Everland(44)

Big Ben looms over the ruins, illuminated by a nearly full moon peeking through fragmented clouds. Remarkably, the tower remains relatively unscathed. Both hands point toward midnight, frozen in time, a reminder of when the first bombs fell on the sleeping residents of London, plummeting them into a nightmare and facing demons that I brought to the once-bustling town. My stomach lurches, but I clench my teeth, refusing to give in to the guilt festering within me. I did what I was commanded to do. I followed orders. Had I known the biological weapons lab was the Bloodred Queen’s intended target, perhaps I wouldn’t have dropped the bombs.

My targets. The ones my mother designated to be destroyed. I have only the briefest moment to wonder if my mother knew what would happen if she destroyed the weapons lab, and if so, why she would send me. Something whirs past my head, startling me from my thoughts.

The face of the clock is pocked with holes, but otherwise is intact. I squint, focusing on the subtle movement from the bell’s keep. A blond girl lifts a slingshot and aims. She leans against the frame of the belfry, teetering on the edge.

“Bella!” I grumble beneath my breath. I inhale, taking in the night air, and remind myself of the Professor’s words. How very few girls have survived. That the human race depends on their existence.

What a grim outcome.

The Professor is right, though. Other than the girl my men found earlier, Bella, and the girl with the heart-shaped face with Pete, there are no girls left, at least none that I know of. I breathe in the sour smell wafting from the Thames and shudder. After all this girl and Pete have put me through, it grinds every nerve fiber in my being to be nice, but I dig deep, recalling the kindness the help at Lohr Castle once showed me when I was just a boy not much older than Bella is now.

“Bella,” I shout again, this time echoing the tone of those who truly loved me. “Let’s be reasonable. Come down from there so we can talk.”

Bella releases the elastic with a snap, and I duck as a steel ball skips across the top of the Crawler, barely missing my head. Gritting my teeth, I remind myself to keep my temper intact. I need her to trust me.

The soldiers direct their weapons to the bell tower.

“Fire at—” an officer yells.

“No! Hold your fire!” I shout, still ducking from Bella’s aim. “Hold your fire!”

Taking cover behind the vehicle, I wait for another shot from the belfry, but none comes. “Let’s be sensible, Bella. You’re completely surrounded. You can’t possibly think you’re going to get away,” I reason, struggling with words. Reaching back in my memories to rediscover some soothing word said to me, something to convince this little girl she needs me as much as I need her. “How about you put your weapon down so no one gets hurt? Perhaps we can negotiate an agreeable outcome.”

Bella pulls another steel shot from her pouch and places it in the pocket of the slingshot. “The only agreeable outcome is a hole in your skull,” she shouts. “It’s just you and me, Hook. I’m done running from you. You wanted me, now you have me.” She pulls back on her slingshot, aiming right at me.

“It’s not you I’m after!” I holler, hoping she believes my pretense.

Bella lowers her slingshot warily.

I steal a glance over the roof of the tank, my hands raised. “All I want is the girl with Pete! Nothing else. Just tell me where I can find her.”

“Gwen? What do you want with her?” Bella yells. Her hair flutters in the wind as a gust nearly sends her off balance.

“What does it matter? Tell me where she is and I’ll leave you alone, forever,” I say a little too flippantly. I’ve got to pull it together. Convince her that she needs me, not the other way around. “I’ll leave Everland to you and Pete.”

Another gust whips through the night air. Bella crouches, trying to maintain her balance. When she regains her footing, she raises her slingshot, but even from this far I can see her tremble. She’s angry with me, and I don’t know why. I’m failing. If I ever want to get near her, to take her to the Professor, I need to tap into what’s important to her.

“By the way, where is your sidekick? You and Pete are inseparable. Yet here you are alone,” I call up to her.

She furiously wipes at her face with her arm—tears, I have to assume—and she readjusts her slingshot.

“She’s come between you two, hasn’t she?” I ask, trying for sympathy while shouting.

As if to answer me, Bella buries her face in her hands.

Stepping out from behind the tank, I fold my hands behind my back. “Poor, poor Bella. So unappreciated. So unloved. I can see the pain she’s brought.”

She peers at me and wipes her nose on her sleeve.

“Tell me where she is, Bella, and I’ll leave Everland for good. No more hiding, no more running from me. Everland will be yours. And as an added bonus, I’ll take the little vixen with me. She’ll never come between you and Pete again.”

Bella brushes another tear from her cheek. She stands at the edge of the tower and takes aim. “I’ll never, ever side with you, Hook!” She pulls the elastic of the slingshot back as a gust of wind ruffles her shirt. She staggers and drops her slingshot, sending it hurling ninety meters to the ground. Screaming, she sways forward once more, her knees collapsing underneath her. She reaches for a lever on her rocket pack, but misses. Another gust rolls over her tiny body, sending her over the edge. Her copper wings clip the ledge hard, shooting springs and cogs in every direction and shattering the iridescent film. Bella grips the edge of the bell tower just in time, her small feet kicking beneath her.