He grumbles as he comes around the island fixing the cuff of his jacket.
“Whoa.” I stop chewing. “Sweet baby Jesus.”
Vane looks over at me. “Swallow your food before you choke on it.”
I do and then, “So it’s okay to choke on Lost Boy cock, but not chicken and biscuits?”
Bash laughs into his cup, coffee spilling over the edge.
Vane doesn’t answer me because he knows I’m just trying to rile him up, and he’s not wrong.
“You look fucking amazing in that jacket,” I tell him.
He rolls his shoulders like he’s trying to get comfortable in it. “I hate it.”
The jacket is black with a stiff collar that edges his sharp jawline in fine darkness. There is no visible thread, no embroidery. For Vane, black is just black. It needs no adornment.
“Stop fidgeting,” I tell him.
He grumbles at me. Bash buries another laugh.
“Get dressed,” Vane orders him. “We’re leaving soon. Darling, did you get enough to eat?”
“Yes, and Kas dressed me.” I slide off the stool and fluff out the skirt. Vane stops fidgeting with his jacket.
The connection of the split shadow thrums between us. Awe. Excitement. Joy.
Vane and I lock eyes. These aren’t emotions that I think he allows himself to often feel and if he does, he doesn’t let anyone know it.
But there’s no hiding it from me right now.
The sight of me in a pretty dress has moved him.
I break out in a wide smile, then take several folds of the skirt so I can give him a twirl like I did for Kas.
“You look beautiful, Win,” he says, his voice softer now, the hard edges sanded down.
“Thank you.”
It takes me a minute to realize we’re alone again, the twins having left to put on their own fine clothing.
“Have you seen Pan?” I ask him.
He gives me a shake of his head.
“Are we worried about that?”
He comes around the island and pours some coffee into one of the clay mugs. “Not yet.”
Adjusting my skirt, I make my way over so I can stand beside him at the sink. He’s staring out the windows at the snow that’s starting to collect on Neverland soil.
“He’s going to be okay,” I tell Vane, but I sense I’m trying to convince myself as much as the Dark One.
“I know,” he says, his gaze still on the horizon.
It doesn’t feel like a long stretch of time, us standing there together watching the bruised sky and the snowy island, but before I know it, Kas and Bash have returned and the air rings with the sound of fairy bells.
I turn to face them and let out a low whistle.
“Damn. Everyone is on a glow up.”
The twins stand side by side at the end of the island. Kas’s hair is down and it gleams like dark ebony as it follows the curve of his broad shoulders. Bash’s hair is combed back but not tamed, and several locks try to revolt and hang over his forehead.
He swipes them back again with a rake of his fingers.
They’re both wearing tailored black jackets much like Vane’s, but their collars are folded down and then descend into a wide lapel. White button-up shirts break up some of the black.
“Am I the only one wearing color tonight?” I joke.
“No, not the only one.”
We all turn immediately to Peter Pan, taking up the space of the open doorway.
Something breaks in my chest, because I can’t quite breathe right when I take in the sight of him.
He looks incredible. Fucking hot. The kind of man that if I’d encountered him in my world, I would have drooled at his feet.
The jacket clinging to the broad line of his shoulders is the same emerald green of my dress. I’m not sure if he somehow knew, or if it’s a huge coincidence, but I’m not going to side-eye the cosmic forces clearly at work here.
Where my dress features a bold leaf pattern embroidered in gold, Pan’s jacket has actual leaves fastened to the shoulders to resemble a layered epaulet. More make up the collar of the jacket, so his neck is circled by raw-edged leaves.
His dark blond hair is combed over, not a single lock out of place.
When my gaze finally lands on his face, his bright blue eyes are searching me. He’s unreadable, distant from me, and I don’t know what to make of that. He was an asshole earlier, clearly taking his frustrations out on me. I want to do as Vane says and give Pan some slack, but I’m not going to be his punching bag.
Especially not when we’re about to walk into enemy territory where the woman who killed my ancestor because she was obsessively in love with Pan is waiting for us.
Not to mention she’s supposed to be dead, so there’s that too.
“You look stunning, Darling,” he says, his voice even, tapped of all emotion. Gone is the Pan of earlier, the one edging on a break.
“You too.”
His jaw clenches and my chest fills with wings.
“We should go,” he tells us. “But first, promise me you’ll all behave and stick together? No one goes anywhere alone.” He turns to the twins. “Including you, princes. Even if it was your home once.”
Bash and Kas give him a nod. “We’ll be careful.”
“Then let’s go,” Pan says and makes his way for the door.
13
WINNIE
I’m so focused on not tripping on the long skirt of my dress that before I know it, we’re entering fae territory. Pan gives us one more warning about the rules and staying together and then the path spills us into what feels like an entirely new land.
Snow swirls in the air, but it’s not falling as thickly here as it was at the treehouse, so I can take in the sprawling meadow and the fae palace in all its glory.
And holy shit is it glorious.
It’s like…well, straight out of a fairytale.
There are several buildings stretched over the rolling land with the main palace, the largest structure, sitting at the center like the largest tine on a crown.
The palace is white stone that I imagine must glitter and gleam in the sunlight. Several spires stretch toward the sky, reminding me instantly of some of the shells I’d find on the beach when Mom and I lived near the ocean.
“It’s like a painting.” My breath condenses on the air.
Bash readjusts his jacket on my shoulders, that he gave me pretty much the moment I started shivering on our walk over. “It is beautiful, isn’t it?”
Kas comes up beside me and we all take in the sight. “You know what’s funny, though?”
I look up at him, at the sharp line of his jaw, the gleam of his black hair cascading over his broad shoulders. “What?”
“The palace never felt like home.”
“What did?”
He glances at his twin over top of me and Bash says, “Our nana’s cottage on the far side of the grounds.”
Kas nods. “I wonder what they’ve done with it now.”
“Better not have torn it down. Mother tried after Nana died, but Father forbade it.”
Kas’s jaw clenches and his eyes narrow.
“Come on.” Pan surges ahead with Vane not far behind. “This is no time for wistfulness.”
Kas sighs, so I slip my hand into his, threading our fingers together. I say, “Don’t listen to him. He’s grouchy today.” I give his hand a squeeze. “There is always room for nostalgia, even if it hurts.”