Unhooked(45)

“It never stops, does it?” I ask. Yesterday, watching the land shift in its never-ending dance as we sailed over it was enchanting—magical, even—but this far beneath the surface, the constant movement seems more dangerous than anything else.

“It wasn’t always like this,” Pan says, his eyes scanning the ceiling of the tunnel before he leads us on. “When the Queen was in power, the island bent to her will, and all who lived on it were protected, but when she fell, so too did the protection her power provided. Since then, this land has grown evermore unstable. Recently it’s been getting much worse,” he tells me. “I’ve done what I can with the gifts she gave me, but I’m not strong enough to hold this world alone. Without her power, Neverland will eventually tear itself apart.”

I can hear the din of the Great Hall clearly now, but I stop and stare at him. “But you asked me to stay.”

“I did,” he tells me. “I think you belong here, Gwendolyn. I think there’s a reason you found your way to this world.”

Olivia’s eyes flash as she shifts in Pan’s arms, pulling herself closer to him as though staking her claim.

Just then the land trembles again, sending showers of rock and debris down onto our heads. Olivia tucks herself closer to Pan, and I reach for the wall to steady myself as it quakes. For a second I think it’s never going to stop. The pulse of the island is so erratic beneath my palms, so violent, that for a moment I think the ceiling above us will cave in.

But the moment I touch it, my hands go warm. My whole body goes hot, like I’ve touched a live wire, and the quaking earth pulses once, twice . . . and then goes completely still.

I stay close the wall, waiting for the violent quaking to begin again, and after a few long moments, the mountain slowly starts moving. When I’m sure it’s not going to start shaking again, I pull myself away from the wall, eyeing the tunnel around me, ready just in case.

“You should be finding a way out of this,” I tell him as the rock around us settles into its usual, more gentle undulating rhythm. “Instead of convincing other people to stay here to die with you.”

He turns to me then, giving me his full attention. “I have no intention of dying, Gwendolyn. And I’m not looking for a way to escape this world.” The determination in his tone leaves no room for argument. “I would do anything to save it.”

His steady blue gaze meets mine, a challenge if I’ve ever seen one. But a challenge to what?

“There’s a way to stop it?” I ask. “To save Neverland from destroying itself?” And from destroying everything and everyone within it, I realize.

“I believe there is,” he says, his expression steady and calm. “And by saving Neverland, I shall save us all. Would you not pay any price to do the same?”

When he says it like that . . . Maybe he’s right. Maybe we’re not so different. I’d pay almost any price to get home, wouldn’t I? To make sure Olivia gets home too?

But Pan misreads my silence for disagreement, and his expression changes. His earnestness is replaced by a look so intense, so unflinching, I can’t seem to find the words to explain.

Not that I have time to anyway. From the length of tunnel ahead of us, a rapid patter of footfalls draws Pan’s attention away from me.

In an instant, his dagger is out and ready. But this time the danger is only a small boy, one not even as tall as I am. But Pan doesn’t lower his knife. “What is it?” he snaps.

The boy stops short and eyes the knife before he looks up and meets Pan’s eyes. “We’re under attack, milord,” he says breathlessly. “Hurry.”

“What?” Pan grabs the boy by the arm before he can take off again. “What are you talking about?”

“Pirates,” the boy says, his uneven teeth glinting in the flickering light of the orbs. “Attacking the fortress.”

“Impossible.” Pan’s expression is a mixture of denial and fury. “They wouldn’t dare, and even if they did, they’d never get past the trench.”

“They already have,” the boy says. “They’re at the gate, and I don’t know how much longer we can hold them.”





The boy wanted to tell his brother that he did not need to be protected, for he knew that was why his brother was there, in that place with him. But when he went to speak, he was struck by how his brother’s face reminded him of home, and he could not find the words. All at once, he saw clearly how far he’d ventured from the safety of that other world, and he wondered why he had ever left. . . .





Chapter 21


PAN SENDS THE BOY OFF immediately to rally the others before he turns to Olivia and me. “I’ll return you to your room,” he tells us. “Their breaching my defenses means there’s a traitor among us, and I need to be sure you’re safe.”

Around the corner ahead, the tunnel widens and then, after another turn, opens into the Great Hall. The usual chaos has been replaced with something more frantic. No boys lounge on furs now. Everywhere they gather their weapons and dart off in all directions. But despite the frantic energy around us, Pan is strangely calm as he pulls us through the muddle of bodies, pushing aside any child who dares to get in his way.

When we reach the far side of the hall, Pan presses his hand to the rock wall. A moment later a great rumbling sounds through the fortress, shaking the ground with such a violent aftershock, I have to reach out to steady myself. The entire wall is moving—ragged shards of stone begin to protrude to form a steep, uneven staircase up to our room.