Wicked as a Pixie (Daughters of Neverland Book 3)

by Kendra Moreno

  “Don’t cry for me, Wendy Darling,” he murmurs in her hair.

  She chokes against his shoulder. “How could I not cry for you? I’m losing a friend.” Wendy reaches out for Chips and drags him into the embrace, too. “I never thought I’d be leaving you two behind.”

  Chips doesn’t hold back his tears but when I see a tear slip from Swift’s eye, I nearly buckle. I’ve never seen the fae cry, not once in all my years. “Sometimes,” he rasped, “we’re not meant to exist as long as we have. I feel it in my bones I’m supposed to stay here. I tried to tell Chips to go—”

  “Except I love him,” Chips interjects with a choked sob. “And I refuse to live in a world where he doesn’t exist. So when his light is extinguished, I’ll go with him.”

  There’s too much emotion around us, too many tears, and I choke on the sobs threatening to spill from my throat. Everyone moves in, offering their own good-byes, and even though we’re running out of time, even though the shoreline grows closer, no one rushes the process.

  “From stardust you were made, and so you shall return,” Hook calls, slipping into the middle of his pirates, offering his own good-bye to those we’ll leave behind. Everyone else echoes the sentiment.

  “The flames will set you free and return you to the stars from whence you came,” I say, and it’s echoed again.

  The Tribe howls, their own send off in the absence of words. We all tilt our heads back as one and howl at the stars, a final send off.

  Slowly, we begin to part, separating between those who want to live and those who wish to stay. My eyes linger on Swift, on those of my people staying, and I flare my wings wide for them. They echo the movement, and when Swift’s wings unfurl, the technicolored appendages sending glittering sparkles around us, more than a few people gasp. Swift’s wings were always as beautiful as his soul.

  “It’s been an honor to serve at your side, Your Majesty,” he says, his eyes red with emotion.

  “Not serve,” I rasp. “You’ve never been just a general, Swift.” I touch my finger to his forehead, leaving behind a fingerprint glittering with pixie dust. “A friend.”

  I do the same to Chips and anyone who steps forward, marking them for whatever Gods who watch Neverland to find, so that they easily return to the stars. It isn’t until Aniya steps forward, her child-like face leaning out, that the emotions get to me. She’s no longer eight, but I can’t tell if she’s closer to twelve or ten. I’ve never been an expert in children. As I step back with the others, little Aniya holds up her hand in the traditional way the Tribe says good-bye, but little sparkles begin dancing from her fingertips, and we all stare in surprise.

  “They look like—”

  “Stars,” I finish. “She carries the stars in her veins.”

  “Until we meet again,” Aniya says, and they all mimic her hand movements whether they’re Tribe or not. When a child offers you the stars, you take them. “On the other side of the stars.”

  Words of her father. Words that make us all choke.

  This time, when the emotion clogs my throat, I can’t stop the tears from falling. A warm hand threads with mine as I hastily wipe them away and I squeeze his hand in return, absorbing his strength.

  “Go,” Swift says once Aniya returns to her mother. “You’re running out of time, and though this may be our end, it’s only your beginning.”

  Slowly, as a group, we turn and head into the trees, but Wendy, Tiger, and I wait until the rest are in the trees first. We’re the last ones in the clearing, watching those we leave behind, and when we link our fingers, we begin to glow with power, the three Daughters united. Though we all wipe tears from our eyes, Swift blows us a kiss, the cocky smile curling his lips in the way he always has. We raise our hands in good-bye, and then we, too, turn and head into the trees.

  But my heart breaks open. And I know that Wendy’s and Tiger’s does, too.

  The song echoes through the trees behind us, not just Swift singing, but everyone who stays behind. It follows us until we’re further in the trees, and though everything in me demands I turn back and force them to leave, I keep walking. I won’t steal their choice, no matter how bad I want to.

  Do not cry for endings, love.

  Wipe the tears quickly from your eyes.

  The darkest night will end soon

  And again the sun will rise.

