Everland(16)

Something crashes just above our hiding spot. Hook growls. “How does that boy keep getting away?” There is another bang.

“Captain, orders?” a soldier says.

“Search the buildings. Don’t forget to check closets, basements, crawl spaces, anywhere a couple of street rats would hide. Find that girl!” Hook declares.

“Yes, sir!” The soldier orders the men in various directions.

Hook roars and I flinch, but Pete rubs my shoulder, his arms still wrapped around me.

“Pete, I know you can hear me.” The Captain pauses, as if waiting for a response. “Pete! All I want is the girl.”

Pete gives me a puzzled look. “He wants just you?”

“Why not you, too?” I ask.

Pete quickly drops his gaze from mine, shrugs, and holds a finger to his lips, reminding me to keep quiet. He’s hiding something.

“Bring her to me, or so help me, when you are found, I will personally strap you to the cold steel table. I’ll enjoy watching every agonizing moment as you writhe in pain, the tubes and needles sucking every ounce of life from your pathetic body. You will curse the day you ever crossed my path.”

“That bloke has some serious anger issues,” Pete whispers in my ear. His face is close to mine. His breath tickles my neck and is warm against my skin. It smells peculiar, like bubble gum. My cheeks grow hot.

“Do you hear me?” Hook screams.

Other than the scurrying of a few rodents in the tunnel, everything remains quiet. The sound of boots walking above us makes the tension in my body grow. My eyes and jaw clench shut as if I could disappear. The footsteps stop at the manhole cover. Pete quietly leaps up and tugs me to a shadowed corner as Hook peers through the holes. Another familiar and menacing voice draws his attention away.

“Captain, my men are in pursuit of a couple of children,” Smeeth says. “We may have them cornered in an alley a few blocks from here. A boy and that pixie-lookin’ girl we always see with Pete.”

Mikey! My heart stops and I try to bolt, but Pete pulls me back. I struggle against his hold as he clasps a hand over my mouth. With bulging eyes, he shakes his head. “Shh! Stay quiet!”

“It’s Bella,” Hook says, his words clipped. “Do what you have to do to get the girl, even if it means incapacitating the boy. Just don’t kill her.”

“We’ll do what we can, Captain,” Smeeth says. “That girl’s half bird with those wings of hers. She’s struggling to hold on to the boy.”

“Who’s the other kid?” Hook says.

“I don’t know,” Smeeth says. “Boy’s maybe six, seven at the most. It doesn’t look like Bella is going to be able to carry him much longer, and he is having a hard time keeping up on his own.”

My body tenses and I jerk, trying to escape from Pete’s grasp again. I hear Hook respond, but his words are lost as I thrash violently against Pete’s hold. Seething, I elbow the Lost Boy in the ribs. He grunts, his arms release me, and I dart from his grasp. Doubled over and wincing, he manages to hold a finger to his lips, reminding me to be silent.

“When the men capture them, do whatever you want with the boy. But take Bella straight to the Professor’s lab for testing,” Hook says, his voice fading as he walks away.

“I’m going to kill them,” I declare. Enraged, I grab my dagger as I start up the ladder.

Pete jumps to his feet and wraps his arms around my waist, restraining me as I step onto the first rung. “Seriously, you need to control your slice ’em, dice ’em attitude when someone pisses you off.” I pull from his grip, but he snatches my wrist, forcing me to drop my knife. It lands in the disgusting water with a plunk.

“Let me go. I’m going to cut them into teeny-tiny bits and feed them to the rats,” I growl.

“I know, I know, rat food. I get it, but we need to get to the Lost City. We can’t take them on by ourselves. We’ll need help. Besides, Bella would never let them near Mikey,” Pete grunts against my flailing arms.

“They will regret it if they lay one single finger on my brother.” Bella’s small face comes to my mind as I imagine her struggling to hold my brother up, her wings straining against the extra load. “On either of those kids,” I say through gritted teeth.

Pete sighs, spins me around, and holds me at arm’s length. “Enough! No need to get your knickers in a twist. Listen, Immune, I’d really like to help you, but you need to get one thing straight. I know their weaknesses better than you do. How are you going to take on an army of Marauders with a pocketknife?”

I shove him hard, sending him stumbling backward, nearly falling into the nasty sewer water. “You’re the one who got us into this mess. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you. If I had stuck with my gut, if I had gone after Joanna myself, Mikey wouldn’t be running in the streets unprotected and alone. I’m done following you.” I fish my knife out of the water, sheathe it, and start toward the ladder again, determined to get my siblings back myself.

Pete chases after me. “Unprotected and alone? Have you met Bella?” He grabs my arm, whirling me to face him. “She’s the best bet he’s got right now. Besides, you were on the brink of starvation. Your stomach hasn’t stopped growling since we left your hideout, which tells me you weren’t eating much. And my guess is that you weren’t eating your share just so you could keep those kids alive. Do you really believe you can take Hook and the soldiers on your own, especially with a Little in tow? You’re mad if you do.”