I glare at Jack.
Jack frowns. “How about it, Hook? Your turn to hold up your end of the deal.”
“Not quite, little brother,” Hook says.
“Brother?” Bella and I say in unison.
Mikey’s bottom lip juts out in a pout.
Hook circles Jack. “Stepbrother, to be exact. Jack is a Marauder. He was the one who helped me find the Lost City.”
I scowl at Jack and shake my head. “Traitor,” I say with venom in my voice.
Bella breaks free from her guard and storms Jack. She beats on him with her tiny fists.
“We trusted you! Gwen is a Lost Girl—how could you give her up?” Bella screams.
Jack kneels, blocking her punches until he is able to pull her into a hug. She shoves herself from him, stumbles, and teeters at the edge of the crocodile pit. Jack lunges for her, grasping her wrist just as she loses her balance.
“Bella!” I scream.
Mikey wails.
Bella’s arms flail, her feet kicking wildly beneath her. The crocodiles snap and growl, their jaws lifted in anticipation. Jack hauls her away from the lip of the pit and pulls her close. Breathing heavily, he asks, “Are you okay?”
Bella stares at him, her face contorted into rage. Her jaw tightens. “You’re nothing but a bloody pirate,” she spits. A soldier yanks Bella from Jack, but she doesn’t break her enraged glare. Mikey wipes a tear with the back of his sleeve and wraps his arm around Bella.
Jack, still sitting on the wet stone, hangs his head. His ebony hair curtains his pale face.
Hook chortles and slaps Jack on his back. “Looks like it’s going to be a pirate’s life for you after all, Jack.” Taking a katana from another soldier, he drops the sword in front of Jack. Jack doesn’t move to pick it up.
Hook kneels so he is face-to-face with my brother. A soldier hands Mikey’s dirty teddy bear to Hook. “I believe this is yours, young man,” Hook says, holding the bear with an outstretched hand.
Mikey withdraws, clutching Bella’s hand and scooting behind me. I shield him from Hook. My pulse increases, thrumming in my ears like the whir of a zeppelin.
“Leave him alone,” I growl, slapping Hook’s face, leaving a bloodied handprint on his cheek.
Hook hardly flinches. With his hand, he wipes the scarlet liquid from his face, inspecting it between his fingers. Standing, he turns. “Bring the child,” he says.
“No!” I scream. I try to stop him, but my guard holds me back. His arms wrap around me so tight that he squeezes the breath out of me, and I tumble to my knees. Picking up Mikey, a Marauder follows Hook closer to the crocodile pit. My little brother wriggles violently in the Marauder’s grasp, screaming loudly.
“Let him go!” I shout.
Hook tosses the bear into the pit. I can hear the crocodiles gnash at it. Mikey breathes heavily, but does not cry.
“What? No more tears? What a brave little Lost Boy you are. If only your mother could see you now,” Hook says, peering down at Mikey. The Marauder swings my brother over the trench and dangles him by one arm. Mikey screams in horror.
“Please, please don’t hurt him,” Bella cries.
“Stop!” I shout, struggling in the guard’s grip.
“This has gone too far!” Jack says, standing and picking up his sword. “You promised you wouldn’t hurt any of the Lost Boys in exchange for information.”
“I’m afraid you are mistaken. I promised that I wouldn’t lay a finger on any of the Lost Boys. I have held my word. My men, on the other hand, have made no such promise.”
“Dirty fink,” Jack spits. He aims his sword at Hook.
“What more do you want?” I ask, holding my bloodied hand to him. “I know you need my blood. Take as much as you want. Take it all! I am not afraid of death. But let my brother go,” I say, quickly and breathlessly.
Hook’s eyes narrow, cold and devoid of compassion. “I don’t want just your blood. I want you, alive.”
“What?” I ask, confused. I had expected to die at the hands of Hook.
“Do you think I’d let someone as valuable as you die?” He holds his hand up, his fingers stained with my blood. “Do you know what a drop of this is worth if the rest of the world is anything like Everland?”
An icy chill grates down my back. I had accepted that today might be the end of my life, but I had never considered the possibility of a greater horror: becoming Hook’s prisoner, forever.
Hook holds his index finger up and looks greedily at the red liquid coating it, rubbing his forefinger and thumb together. “This is more precious than any treasure in the world.” He wipes the blood off on his black trousers. “And I’m not leaving without it. All of it.”
A palace door slams behind me. I spin, my hands gripping the hilt of my dagger.
“Mum!” Mikey yells as a shoe slips from his foot and plunges into the pit.
“Mikey!” exclaims a new voice. My mother and Joanna, escorted by a soldier, take in the scene. Terror replaces the stunned look on my mother’s face.
“Surprise, Professor,” Hook says, grinning.