“Your job was to keep him from her. Build the darkness. Turn him into Hook. Not someone who is weak, who would go running back to that whore Wendy Darling the first chance he got.”

“I didn’t think…”

“You never think!” I shout. John screams out as I tower over him, my mind racing through his at a lightening rate.

“I’ll help you kill, Peter,” he pleads. “It never sat right with me the way he left Wendy all alone. Just, please, please, listen to me. I’m sorry, I…”

“Apologies are too late,” I suck in the last bit of information I need just as John’s eyes roll back in his head and his body falls to the floor. His breathing stops. The trick, illusion, delicate power that’s life leaves him. I cock my head to the side and shake it with disgust.

Pitiful. His last words were weak. A confession. A plea. An attempt to make amends for something he never had control over in the first place.

Turning, I make my way back towards Tiger Lily, as my guards’ stalk past me to take care of the real traitor known as John Darling. She studies me, arms crossed over her chest, and a look of annoyance on her face.

“Are you done playing games?” She sighs. “Because I’m growing tired of waiting.”

“Don’t worry,” I smile. “We haven’t been waiting in vain, Princess. I’ve seen all that I need to see. This time, no one will stop me from taking back what I want. The end is near, and I’m going to enjoy watching every second of their magic finally burning out.”

Chapter 25

Hook

“‘I want Peter Pan, who first gave the brute a taste for me.’

‘Some day,’ said Smee, ‘the clock will run down and then he’ll get you.’”

Peter & Wendy

- J.M. Barrie

The smell of smoke and ash wakes me from a deep sleep. Wendy lays next to me, her body is intertwined with my own as I sit up, suddenly disturbed. I look to the door of the bedroom and my eyes widen. Smoke billows underneath the sill and I startle. Shaking the woman at my side, I gently say her name as anxiety begins to take over and worry quickly turns my insides sour.

“Wendy,” I urge her, but she doesn’t stir. “Darling, wake up.”

She rolls to her side, and I pull from underneath her, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and grabbing my pants from the floor.

“Peter,” she whispers in the dark, “what is it?”

“Quick, get dressed,” I pull on my pants and button them quickly.