“Who had glowing skin and wings and looked like Tilly?”
His face darkens. “Why?” There is a noticeable growl in the back of his throat.
“Just tell me.”
“Tink,” Vane answers. “It was Tinker Bell.”
I look at him over his shoulder. “What happened to her?”
“I killed her,” Pan says. He sighs and rubs at his eyes. “What is this about? I’m very tired, Darling.”
“This is about your shadow.”
That gets his attention.
He comes over to the edge of the bed and sits down like standing takes too much effort. He’s shirtless, in nothing but loose pajama pants. I’m realizing this is the first time I’ve seen him unclothed, the first time I’m getting a good look at the tattoos that are inked between the scars.
He’s covered in them.
“It might have been a Darling that took my shadow, but it was Tink who masterminded the entire thing with the help of one of the Lost Boys. With Tootles.”
“Tootles.” What an odd name. “Why would Tink do that?”
“Because Tinker Bell was in love with Peter,” Vane answers.
“That makes no sense. If she loved you—”
“She may have loved me,” he says, “but she hated Darlings more.”
“So?”
“So…I just happened to love one. I was in love with the original Darling.”
All of the air is knocked out of my chest and I collapse on the bed beside Pan.
When I decided to barrel down here, I didn’t expect this was the answer I would get. But it makes sense now.
In the dream, Tinker Bell said, “…he’ll never have his Darling back.”
“She killed the original Darling,” I say.
Peter exhales beside me.
“So you killed her.”
“I wasn’t thinking straight,” he admits. “Sometimes I act before I think. Once Tink and the original Darling were dead, it made it much harder to track down my shadow. But memories can be inherited in blood and the original Darling had a little sister. It was improbable, but I’d hoped that any sort of knowledge might have been passed down through her lineage.”
The little girl in the closet. She must have been the sister.
“So that’s why you take us, trying to find any shred of information about your shadow.”
He nods.
“I think I know where it is.”
He looks over at me, his hair mussed with sleep, but his eyes wide with anticipation. “Tell me.”
“In my great-grandmother Wendy’s trunk.”
29
PETER PAN
One more trip to her world. I can make it.
I have to.
The wait for sunset feels like an eternity. I sent the Darling away so I could pace the room alone.
There is a desperate sense of urgency making my head pound.
While I wait for the sun to set, I strap on as many blades as I can.
When the light finally fades, I race up the stairwell.
Everyone is ready.
“You’re all coming?” I ask.
“Of course we are,” Bash answers. “You think we’ll leave you to have all of the adventures?”
The Darling is set between the twins and looks like a tiny doll against their tallness. Everything about her appears fragile and breakable, but she’s anything but.
She reminds me a lot of her mother.
“So how do you get there?” Darling asks.
“Best way is to fly,” I answer.
She just stares at me for several long seconds. Then, “Can you fly?”
“Not anymore,” I admit.
“And we lost our wings,” Kas says.
“Vane?” she asks.
“I can fly, but I’m not hauling all your asses.”
“We’ll take the other route,” I say.
“And what’s that?” she asks.
“We leap off Marooner’s Rock.”
“You must be joking.” She sets her hands on her hips. “Please tell me you’re joking?”
The twins start off. “We never joke about jumping off cliffs.”
“I don’t want to jump off a cliff.”
“Too bad,” I tell her and steer her out the door.
As we make our way through the forest, wolves howl in the distance and we hear one growl from the darkness.
We keep Darling between us, keeping her safe.
The wolves used to bend to me, but not anymore.
We pass the lagoon and keep walking where the land ascends up the cliff’s backside.
The moon hangs heavy in the sky.