  Together we may walk this earth,

  And together we could leave.

  The hardest part of letting go

  Is remembering you must breathe.

  Love began us on this path,

  And love will set us free.

  Do not cry for endings, love,

  Just sit here and breathe with me.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  THE CROCODILE

  She should have relented by this point!

  I pace back and forth in the Lost camp, in my Crocodile skin as usual. I can never hold the human side for long anymore, my skin itching, and so I’m forced to remain the beast more than the man. But none of that matters right now. Not even the shaking earth and the boom in the far distance can pause my movements.

  She should have relented by now!

  Desperation tugs at me and even as the power that drains from Neverland fills me by some stupid glitch in my deal, I feel like I’m being suffocated. I’m helpless without Wendy. I can’t find the door—though, I tried—and if I did, I wouldn’t be able to open it. I’m backed into a corner, at the whims of Wendy, trapped unless she comes to me.

  Why not just let them all go?

  The voice in my head echoes not for the first time and I push it aside. I don’t really care if the others live or die. All I care is that Wendy and I live. She may never love me, just as Lily said, but she’ll be alive, and love and hate are a thin line. Years down the road, maybe she could. I’ll have saved her, finally, after my failed first attempt. She will finally be free.

  Her brothers, Michael and John, stand off to the side, their eyes, so like Wendy’s, are unnerving as they watch me. I know they’re the perfect weapons against Wendy, but dammit! I don’t know how! I’ve used them for every message, every encounter, and though Wendy cares for them even as beasts, she still isn’t here. Where is she?

  And the child! The child I never planned on. Lily and Peter’s child. Emotions wrack my body, tear me up inside, because I’m torn about the child. On one hand, she’s a weapon, whether used against me or swayed to my side, and because she has my power and whatever her monster of a father gave her, she’s dangerous. But Lily will never allow that, even if Lily wanted to join me. I don’t know when Lily and Peter became an item to the point of bearing a child, but seeing the little girl nearly crippled me. I never expected there to be a powerful child to contend with. I never expected to be a true uncle.

  If I get Wendy here, I can decide what to do about the little girl. For now, I need to focus on Wendy, and Wendy alone. There was never a chance for her to love me before I became the monster, before I was warped by the deal I made with the land, and fuck, I can’t think past the roaring in my ears!

  Panic feels my body when the shaking worsens, when the earth beneath my feet buckles. We’re all going to die if Wendy doesn’t decide. Or maybe, they already found a way out and I’m standing here like a fool. Maybe, the ones from Wonderland got them out.

  Anger the likes I’ve never felt has me slamming my fist into the nearest tree, shattering it into a million pieces as it begins to fall. I’m prepared to hit another, my fist cocked back to strike, when my chest tightens.

  I turn, seeing nothing, but the call, the letter I’ve never received before flashes in my mind. The Daughters have always had the power, the other leaders, but I’ve never gotten one from them, already the Crocodile before they were Chosen.

  The words, written in Wendy’s elegant script, flash across my eyes.

  If you want me, Crocodile, come and get me.

  A challenge and a promise. I grin and whirl, feeling a tugging in my chest
in a direction, Wendy letting me know where to find her. The fact she isn’t just walking into camp means it could be a trap, but we’re running out of time. I’m just desperate enough to play her game.

  Finally, we can move. How long will we play this game until one of us relents? How long until one of us ends up dead?

  I can’t wait to find out.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “This is stupid,” Wendy groans where she stands in a clearing close to the border between our side and the Dark Side. The earth hasn’t stopped shaking. It’s a constant shaking with brief harsher rumblings that nearly make us lose our balance every so often. Mostly, the clock is running out, and though we’re in the center of the island, I can feel that the landmass is sinking even with everything else strange happening. Just on the way to the clearing, there’d been odd animals that danced around us and disappeared, almost like a glitch. If we weren’t already so worried with everything going on, we would have probably checked into the strangeness of it. As it is, we barely have enough time to drop our people downwind from the clearing but close enough where we don’t have to move far while we escort Wendy there.

