Danika held her hands out stiffly. “Tink, put your wand down. Clearly he is drunk and therefore cannot be held responsible for his actions.”
“Not,” James snarled, “too drunk to not rip your bloody head from your scrawny neck, you whoremongering fairy.” He glared at Tink, snarling and exposing blunt canines as he jerked against Huntsman’s hold. The stoic hunter merely grunted and shoved his knee in harder.
Tinkerbell glowered.
Danika grabbed her skull. Her boys, every last one of them…they’d all lost their minds. It was times like these that she wondered what had ever made her want to deal with the villains of Kingdom. Surely Charming never gave his godmother such a hellashish time. Then again Charming was as dull as dirty dishwater, there was that.
“Look at the destruction, look what he’s done, Dani,” Tink commanded, swishing her free hand around her.
Dozens of fairies lay scattered on the grass, eyes woozy and wings twisted around their bodies. Some were groaning, others sitting up and looking dazed.
“You must understand,” Danika began.
“No,” Tinkerbell sliced her hand through the air, “I understand just fine.” Her long blonde hair rippled down her back like living water.
Of all the godmother’s, Tinkerbell was perhaps the most famous. But what few knew about the iconic fairy was that she was an out and out sadist. Tink was never so happy as when inflicting torture upon others. The only one immune from her brand of loving were her boys, everyone else was free game.
Mother of pearl moth’s wings flitted agitatedly as Tink drew closer to Danika.
“You would do anything to save him, is that it?” Sharp baby fangs peeked out from beneath full red lips. “Because know this… I’ll kill him before I let him lay a hand on my Peter.”
Letting all humanity bleed from her eyes, Danika cocked her head just slightly. “I’m sorry, was that supposed to frighten me? Don’t forget who I am wee fae. I’m much more than the fa?ade I wear.”
And to further drive the point home, Danika revealed her true face—the one of legend, of nightmares. She rarely showed it, preferring others to misjudge her, to believe her weak and docile. But she was none of those things and no one threatened her boys. Ever.
Tinkerbell’s jaw trembled, though she tried hard not to let on, Danika smirked when she saw the frightened glint in her violet blue eyes.
“Aye, I thought so. Besides,” Danika transformed back to the slightly chubby, gray haired fae, “let’s not forget who started this war. I could very easily have made mincemeat of your boy then. I was well within my rights. But come, come, let us be friends. Give me Hook, and I’ll punish him severely. What say you?”
James’ lips twitched.
Audibly grinding her jaw, Tinker withdrew her wand and slid it back into her briarwood vest. “You have a point,” she reluctantly admitted. “But watch your charge, Dani, next time he comes traipsing into the glen, I’ll not be so nice.” Tink’s smile was nothing but sharp teeth in a face as pleasant looking as any china doll.
Restraining the urge to hiss, Dani simply smiled until Tink was out of sight, then the smile turned into a full on glare. “I hate that woman,” she muttered. Barely able to refrain from rolling her eyes, Danika twirled on Hook.
“Get the mongrel off me,” he sneered, jerking his eyes in the direction of the Huntsman.
At a nod of her head, the Huntsman released the wad of James’ hair he’d been holding on to. Rubbing his neck, Hook looked at her.
“Well?” she snapped, waiting for an answer.
A gentle breeze stirred the leaves through the glen, filling the air with the pungent aroma of orange blossoms and hyacinth. Fluffy white clouds floated through the robin’s egg blue sky—a beautiful day.
And Danika wanted to scream.
“I’m fed up, Hook!”
His nose curled. “You know what she’s done to me. I’ve no choice but to seek out the gnats. I swore an oath of vengeance and that is all that has carried me through these long years.”
Grunting, Danika rolled her eyes. “And am I one of those gnats?”
His smirk was full on lusty, his eyes sparking with a devilish gleam as he made his way slowly to his feet. “Gnat. No. Though now that I’ve seen your true face… You put all the rest to shame. Why hide such fierce beauty?”
Feeling just the tiniest bit of pride from his words, she shrugged off the compliment as best she could. “James, what happened here,” she pointed to the pile of fairies still slow to regain their feet, “it cannot, no…it must not continue. Galeta allows me the privilege of working with you boys so long as you-”
“Bah.” Swaggering up to her, he tilted her chin up with the fine edge of his steel hook. “Why do you continue to work for that—”