With a heated glare, I look up and catch John’s eyes as he stands in the doorframe. No one has said that name since the day she walked away. Now, since hearing it fall from her lips earlier tonight, I’ve had to endure the piercing way it stabs me in the heart twice.

“Sorry,” he says, holding up his hands in surrender. “Won’t slip again.”

“Make fucking sure of it.”

He glides his hands in his pockets with unease, his eyes downcast to the floor at his feet as I turn my attention back to Wendy. She looks to finally be at peace. Her breaths come out more easily. Her chest rises and falls with grace. Her demons are quiet. But they won’t be for long.

“Time is not on our side this time, Hook,” John whispers after a moment, and my fists clench. “The clock is…”

“Ticking!” I boom.

Rising from my seat, I throw my glass at the wall and overturn my desk in one quick thrust. It cracks as it makes impact with the wooden planks below my feet, but it doesn’t break. Not like my heart does, knowing the woman I swore to never allow into my life again managed to upturn my whole world in a matter of mere seconds, when I was told she was living alone after all the years we’ve been forced to spend apart.

“I know, Smee,” my nostrils flare as I force myself to calm down. Fists clenched at my side. My hands shake as I suck in a breath that won’t come fast enough. “Now, show yourself out before I put a bullet through your fucking head. You are, after all, a Darling. Regardless of where you stand. Traitor runs through your veins, John. No matter how loyal you’ve been these past seventeen years, I won’t forget that.”

He shows no emotion, only glances back at the bed across the room. A wicked smile lights up his eyes a second later, causing me to look up quickly and catch the wide eyes of Wendy. She’s propped up in the middle of the black sheets, tears staining her pale face. The bed linens are pulled up to her chin as she takes in her surroundings and starts to shake.

“Told you,” John hisses as he turns and takes his exit. This time, he’s smart enough to know not to mention the name that’s been banned since Wendy flew out of my life. “After all these years, darkness is not on our side, Hook.”