But the crevasse is dark and deep, and for a while, I’m not sure I believe him. Feeling our way with hands pressed against the damp rock walls that surround us, we walk so long in the silent, dark crevasse that I start to wonder if we’ll ever get out. But the Dark Ones are not here. No unsettling images stir me, and no rustling rattles my nerves.
Then, in the distance, I see a faint sliver of light.
With each step, it grows steadily larger and brighter, so I pick up my pace. Soon I can make out Will’s entire silhouette twenty or more feet ahead of me as he comes to the end of the tunnel and steps into the light. Behind me, the Captain is still close on my heels, and in a few feet more, I also reach the other side.
I step out of the tunnel and onto a narrow ledge that clings to the edge of the cliff. Below me, the cove I could see from my room with Olivia sparkles in the sun. I raise my hand to shade my eyes, trying to figure out where Will has gone to. It’s not until the Captain exits the tunnel a second after me that I understand that something has gone terribly wrong.
Suddenly I am in the Captain’s arms, but it’s not like before. His steel hand is around my throat, and his other arm pins me securely to him.
“What?” I start. Then I see what’s caused him to attack me.
Hanging in the air before us is Pan, and he has Will dangling wretchedly from his injured and still-bleeding arm. Will’s face is white with pain as his legs flail in the air.
I force myself to stay as still as possible. The way the Captain is holding me has to be a mistake. It has to be part of the act, just as Fiona proposed. But the way his hand is pressing into my throat doesn’t feel fake. Nor does the way my breath has been cut off from the pressure of it. I wanted so badly to believe that I’d made the right choice this time, but his grip is tight, and I don’t doubt he’s capable of what he threatens. With the strength of his steel fist, it would be an easy thing to snap my neck like a bird’s.
“Let him go,” the Captain growls, “or the girl dies.”
“I don’t think you really want me to do that, do you, Rowan?” Pan says, and to punctuate his point, he lets his grip slip a little before he catches Will again. Will lets out a high-pitched wail of pain and fear all mixed into one.
“Hold on, William,” the Captain says, adjusting his grip on me without easing it at all. I wriggle violently, but I can’t get away. “If you kill him, I’ll make sure you never get the girl,” he growls. “All those years, all your plans will have been for nothing, because I will snap her neck and take away your last chance at defeating the Fey of this world.”
“Please,” I try to say, but nothing comes out but a choking sound.
Pan is silent for a long moment before he speaks. “Well played, Rowan,” Pan says with no little admiration. “It seems I’ve taught you well.”
“You’ve taught me nothing,” the Captain sneers.
“Now, that’s not quite true, is it?” Pan retorts, a dark smile playing at his mouth as his eyes meet mine. But then he turns back to the Captain. “Just leave the girl to me, and the lad is all yours.”
“No!” Will’s face goes stony as he shakes his head. “Don’t listen to him. You know what you have to do—take the girl. Save the rest.”
Pan laughs, a low, humorless chuckle that makes my skin go cold, even under the warmth of the sun. “Oh, it’s much too late for that. There’s no one left for you to save.”
A menacing growl rumbles in the Captain’s chest, and I notice then what I hadn’t before—in the cove the Captain’s ship is waiting, its sails still in the windless day. Its decks are empty.
“What have you done with my crew?” the Captain growls, tightening his grip around my neck.
“That is the question, is it not?” Pan’s eyes dance with cold delight. Suddenly an explosion tears through the silent calm of the day.
“No!” The Captain’s voice is filled with rage and pain, but his grip never loosens. Below us, his once gleaming ship is nothing but a ball of riotous flames. Black smoke billows as fingers of orange-red fire climb up the tall masts. “They were but children,” he rasps, his chest heaving against me in ragged bursts.
“Ah, yes. The ever-protective Captain. So kind and caring to the boys under his protection.” Pan’s smile is terrible now. “Until, of course, he kills them. Jealous I beat you to it?”
“You are a monster,” the Captain rages. His grip is so tight and fierce, I can’t help but whimper. My neck is at such a severe angle that my shoulders are starting to ache.
“Perhaps,” Pan says pleasantly. “Or perhaps someone took the lads to safety before this terrible tragedy occurred. Perhaps someone has them under his protection . . .”
The Captain goes very still.
“ . . . for now,” Pan finishes.