  “I know,” Hook agrees. “But it’s the only way you’re going to get into the camp without force. You’re only going to have enough time to find the door before the rest of us come storming into the camp. While you work on opening the door, we’ll keep the Lost and the Crocodile back.” He grins. “If you can sense the door fast and have it open before we ever get there, that’s ideal.”

  “No shit, pirate.” Wendy rolls her eyes at Hook, but she clings to his hand tightly.

  I know what she’s feeling. We know she’ll make it into the camp unharmed because Wolfbane has proven he’s obsessed and in love with the idea of her. The problem is, there’s a lot of variables that can go wrong. Wendy could not find the door. Or she could find it and not be able to open it. We could be too late and Wolfbane could shove Wendy through the door before any of us can stop him. Hell, the Crocodile could go into a fit of rage when he realizes Wendy is tricking him and kill her, though that seems less likely. Regardless, the entire plan is dangerous, and it makes me uneasy. There are too many scenarios where things can go wrong, especially since we know nothing about the door itself. Will we even be able to get so many people through? Will we lose great numbers of our people as we fight our way over the threshold?

  The land shakes violently enough to make us all stumble and there’s a roaring in the distance that sounds like no animal I’ve ever heard. I’m not even sure it’s a beast at all. Tiger had cringed when we entered the trees around the Coven, claiming the trees were screaming. I can’t hear them, but I can imagine what that sounds like. The deep thrum and ebb of the heart fluctuates in my chest, making me wonder if I’ll even make it to the door at all, but I don’t speak my fears. If I die getting my people out, then so be it.

  There’s no saving our world. Neverland will die at the end of this. Of that I’m sure. I just hope to save as many as possible before then.

  Slowly, fighting against the shaking of the land, I move in front of Wendy and hesitate. “I’m going to form a temporary bond between us. It will only last an hour at most, but while in place, you’ll hear me as no more than a voice inside your head, and I’ll be able to see through your eyes. The moment you have the location of the door, I’ll know, and we’ll make our move.” I clench my jaw. “This isn’t a bond I’ve ever offered anyone lightly. I won’t invade your privacy and I hope you won’t invade mine.”

  “I understand,” Wendy murmurs.

  Carefully, I hold my hand above her head and sprinkle pixie dust, infusing it with a little bit of the magic necessary to form the bond. The connection snaps into place immediately, and we both inhale a sharp breath as the images and memories attempt to come to the forefront of each other’s minds. It only takes a few precious seconds to adjust, but it’s time we don’t really have.

  I clap Wendy’s wrist with my own, showing her the respect she’s earned, that I had dismissed before. “Let’s get out of this Hell hole,” Wendy says, grinning, but I can see the strain around her eyes, the worry.

  Tiger comes forward and grasps Wendy’s wrist when I let go, and we all smile despite everything happening.

  “For our people,” Tiger rasps, “we will choose life.”

  Both Wendy and I repeat the words, forming a connection between the three of us, before we all step back. With one last lingering look at the Sea Captain, we all turn and step back into the trees, making sure to stay downwind and to leave no trace of our appearance behind. I’m careful not to leave any of my pixie dust, no clues of the trap. The idea is for the Crocodile to come find Wendy. She’s already sent the message. He should be here quickly, no doubt growing desperate as the shaking continues to intensify. We move just far enough to meet our people, just enough that the Croc won’t sense them, and then we stop and wait.

  Hook can’t hold still, refuses to, and I watch as he starts to pace back and forth, twisting his hook around in nervousness. “This is the worst idea I’ve ever had,” he grumbles, shaking his head.

  “Be calm, pirate,” I interrupt. “Wendy can handle herself.”

  “Easy for you to say.” His wild eyes fix on me, the stars he sails spinning inside them. “If I lose her, I’m nothing.”

