Everland(73)

“Please, Gwen. I need to know you will be safe. Promise me you’re not going to do anything dangerous,” he says quietly into my ear.

Safe is a word I have not known in a very long time. The weight of responsibility, the burden of being the one in charge, threatens to drop from my shoulders, and the little girl within me fights to break free of the bonds I’ve placed upon her. My eyes well up with tears as I rest my cheek against his chest, hearing his steady heartbeat. Silently, I admonish myself for being so childish, so easily moved to tears, when Pete pulls back from me to look me in the eye.

“Gwen, I—” He stops himself abruptly.

“Yes, Pete?” I ask, trying to steady my own pulse.

He purses his lips, as if struggling with what to say next. “You’re the bravest girl … no, you’re the bravest woman I know.”

The word woman settles over me like a brand-new coat: unfamiliar but comfortable, soft, and warm.

With my sixteenth birthday coming, I consider the implied sophistication that comes with being referred to as a woman. Suddenly, I feel self-conscious. I consider that it’s still been too long since I’ve last bathed. And that my hair is one tangled knot these days. My dirt-stained hand rests on Pete’s chest with fingernails that are broken, cracked, and filthy. Briefly, I wonder if Pete is right, if a woman does lie beneath the mask of grime that covers me; grime that belongs to Everland.

“Pete, any day now,” Pickpocket says from inside the lab.

I drop my hand from Pete’s chest, but before it falls, he places his on mine. “Be happy, Gwen. Only think happy thoughts. If things don’t go right, if something happens to me, get out of Everland. Forget about today, forget about me. Just … just be happy.”

Wiping away a tear from my cheek, I give him a disingenuous nod. I struggle with Pete’s words. Be happy. Finding Joanna and my mother made me happy, but now … now the prospect of having my family together does not seem to be enough. Without Pete and the other Lost Boys, it’ll never be enough.

Pete briskly turns and steps inside the lab, pulling the steel door shut behind him. My pulse races and the world seems to slow down. My heart feels as if it is spiraling, a bomb plummeting to earth, uncertainty eating a hole in my gut.

“Wait!” I call, forcing the words out as a heavy sensation chokes me. Pete stares through the cracked door with piercing green eyes. Eyes I know I will never see again if I go through with my plan.

“Pete?” I say, my voice cracking. “Please don’t die.”

Pete gives me a dazzling smile and bows. “To die will be an awfully big adventure.” He blows me a kiss and pulls the heavy door shut with a metallic clank, leaving me alone in the dark.





The dimly lit walls close in on me and the air feels thin. I gasp as a swell of energy surges through me. I race into the infirmary. Bella and Lily are gathered together, excitedly exchanging conversation, sometimes talking over each other.

Gripping Lily’s elbow, I pull her to attention. “I don’t feel right about this. We can’t let them go alone,” I say, breathing rapidly. “What if they get caught?”

“You can’t worry about him,” she says in a stern voice.

“Him?” I ask.

Lily folds her arms. “You’re concerned about Pete.”

My breath catches, caught between denial and truth. I drop my gaze. She’s right, but it’s more than just that. I’ll never know if he makes it out alive.

As if reading my mind, she places a soft hand on my arm. “They’ll be okay. Those boys are the bravest I have met. Smart, too.”

The simple gesture and the confident tone in her voice curbs the edge of my anxiety. Taking a final glance up at the steel door, I nod. “You’re right. We stick to the plan.”

Lily takes my hand into hers, intertwining her gloved fingers with mine. She gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. “Come on. Let’s rescue your family.”

“So how are we getting into the palace courtyard?” I ask.

“You’re probably not going to like this plan.” Bella smiles, her complexion glowing with a new healthy radiance she did not have earlier. She links her arm in mine. “It’s time for the Lost Girl to learn how to fly.”

Lily looks at me with unblinking, wide eyes. “Are you sure about this? If Hook captures you, we can’t come back to rescue you. There are too many children’s lives at risk to stall our departure.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m going to give him exactly what he wants,” I say, articulating each word.

Bella shakes her head. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Soon enough, we are trudging through murky water in a dark tunnel. The smell of damp dirt fills the narrow passage as I duck beneath a low ceiling. The intertwined tree roots give the illusion of lace. Lily takes the lead while I follow, Bella close behind me. Water seeps into my leather boots. Unlike the carefully engineered royal tunnels, the muddy channel feels more like an underground animal burrow than a passageway. I lumber on, trying to keep myself upright while my shoes sink into the muck.

Lily, on the other hand, travels with ease, her long, dark hair swinging behind her. She marches forward, each step sure and steady. Her slender hands grip the skirt of her sari, holding it above the waterline. The metal chain around her waist tinkles in the cavern like the ringing of miniature bells.