Everland(64)

I tuck a loose curl behind her ear. “Professor, do you believe in ghost stories?”

“I don’t understand,” she says, fumbling over her words.

I pull the Professor into me, my lips nearly touch hers. Her heart beats rapidly against my chest. “I believe my pal Pete has rescued another child. Little does he know she is not at all the orphan she claims she is,” I whisper so close to her ear I can smell the hint of lavender.

Gently, I escort her through the door, letting it slam shut behind us. I take her hand in mine. She tries to pull away, but I grip it tightly. “It’s a lovely night for a family reunion, isn’t it?”





Bella! Bella, talk to me!” Pete says, jostling Bella awake.

“Pete, it hurts,” Bella whispers, squeezing her eyes shut tight as she holds her hand up, revealing blood-soaked bandages around her fingers.

He spins toward Lily. “What have you done to her?”

With shock masking her face, Lily takes a step back. “I found her like this. She almost plunged to her death off Big Ben. I saved her.”

Pete whips his gaze back to Bella.

Lily joins him hesitantly. “She is the worst I have seen in a long time and the Professor has not been in tonight. I’ve been waiting for her to bring in the medicines.”

Pete snatches up his rucksack and pulls out the needle Doc gave him earlier from the side pocket. He uncaps it with his teeth and sits on Bella’s cot.

“Wait! We should consult with the Professor,” Lily protests, but she is too late.

Pete pauses for a split second and then he plunges the needle into Bella’s shoulder. She grimaces in pain. Pete throws the needle in the sink. “Bella? Bella, please talk to me.” She rolls over instead of answering. Her body trembles as she quietly sobs.

“What was that you gave her?” Lily says, pushing Pete away from Bella.

Pete’s shoulders stiffen and his green eyes grow hard. “Let’s hope it’s the antidote.”

I sit on Bella’s bed. “Bella?” I say. She looks at me, her black eye makeup streaking her cheeks with dark-tinted tears. I place my hand on the inside of her wrist. Blood pulses through her veins against my fingertips, as steady as a summer rainfall, a heartbeat that now contains my white blood cells. “You’re going to be okay,” I say, smiling at her.

Bella nods, and the tightness in her shoulders melts into the mattress. She takes a breath and I feel her pulse slow, see her breathing return to regular, deep breaths. “Gwen,” she says in a small voice. “I almost had him. I had Hook in my sight, but …”

“Bella, what were you thinking?” Pete says in a voice so loud it reverberates in the small room. “No one goes into Everland alone. No one! Especially not you! You could’ve been captured, or worse yet, killed.”

I glower at Pete, a silent warning for him to back off. Pickpocket taps him on the shoulder and nods toward the far end of the room. Pete steps back, tripping over Bella’s metal wings, and leans against a far wall, not saying anything more. It is then I notice the mangled copper and jagged film of her left wing. I suck in a breath, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. Her beautiful wings … broken. Tears well up in my eyes, but I blink them back as Bella’s fingers graze my arm.

“I thought if I could take him down, then maybe I could get Joanna, and no one else would have to risk their life,” she says, blinking with tired eyes. “I wanted to prove that I’m just as good as any Lost Boy.”

“Shh,” I say, taking a cool, wet cloth from Lily and brushing Bella’s forehead with it. “That was very brave, the bravest thing I’ve seen anyone do, but you don’t have to prove yourself. I knew you were extraordinary the first time I saw you.” Bella forces a small smile. “You need your rest,” I say.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she whispers. “I’m sorry about what I said. I don’t really hate you.” Bella closes her eyes.

“I know. Try to sleep now.” I lean down and embrace her, grateful for the opportunity to provide her comfort. Comfort I wish I had given Joanna the last time I saw her. I wish I could give it to her now. As my pulse slows, fatigue sets in, and I want to lie next to her to rest for just a while, but there’s no time for sleep. Not until Joanna is safe.

Mole looks worried. “Is she going to be all right?”

“I don’t know,” Doc says, starting to remove the bloody bandages from her hands. “When will the Professor be here?”

“She should have been here already,” Lily says, glancing at the delicate gold pocket watch hooked to a broken chain-linked belt. “It is not like her to be delayed like this. Something is wrong.”

“Then we should go find her,” I say, standing. “Bella needs help now. And Joanna is somewhere inside the palace.”

“We can’t do that,” Lily says, stripping her latex gloves from her hands and replacing them with black warrior gloves embellished in gold. “The door is locked from the inside of the lab and is covered by a cabinet. There is no way to get in there from this side without a key. Only the Professor can open the door.”

Standing, I turn to Pickpocket. “Can you get us inside?”

Pickpocket grins and pulls his lock-picking multitool from his pocket.