Chapter 12
Danika heard her name, even as it traveled through realms. Heart clenching she recognized it as Trishelle and immediately extracted her wand from her vest, tearing open a fabric of time. Pulse pounding, hoping she’d be in time, she tore through the worm hole, arriving to witness Trishelle seconds away from splatting into the Never Sea.
Shooting out a beam of power, she ensnared Trisha in a pink net and then heaved a ragged breath, clutching onto her breast as the enormity of all that’d just happened sank in.
Drawing the sobbing, heaving woman to her, Danika shook her head. “What in the bloody hell is going on? Why are you not with Hook? And why are you dressed in fairy garb?”
And then like the flick of a light she knew.
Trisha’s eyes were red, her nose swollen, and as she rubbed her face with the back of her hands, she shuddered and then laughed. A great, big booming sound full of disbelief and sheer relief.
“That little devil kidnapped me,” she hiccupped. “Tinkerbell saved me, I think.” The muscles in her thighs were literally snapping and hopping like a Mexican jumping bean.
“Why did he take you?” Danika hadn’t meant to stay away so long, normally she liked to peek in, be privy to the romance as it blossomed, see the tangible proof of all her hard work, but circumstances had prevented her being around much this time.
In fact, she needed to get back quickly, hating the thought of not being able to help Trisha make an easier transition.
Being a godmother, she knew when love was growing and something still felt off. Staring into Trisha’s beautiful face, she sensed emotion—great emotion, but also confusion and indecision.
Trisha shook her head. “Because he’s a spoiled brat and Tinkerbell is about the most useless excuse for a mother figure there is. She pushed me off the cliff. Couldn’t she have at least used her magic to stop them?”
Panting, she looked up at Danika, her cat-shaped eyes wide with disbelief.
“Tinker is a fairy best left alone. Why she’s chosen to stay with a gang of wild hyenas is beyond me,” Danika agreed, “she’s got very little control over any of them, which is probably why she pushed you off. Pan had had his fun and would likely not follow to save you. Which clearly,” she clenched her jaw, “she was right. Though I will surely have a talk with the fairy council about her. Mark my words.”
The need to hurry back to Alice impressed itself upon Danika’s mind. But Hook was also her priority and now so was Trishelle. “But tell me, do you love him?”
“Who?” Trisha’s face scrunched. “Hook?”
She nodded.
“Umm…no. And he doesn’t love me either, so you can settle yourself on that score. You picked the wrong girl, demon bug.”
Bristling at the term, Danika hissed. Normally she kept her fangs blunt, for the sake of the humans who seemed to find the sight of them off putting, but Trishelle didn’t seem fazed. In fact, she merely smiled and rolled her eyes.
“How can you expect anyone to fall in love in three days? That’s ridiculous.” She giggled.
Jaw dropping open, Danika shook the net a little, rocking Trisha just enough to get her attention and force her to stop laughing. “The heart always knows.”
“Pu-lease. That’s just sentimental fluff. I know he’s hot, and I know I like him, he makes me smile. But I don’t love him. And I probably never will because I will be returning to Earth.”
Blinking back the shock, Danika wondered how this had gotten away from her so quickly. By this point most women were at least questioning their heart, realizing there was something there.
“Does he entice you at all?”
Trisha shrugged. “His body, yes. Absolutely. And I do like him. I really do, but I don’t believe in love.”
“But…but…”
“Danika, I’m sorry. I told you I’m not the right woman. You obviously chose the wrong girl.”
Grunting, Danika rolled her eyes. “Listen to me and listen to me well, you are his. You absolutely have free will in this, Trishelle Page, but should you choose to walk away you will never find a love like him again. Contentment, friendship…maybe, but passionate, all-consuming need and love, no. Are you willing to leave all that behind?”
“So says you.” She crossed her arms, jutting out her lower lip prettily. “And besides, that kind of love doesn’t sound like love at all. It sounds like obsession and that’s ugly and terrifying and not at all what I want in my life. So if you want to just send me back now, then do it, but there is no love, and never will be.”
“I cannot believe you’ve hardened so much. What has happened to you, Talia?” Hot tears burned the corners of her eyes. She couldn’t understand how she’d gotten this so wrong.
Miriam had told her truth with all the others.