Unhooked(60)

“I’ll help you free your Queen because I want to get home, but I’m not leaving here without Olivia,” I tell Fiona. “Not after I’ve seen what Pan’s capable of.”

“She is not necessary,” Fiona hisses in a voice as sharp as her teeth.

“Necessary or not, I won’t go anywhere without her.”

Her eyes narrow. “If I assure her safety?”

I’m about to argue it’s not enough, but Will stops me. “Have her swear on the life of her Queen. Iffen she does that, the girl will be safe until we can get back to her. Maybe even safer if Olivia comes with us. Fiona’s type—they can’t break their oaths. It’s the only reason there’s any Dark Ones still doing Pan’s bidding.”

“But they help the Captain,” I point out.

“Because the one who calls himself Pan made an oath with only a small assembly of the Dark Fey,” Fiona explains. “The rest were content to assist in defeating my Queen, but they are not bound to him. And even those who made the oath promised obedience, not loyalty.” She gives me another sharp-toothed smile, as though she finds it amusing the Dark Ones have managed to exploit this loophole. “But the boy is not wrong. My kind cannot break oaths without being unmade by them. If you do as I require, I will make sure the human girl comes to no harm.”

“That’s not enough,” Will says, glancing at me. “Make her swear it on her Queen’s life, and then let’s be on with it. Because I don’t want to be here when Pan realizes that you’re against him now.”

“And that’s it?” I ask, doubtful.

Will starts to answer, but Fiona interrupts him.

“Pan may already be coming for you,” she taunts. “If he finds you here, I will not protect you.”

I glare at her. I don’t like the idea of leaving Olivia behind again, but I’m not sure I have a choice. “Fine. Swear on the life of your Queen that Olivia will come to no harm while I am freeing your Queen—not from Pan, not from you, not from anything in this world.”

Fiona narrows her eyes with each clause and additional word, but she makes the oath. The words are no sooner out of her mouth when, in a flash, she’s gone, leaving us only a swiftly dimming orb behind for light.

“Do they always do that?” I ask Will, rubbing at my eyes.

“If you’re lucky, that’s all they do,” Will mutters.

We stare at each other uneasily. “I still don’t know how I’m supposed to get you out of there.” The bars of their prison are made from solid rock. I run my hands across them, trying to find some weakness or hidden opening, but I don’t see one. “Maybe you should wake your Captain first? He might have some idea of what to do.”

As predicted, waking the Captain’s not easy. The second Will touches his shoulder, the once-aimless writhing turns violent. As the Captain thrashes, his fist connects with Will’s face with a sickening crunch.

Will barely acknowledges the blow. “It’s time to go, Cap’n.” Blood dripping from his nose, he gives the Captain a hard slap across the face.

The Captain blinks awake, muttering a string of curses. “William?” He pushes Will off his chest and props himself up, squinting into the light. “Did Fiona come for us?”

“She left,” I say dryly.

It takes him a moment before he notices me. “Gwendolyn?” I can hear the confusion in his voice. “Why is she here?” He doesn’t exactly sound pleased.

“Apparently, she has seen the error of her ways,” Will tells him with no small amount of irony. “Come on, then.” Will is already pulling the Captain up onto unsteady legs.

“Has she?” The Captain frowns, not looking at all convinced as he staggers to his feet. I can’t exactly blame him, considering it’s partially my fault he’s stuck in there. Still, it could be worse. He could have fallen to his death. Or Pan could have run him through with his own blade.

“Can we blame me for everything later? We need to figure out how to get you out of there before Pan figures out where I am and comes for me.” I’m still feeling the rocky bars, looking for some weakness. “I don’t even see a place for a key.”

“There’s no key that’ll open this cage, lass. You’ll have to use what you are,” the Captain says.

I go still when the meaning of his words registers. “Not you too,” I say, shaking my head in denial. It is one thing for Fiona to believe I’m part Fey, but for the Captain to?

And then something occurs to me. “When did you know?”

He hesitates and his mouth goes tight, but then he seems to realize there’s no way out of telling me. “When you were on my ship. Fiona told me of the girl Pan had captured, but when Pan’s boys attacked my ship, I knew she’d been mistaken,” he says, never looking away from me.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I charge. “You could have warned me. I never would have gone with Pan.”

His dark eyes are steady, composed. “You wouldn’t have believed me, lass. You could barely believe you’d found yourself in Neverland.”

I open my mouth to argue. . . . But he’s right. I wouldn’t have believed him. Not then. I’m still not sure I believe it.

On the other side of the opening, his eyes are hooded in shadow. “If Fiona imagines you can open this, you must at least try, Gwendolyn.”