  But I shake my head at his words. The others are all listening, the Wonderlandians all ears but not interrupting. “None of us are nothing, and Wendy wouldn’t want you to think such things if something did happen to her. You may have found your heart after all these years, but you’re still the Captain of the Seas, and Wendy Darling thinks the world of you.”

  He clenches his jaw at my words, but he still twists his hook around and around. “You’re right,” he admits, but he grimaces. It’s hard for him to leave Wendy in danger, to have to wait for her to hopefully make it in safely.

  “Now what?” Jupiter asks, shifting restlessly. She’s holding Aniya’s hand, the little girl taking a liking to the Dream Walker just like we did.

  “Now,” I pause, looking out over our people while focusing on what Wendy sees through her eyes. “We trust that she will save us all.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  WENDY DARLING

  I stand in the middle of the clearing, trying desperately to stop the shaking in my hand. There’s so much pressure on everything going to plan, so much that can go wrong, I’m starting to feel anxious. In a last-ditch effort, I fold my hands behind my back, giving the illusion of boredom. The less Wolfbane suspects, the more successful we’ll be.

  I can feel the connection with Tink at the edges of my mind, can feel her memories easy to pick if I wanted to, but I don’t want to betray her trust like that. We both have memories we would rather keep buried deep in our minds.

  I feel the moment the Crocodile grows near, though not because of a link. I might not be able to speak to the trees, but the sounds of the wildlife go silent when a predator passes. It’s the same thing when a mermaid is near. Nature knows when a beast is in its midst.

  The moment he steps through the tree line, I make sure not to tense, keeping the bored expression on my face.

  There’s our beast, Tink’s voice whispers in my mind. I’m careful to show no reaction, watching the Crocodile carefully as he takes slow measured steps forward. There’s tension between us, and if circumstances were different, if Wolfbane hadn’t died trying to save me from Peter, we might have been friends, maybe even lovers if it had the opportunity to fester, but now, looking at him, all I see is a man willing to kill an entire world to leave it.

  “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the little bird calling for the Crocodile,” he purrs, shifting to his human flesh between one second and the next. I’m not sure if it’s an impulse to appear as a man to me when he’s forced to be the beast most times, but he rarely holds his reptilian form for long around me. “It’s taken you a long stretch of denial before you called for me.”

  His voice is like honey,
but it does nothing for me. Sometimes, I wonder how much he’s been warped by the deal he made to Neverland, if it was something similar for Peter. Perhaps, we’re all given two roads to choose from. Perhaps, Wolfbane chose the wrong one, thinking it the only way. But that will be his mistake, and it’s not my responsibility to save him.

  “What can I say?” I shrug. “I’m not a fan of being told what to do. I came when I was ready.”

  Wolfbane grins, glancing around the clearing, looking for signs he won’t find. We were careful to leave nothing behind, not a single spec of pixie dust. But Wolfbane knows our strengths, knows his sister is a master tracker and can move without leaving signs of her presence behind. Seeing nothing isn’t evidence of anything.

  “Are you sure this isn’t some sort of trick?” he hums, moving closer, and closer. I want to tense, but I force the feeling away. If he suspects I’m not here to escape with him, this won’t work.

  “The only trick is that I plan on whooping your ass the first chance I have, whether that’s in Neverland or on the other side of the door,” I reply, lifting my chin up and smiling. There’s no harm in challenging him. The Crocodile likes a challenge.

  “I’ve always admired your spirit, little bird. Even before you were Chosen as a Daughter, you were brighter than the stars that led you here.” There’s seduction in his voice, all notes of it filling the air between us, his own sort of challenge.

  “Can you cut the flirting? I’m not interested in your seduction, Crocodile. I’m here to get off this rock and nothing else.”

  “Ah, yes. The pirate.” He smiles, not a lick of happiness in the gesture. “How does he feel about you being here, making deals with me?”

  It takes everything in me to speak the lie, to make sure there’s nothing but honesty showing on my face. My hands stay firmly behind my back, hooked together to stop the shaking even as the earth buckles and rolls beneath our feet. “He doesn’t know I’m here.”