Their Vicious Darling (Vicious Lost Boys #3)(44)

He looks at me over his shoulder as he paces to the windows. “I want you dead, Peter Pan dead, and Smee and Cherry safely returned here.”

“Well, you’ll probably get two out of four, so your odds aren’t bad.”

“I will kill you,” he promises.

“I’m sure you will.” I flash him my innocent smile, but I keep my chin up so he can get a good look at the crocodile teeth tattooed on my flesh.

He snorts and comes back around. I head him off between two round tables.

We are not much different in height, but he’s wearing bulkier clothes than I am, all pomp and circumstance with this one. I like it. There’s something about James that reminds me of a crust of dirt on a beautiful vintage timepiece. I want to lick my thumb and smudge it off and see how he gleams beneath.

“If we drew a Venn diagram of your preferred outcome and my preferred outcome, we would have a nice overlapping center,” I tell him.

A wrinkle appears between his brows and his eyes search mine looking for the catch. “Which is what?”

“Peter Pan dead.

“Why do you want him dead?”

“I have my reasons.”

I could tell him about Wendy. It would motivate him even more. But I haven’t decided if I want to compete with him yet.

I am a greedy fuck, after all. And what’s mine is mine.

But I think the feud between Pan and Hook has been going on just long enough he doesn’t really need a sensible reason anymore. History is reason enough.

James isn’t a strategist. He thinks he is. But he’s been misusing his strengths. James has a knack for motivating people to his cause, even if it’s a shitty one.

If he would stop fucking around and use that power, instead of chasing demons, he might shift earth.

“How about we team up and kill Peter Pan together?”

“He’s unkillable,” he says, but I can hear the desire in his voice for that to be untrue.

“Or maybe no one has used the right weapon.”

There is the slightest uptick at the corner of his mouth. I can’t help but sink my gaze to it, to the way his lips curve over one another. A tasty fucking snack.

“You have such a weapon?” he asks.

I give him a light slap to the cheek and he growls in the base of his throat.

“You’re looking at it, Captain. I am, after all, the Devourer of Men.”





Smee returns with Cherry. Both are covered in blood.

I don’t need confirmation from her to know whose blood it is.

I would recognize my brother’s scent anywhere.

“What happened?” James asks.

“I stabbed Vane,” Smee answers and goes around behind the bar to pour herself a drink.

Keeping my expression blank, my emotions indiscernible, I ask, “And how did you manage that?”

“She has a magical sword.” Cherry’s voice wavers. There are wet streaks in the dirt on her freckled face. “I think she killed him.” Fresh tears widen the trails.

I grit my teeth. “Did you?”

“No,” Smee answers and slings back a shot of apple whisky.

My relief is nearly palpable.

“But he’ll need a lot more than a bandage to heal from it,” Smee adds.

The pounding in my head is sudden and sharp. I warned my baby brother. Hell, I had planned to teach him a lesson myself. But that was me, this is her.

“Will he die?” I ask her.

She sets her glass down, puts her hands on the bar and leans over it. “He was going to kill Cherry.”

“They promised to return her!” the Captain shouts.

“It’s my fault.” Cherry’s voice wobbles and she drags her hand beneath her nose. “It was all my fault.”

“What was?” her brother asks.

“Winnie. I cornered her in a room with the Neverland Death Shadow and somehow it got into her.”

Well that’s definitely not how I thought that had gone down.

“Points to you, Cherry Girl. That was bold.”

She rakes her teeth over her bottom lip and shakes her head.

“Bloody hell.” James scratches at the back of his head. “That complicates things.”

“No, it doesn’t.” It does. “It’ll make defeating Peter Pan even easier.” It won’t.

“How do you figure?”

“I saw the Darling in town, remember? She doesn’t have control of the shadow. It’ll be the distraction we need.”

Dubious at best.

But really, I work better when I’m winging it.

“You’ll never get to him,” Cherry says and we all look at her. “Peter Pan. But Winnie and Vane are his weaknesses. If you want to know how to get to him.” And then she turns and leaves the room.

“Looks like your sister is already proving to be an advantage.”

James takes a step like he means to go after her but pauses before he does. “Let’s set up a meeting with the royals. The fae and the Darklands. Let’s be done with Peter Pan once and for all.”

When he’s gone, I return to my peanuts. I’m fucking starving. The little taste of pirate blood was not enough. Not even close.

Smee pours herself another drink and swirls the liquor around in the glass.