The best way to catch a fae is to tempt them. Dangle the treat they want most in front of their face. Put it on display, out in the open, in the middle of nowhere, where you can slam the lid closed on their magic, finally containing their mischief, and stopping them once and for all.

Wendy is what they want most.

A special treat that’s guaranteed to stop all their magic forever if I execute my plan correctly.

I stand back in the shadows and watch her body tremble with slight fear. It does something to me. Seeing her on edge like this. Waiting for the inevitable. Waiting for me to save her. Just like all those times before. The rush. The delight I always felt when I would rush in and rescue her just in time.

Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

For the first time in seventeen years, I don’t fear the time that passes. I know I can save us. Take back our beginning. Make a new ending. That’s all that matters.

I knew she needed saving the first time I looked her in her eyes. A part of her soul called to me. Always brought me back to her. She saved me too. Long before she ever came back to Neverland and fell back into my arms by some magic neither of us will ever understand. She saved me from a fate I’d rather die before I ever succumbed to at the hands of Tinker Bell and her army. Or at the mad clutches of Tiger Lily and the Indian chief. The mermaids and their tainted lagoon. The whole island can go to hell for all I care. Because all I’ve ever truly cared about, and ever will, is my Wendy.

She saved me from myself, from falling so in love with this place that I couldn’t see anything else. It took me seventeen years to realize she’s where I belong. No matter if that’s here, or back where we both come from.

All that matters is that after all this time, we’ll finally be together. Someplace different. Someplace new. Without the foolishness of this place. We’ll soon create a brand-new world with nothing but the two of us in it.

Losing Neverland isn’t the end. It’s only the beginning.

As I hear the loud tinkle of bells closing in, I clutch the hook at my side and watch Wendy’s back stiffen with pride. With determination. With challenge because we both know there is no way we make it out of here without putting up one hell of a fight. And Wendy’s a fighter, just like I am. Together, we’re invincible.