meant more time with him. More time for her to think about what she was going to do. More time for her to delay having to actually make a decision.
When they were out of sight of the village, she popped up beside him. “Did you ever love anyone else, other than Granny Wendy?”
He scoffed. “Again with the questions.”
“You should be used to it by now.”
For a time, the silence between them was broken only by the splashing of the oars in the water. Then, he said, “No, there was never anyone else.”
“No Mrs. Hook?” she teased.
“Pirates don’t typically take wives,” he said by way of answer. “It’s not exactly fitting with our lifestyle.”
What she thought but didn’t dare ask was this: If he wasn’t a pirate anymore, would there be room for someone else in his new life?
They fell silent and watchful as the river meandered toward the Lost Boys’ encampment. She could just make out the houses in the trees and the bridges creaking and swaying between them. Thankfully, it was mostly silent and they didn’t see anyone out by the river.
Then, the water curved back on itself, winding toward the mountain.
“It shouldn’t be far,” James said, pausing his rowing to check the map again. “Just around that bend, I think.”
Jae was glad for it. The sun was sinking and neither of them had slept since the night before. She was ready to get to their first stop and maybe rest once they had a plan in place for the rest of the day. Just as she thought that, James opened his mouth in a wide yawn, but he kept rowing.
The river widened not far away, and the current grew faster. The terrain around it became hillier as they approached the mountain. But there was one offshoot where the water was still calm and the ground was fairly flat.
Jae pointed it out. “That looks like a good place to build a house.”
James agreed. They cut through the current and made their way over to it. James ran the boat up into the mud as far as he could, then jumped out and dragged it the rest of the way so it wouldn’t float away. He climbed the hill and stood at the top, surveying the woods beyond with one hand shielding his eyes.
“I think I see it,” he said. “Do you want to come with me?”
“What are you going to do, carry me?”
He shrugged. “Yes.”
She reached her arms up to him and he pulled her out of the water, one hand behind her shoulders and the other beneath her tail. “I bet you wish I had the potion now,” she said, trying to hide her embarrassment.
He shook her head. “Nope. I don’t mind. I told you I’d be your legs.”
“Carry on, then,” she ordered.
“The map is inside my shirt,” he told her.
She reached her hand inside his open collar, brushing against the warm, hard planes of his chest. She thought she heard his breath hitch, but when she looked at him, he was looking at the ground, concentrating on not falling.
Finding the map, she pulled it out for him and held it up so they could both see it. The house, or what was left of it, appeared just beyond the rise. The end walls still stood, facing each other and tapering to tall points. There were two squares that had once been windows but now looked like eyes staring back at them through the twilight. There was an arched doorway, too, though the door itself had long since rotted away. Vines grew up the walls and moss coated the stone.
The two of them stared before James took a deep breath and walked forward.
“Admit it,” Jae said, “you just wanted me to come so you wouldn’t be scared.”
He laughed. “I’m still scared. I’m just not alone now.”
They stopped outside the arched doorway and she held the map up again. Nothing.
“I think you need to go inside.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You mean, ‘we.’”
She patted his chest. “I won’t let Jinx get you.”
His eyes rose to the trees overhead as a breeze rustled the dry leaves. “I wouldn’t say her name right now.”
She was going to make fun of him but then a cold finger of wind brushed her arm and she bit back anything she’d been about to say.
He had to turn sideways for them both to fit, and ducked his head beneath the doorway. Even inside, he kept his shoulders slightly hunched beneath the crumbling stone ceiling. There was a hearth, still black with soot and grime, and a rusted cauldron in the ashes. There were the remains of a rotting table and the tattered cloth of what was maybe a bedroll in the far corner.
“Now?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
She squinted at the map. “I need light.”
He moved them to the window and she tilted the map to better see.
“Look,” she said with a gasp.
Words were coming into focus across the page, as if someone were writing them with an old quill.
Thrice up and down for a sign
Seek the only one of its kind
Stolen from the cap of one who crows
To tell you where you next should go
James shifted his feet, silently mouthing the words to himself. “OK,” he said finally. “Got it. Let’s get out of here.”
