Jerking free, she shook her head. “I’ve my reasons and yours are not to question mine. I must know, Hook, it’s been so long. Is there no hope? Does Talia haunt you so fiercely that you’ll never move on? It’s been a century. She would never have wanted to see this.”
Clenching his stubbled jaw, he glanced at his feet and for a moment she saw the play of emotion as it crossed his face. Anger, regret, sorrow… Then taking a deep breath he met her gaze. “Her death haunts me—why Pan did it. Why? To hurt me? It is the unknown of that question that consumes my thoughts. It is not my love for her that burns now, but vengeance, hatred. That is what makes me tick. I miss her, but I loathe him.”
Running her hand across her forehead she nodded. When Hook had found Talia, his darker tendencies had abated, somewhat. He’d always been slightly rotten, but in a ‘you hate to love them’ sort of way. Knowing that he did not still feel an undying devotion to his dead lover was actually a good step. It meant there was hope for Trisha and for him.
“Get back to your ship,” she said finally. “Head toward the Seren Sea and play like a good, little boy until my return.”
Nostrils flaring, he lifted a dark brow. “I’m not your plaything, Danika. You know my reasons and why I seek my revenge. I will have that boy’s head on a pike, with or without your help.”
Truly, Danika hated the boy almost as much as Hook. Why Tink had ever fallen in with his crowd, she’d never know. It would do the boy some good to receive a thrashing, rotten child that he was. Mayhap even a caning….
“There is more to life than your obsession with a ten-year old hellion. Believe me, please, Hook, go to your ship and stay. Trust me to do what’s best for you.”
He held her gaze for so long she thought he meant to argue further, maybe even damn her to Hell, but he didn’t. He simply turned, gathered his gear from the ground, and marched back to the beach without saying another word.
Huntsman lifted a dark, shaggy brow, waiting for her to give him the next directive.
Huffing with impatience, Danika smacked her lips. The man was intense, beautiful, but intense. Couldn’t he figure out what to do on his own? “Go,” she waved her hand, “do something. Go.”
He didn’t move, simply eyed her with a flinty eyed gaze that saw entirely too much. “Do you wish me to follow him?”
“Bloody hell, Huntsman, can you not think on your own? Do whatever it is you do, follow him, yes, of course. But so long as he stays aboard his ship, drink, be merry, take a whore or two.” She shrugged.
Frowning, his jaw worked from side to side and in that moment, Danika wondered if the man had any idea what fun actually was.
“Do you know how to relax, Huntsman?”
His nostrils flared and she sensed that perhaps there’d be another project in her very near future. “Go, go,” she whisked him off again, humming happily beneath her breath.
A fairy godmother’s work was never done.
Chapter 3
Trisha bopped her leg up and down under the restaurant table, the green Peter Pan tights twisted around her crotch making her itchy and uncomfortable. Ugh, this was awful, and everyone was looking. She felt ridiculous in the too tight costume, but it was opening night, fliers and billboards were scattered throughout the town. Everyone had to know she wasn’t wearing this because she’d developed a sudden fetish for all things Pan.
Finally spotting Betty and Gerard, she got to her feet and rushed onto the sidewalk, ready to embrace her friend.
But then she saw something that caused her brain to temporarily short. Betty had a belly. A big one. A big, pregnant looking one.
What the HE Double L?
Hadn’t she just seen Betty last month? There’d not been a stomach then. Blinking, she frowned. “Bets? What’s?” she couldn’t finish her thought, could only point at her stomach.
Gerard’s smile was sensual, as was everything the man did; he always managed to ooze sex, even when he wasn’t trying. He rubbed her belly, confirming what was clearly obvious.
Betty was pregnant. And advanced.
“What is going on here?” she screwed her face up, looking at her friend for some answers. “How long, and why didn’t I know about this sooner?”
Grimacing nervously, Betty threw Gerard a tight smile and then pointed to the small, black bistro table.
“Let’s sit,” she said.
“You’re really freaking me out now, you know.” Trisha licked her lips, eyeing the two of them. “Why are you guys acting so weird?”
“Well, it's silly really." Betty was fluttering her wrist like a broken butterfly's wing, which told Trisha she was hiding something.
“Bets…” Trisha hedged, “what’s going on?”
Gerard pulled out the seat for Betty, than for himself. Tossing him a grateful smile, Betty sat with a tiny sigh. “Okay, I promise to tell you everything, but let’s eat first, please. The baby is demanding food and I’m gonna yak soon if I don’t give it to her.”