Kas follows and we cut through the forest, the cold air needling along my skin, branches scraping against my arms.
I spot Darling on the trail with my sister beside her and my heart jumps to my throat until I see Vane too.
They aren’t fighting, so that must be a good sign.
I drop to the path and I’m aware of the new majesty that is me.
Darling’s mouth pops open, her eyes going round.
I flush with pride. Fuck yeah, I look hot. I always looked better with wings, in my humble opinion.
“Holy shit,” Darling says as she races toward me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “You got your wings back. Vane, why didn’t you tell me they got their wings back?!”
Kas sets to the ground beside me and Darling coaxes him into the hug.
“I’m so happy for you both. How did—”
“The shadow,” Kas says.
Darling lets us go. “The shadow returned your wings to you?”
My brother and I nod. We lost Pan in the fighting that ensued, but I can only imagine how he must feel right now.
The shadow meant everything to him.
I never wanted it. Never even dreamed about having it. But now that I do, there is a rightness at my core, like it was always meant to be mine and my brother’s. And I’m aware that if it was always meant to be mine, it was never meant to be Pan’s.
Even though he sacrificed it for us and Darling, it still feels like a betrayal. And I don’t know how to reckon with that.
There is nothing I’ve wanted more than my wings returned to me. I want to enjoy them without thinking of the cost.
“I’m happy for you both,” Tilly says. “I’m sorry that it’s come to this.”
I sense my brother bristling by my side. Kas and I have always been able to communicate on some level no one else can. The twin thing in full force. But with the shadow now between us, every emotion is heightened until it feels almost like my own.
I put my hand on his forearm. “There is nothing left for her to do to us,” I tell him.
If I can feel Kas’s indignation, then maybe he can sense my willingness to bury this feud once and for all.
I want no more of it.
He glances at me and heaves a deep breath. “Fine,” he says. “Tilly you are forgiven, but your deeds not forgotten.”
Our sister folds her hands in front of her. “I would expect nothing less.”
“Now, are we going to murder the evil reincarnation of our mother or what?” I say.
“How?” Kas ties his hair back, but our sister comes over and gently pushes his hand away.
“Let me,” she says.
He hesitates for a second and then gives her a nod. She parts his hair in half, then in thirds, and begins braiding. She used to love doing our hair when she was a kid. More than once I sported a tangled up, plaited mess that she would then force me to parade around court, begging for compliments. And because she was a princess and I the prince, the court would clap and fawn and Tilly would drink it up.
I was happy to do it, if I’m honest. Now I have no hair for her to plait and I’m a little envious of Kas.
“If we have the shadows between us,” Vane says, “we should be able to subdue her. But how the fuck do we kill her when she’s technically already dead?”
“We should find Pan first,” Darling says. “I’m worried about him.”
If I know Pan, he won’t want to see anyone right now, least of all Darling.
“We should give him a beat,” I tell her and she tilts her head up to me, ready to argue. “If he wanted to be here, Darling, he would be. Give him a minute to be alone.”
There’s a bit of selfishness in my plea. I don’t think I’m ready to face him when I possess the one thing that defined him.
Because I’m not giving it back. And that, too, feels like a betrayal.
Tilly ties off one of Kas’s braids and moves to the other side. “I have one of the Lostland knives,” she says. “If we can subdue Tink, perhaps the blade will kill her.”
“It’s worth a shot,” I say. “You think once she’s dead, her control over the fae and the Lost Boys will end?”
“Let’s hope so.” Darling crosses her arms over her chest. It’s still cold out and she’s only got an oversized shirt on.
“You need to get dressed.” Vane pushes her back toward the house.
Tilly finishes Kas’s second braid. The hair is plaited tightly, a perfect weave.
“Me next,” I tell her.
She eyes my short, wavy hair. “How?”
I twirl a chunk of hair at the top of my head. “I’m sure you can make do with this one.”
I duck down so she can reach. The braid takes all of thirty seconds and when she steps back, she and Kas laugh out loud.
“Does it look fabulous?” I ask and beat my wings for effect.
“You are the most fabulous fae on the island,” Kas says. “You fucking idiot.”
Tilly sniffles.
“Are you crying?” I ask.
“I’m sorry,” she says and then bursts into tears. “I’m so sorry. I was all alone and I didn’t know what else to do and I thought I had to be strong and unwavering for the court and the brownies told me I needed to be decisive and I just…I was more queen than sister in that moment and it tore us apart. And in every moment since then, I tried to be a queen when I should have been a sister.”
And in this moment, she is just a girl, a little sister who always balked at her overbearing, protective older brothers, but who right now, desperately needs us.
Kas and I fold her into our arms and she trembles in our grip, sobbing against our chests.
“It’s all right, Tilly Willy,” I tell her. “You’re not alone now.”
She nods her head, sucks in her tears.
“Now come on,” I say. “Let’s dry our eyes and go murder our mother.”
26
WINNIE
Vane and Bash scope out the treehouse before we return to it.
There are several dead Lost Boys littering the floor, but Tink and her possessed army are gone.
I try not to look at them as I make my way to my bedroom. I never bothered to get to know any of them. The twins warned me early on that Lost Boys come and go. “And sometimes Pan thins them out,” Bash had added.
I dress in warmer clothes, but clothes I imagine a girl can fight in. I’m no warrior, but I am Winnie Fucking Darling and I will not let Tinker Bell take what’s mine.
I just wish Pan was here.
I’m terrified for how we may find him when this is all over.
When I come back to the loft, I find the boys have changed too. They’re wearing dark royal blue clothing that was clearly made to fit their wings, which means they had been holding on to the clothing this entire time, waiting for their wings to be returned.
The shoulders are reinforced with metal plates, and leather cuffs cover their forearms.
They look like princely soldiers ready for battle. Except Bash is sporting a tiny little braid that sticks straight up and even though that looks ridiculous, I can tell he is happy to wear it. Kas’s hair is braided into two perfect braids that hang over his shoulders.
Beside them, Vane is in all black in an outfit that could either be labeled “dark prince from another realm” or “badass assassin anti-hero” from my world. I would take any version of him in black.