She looked up at him. “What do you mean, ‘got it?’ You know what it means?”
“I have to steal the Never bird feather from Pan’s hat.” He was already moving out of the house. As soon as they passed over the threshold the words disappeared.
“You have to what?”
He smiled at her. “Now who’s afraid?”
She squared her jaw. “Not me.” But they both knew that was a lie.
Chapter 8
“Tell me about the siren’s call,” James said.
They had stopped just downriver from the witch’s house. Just beyond the witch’s house might have been a better place to set up camp, but both of them felt the need to put a good bit of distance between them and the place, so they’d gone back a bit to another flat spot. James had once again dragged the boat ashore. This time, he left Jae in the water, though she had come up as far as she could to be close to the fire he’d built. She didn’t really need the fire, being that she was part-fish now, but she pretended to so that she could be close to him. They had eaten and now they lay head to head, her tail in the water, his feet bare beside his boots, his toes warming by the flames.
“What do you want to know about it?” she asked him.
“I’m trying to think of ways to get to Pan.”
“I’ve never used it,” she admitted. “But I’ve seen it done. I’ve seen it used on a Lost Boy, in fact, so I know they’re susceptible to it.”
He pushed himself up on an elbow and looked at her. “That might be our answer, how we get the feather.”
“If I can do it.” To be perfectly frank, she hadn’t liked watching Assana use it. It had been terrifying, all that raw power in her voice. The power to persuade, to corrupt, to kill. Jae barely had power over her own life. What business did she have trying to control someone else?
“Why don’t you try it on me?”
“What? No. I couldn’t,” Jae objected.
“I don’t mind. I trust you.”
OK, but did she trust herself? She shook her head. “No. I won’t.”
“How will we be sure you can, then?”
“Maybe there’s another way.”
He propped his chin on his hand and raised his eyebrows at her. “I’m going to tell you something I’ve never admitted to anyone before.”
“What’s that?” she asked, her heart rate quickening.
“I’ve never won.”
“Won what?”
“Against Peter. I’ve never won when I’ve gone up against him. I’m the bad guy, I guess. The island or your grandmother or . . . whoever, doesn’t want me to
win.”
“You’re not a bad guy,” Jae said, splashing him playfully. A few drops sizzled on the fire.
“I have been in the past, and that’s the price I paid. I don’t think I can go up against Pan in a fair fight and win.”
“You could try.”
“And I could fail. But if we had a sure thing . . .” He trailed off.
Jae groaned. “I told you, I don’t know if I can.”
“And I told you to try it on me.”
“What if I kill you?”
“You won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
He shrugged. “I trust you.”
She dropped her head to her arms. As she contemplated what to do, she was surprised to feel fingers stroking her hair. The brown locks had become much finer since she was turned, and James was able to easily brush through it. His fingers grazed her bare shoulder and he didn’t immediately pull away. Instead, he gave her arm a gentle squeeze.
“You won’t do anything to hurt me. And if you did, I mean, hey, maybe I deserve it.”
She snorted. “You don’t.”
“I did try to kidnap you.”
“And failed.”
“Only because you were a willing target.”
She splashed him again.
He wiped his face, laughing. “Come on.”
“OK.” She pushed away from him, wriggling back into the water until she was submerged to her shoulders. Just to here, she told herself. She wouldn’t let him get past her. She wouldn’t let him walk into a watery grave. This was just another test, another way of discovering who she really was and what she was really capable of doing. She hadn’t thought she could swim, and now look at her. And looking for the potion on her own . . . This was just another piece of that.
Assana had told her to remember the pain. The hurt. The anger. She remembered scrambling onto the deck, seeing the orange flash of the gunfire, the way it lit up the sharp lines of James’ face, the way he had reached for her, grasping, not quite reaching. The way she had tried to struggle back to him through the darkness, swimming against the weight on her chest. Then she remembered the way Wren had walked away from her. The way she had dumped her on the shores of the lake. The way she had sailed away without another word.
Kingdom of Villains and Vengeance Page 41
