Everland(80)

“Mum!” I cry out, lunging toward her. When Hook turns the aim of his Gatling gun on me, I hold my hands up, terrified to move.

Joanna rushes to my mother’s side and cries quietly next to her.

My mother grimaces as she sits up. She rips the sleeve of her lab coat off and ties it around the wound. The bullet appears to have only grazed her, but my heart crushes seeing her in pain. She fixes her daggered stare onto the Captain and stands, unsteady on her feet.

“I said let him go,” she says through gritted teeth.

“All in due time, Professor,” Hook responds with an unsettling calm. He approaches my mother and stops close enough that he is eye to eye with her. “We have some things we must discuss first.”

Hook nods to the Marauder holding my brother. He sets Mikey down on the ground, keeping his grip on my brother’s arm. Bella bolts to Mikey, wrapping her small arms around him.

My mother sighs, visibly relieved. “What do you want, Hook?”

“I’m a reasonable man. I’m certainly not a child killer. At least not yet,” he says, circling my mother.

“Not a child killer?” I say. My voice trembles with rage. “You are responsible for this, for all of this!” I hold my arms outstretched. “You bombed London, you let loose a deadly virus, you killed the entire adult population, and who knows how many children? And you say you’re not a child killer?”

“Casualties of war,” Hook says, bowing. “Not murder.”

“Get to your point,” I insist.

Hook juts a finger in my direction. “You are my point. You and her.” He points at my mother. “All I need is you and your mother, and the world will be mine. The rest of the kids, they’re just sniveling dead weight. Extra baggage. They’ll be staying.”

Mikey bawls loudly as Bella hugs him tight.

Jack shifts unsteadily.

Hook stops in front of my mother. He caresses my mum’s forehead, brushing the back of his hand against the stray lock of hair hanging in front of her transparent mask.

My mother jerks away, her lips pressed tightly together before she speaks. “You don’t need Gwen. All you need is a small blood sample.”

“Once the other nations find out she’s the cure, who’s to stop them from coming for her?” Hook says, pacing. Each step like a clock, counting down time. To what, I don’t know.

Tick! Tick! Tick!

“She’ll keep quiet,” my mother says. “She won’t tell anyone that the cure came from her. Take a sample. I’ll come with you back to Germany to work on the cure—like you wanted. But leave Gwen here.”

“No!” I protest. “You’re not going with him!”

“I can’t take that chance,” Hook says.

My mother’s eyes narrow and she gives him a smug look. “Well, you better take that chance, because I’d rather die than let my daughter go anywhere with you.”

His complexion reddens and he shoves me from her. Towering over my mother, he raises a hand as if to slap her. My mother frowns at him, unwavering, as I throw myself in front of her. Hook clenches his fist and shakes it. “One year, Professor! For a year, you’ve been working with me. Hunting for the cure, and this whole time the cure was out there and it lay within your daughter, a daughter you never told me about. If you had just told me, we could have left this blasted place months ago.” Hook takes a step back, straightens his military vest. “What else have you not told me?”

Hook turns his eyes to the stormy sky and screams so loud that I cover my ears. Fury crackles across his face, making him appear older than he is. Then he reaches for my mother’s hand. She tries to pull it from his grasp, but he holds her tight. “I’m taking both you and Gwen, regardless. It will do me no good if you refuse to produce the cure. My proposal is this: No more secrets. No more lies. It’s just you and me. With you by my side, I will rule the world.”

I suddenly want to vomit.

“And if I refuse?” my mother says with venom in her voice. “What can you do to me that you haven’t already done? You’ve kidnapped my children, killed my husband, and imprisoned me. You’ve taken everything!” she screams.

I’m startled by her reaction, but her defiance fuels my own anger.

Hook turns to me and throws me to the rain-soaked ground. Frantic, I crawl backward as he approaches, but he is too quick. He grabs my hand, slaps it on the brick, and pulls a knife out. My mother cries and struggles in the grip of a guard.

“See? There is still something left you care about. So you will produce the cure, even if I have to deliver your daughter’s blood body part by body part,” Hook says, snarling.

“Or there’s always plan B,” says a familiar voice. I look toward the courtyard entrance. Pete stands beneath the limestone archway. My pulse quickens. What’s he doing here? He folds his arms across his bare chest. Under the light of the gas lamps, the inked cogs and gears glisten, and my heart swells with hope.

“Pete!” Bella says, bolting from her seated position toward the leader of the Lost Boys.

Doc also appears, a smirk spread wide across his face.

“Another Lost Boy, I presume?” Hook asks, his brows knit together so tightly they converge into one dark line. He releases my wrist and stands. “How did you get in here?”