Chapter 12

They’re here.

They’re fucking here.

I clasp my hands behind my back to hide my shaking, but I’m not sure I can hide my unease from Roc. Nothing ever escaped him.

I straighten my shoulders as Theo’s gaze shifts to me. Theo is the Captain of the Royal Guard and I tasked him with this mission. There are only two people in this entire god forsaken court whom I trust: Theo and Asha. And Asha told me not to go through with this.

Looking at them now, the two men I once desired more than anything, I know Asha was right.

This was a mistake.

But I’m in too deep and now I must dig my way out.

When word came back to me that two men were in town asking for me by my old name, my first thought was Peter Pan, maybe one of the Lost Boys.

When Asha told me it was Roc and James, that not only were they both looking for me, but that they seemed to be working together, I had to see it for myself.

They were mortal enemies once. Roc took James’s hand as punishment for touching me.

Now they are kneeling side by side, shoulders practically touching.

I think I have miscalculated.

All of it.

Them.

Me.

How risky it would be to bring them here in front of the Royal Guard.

Theo is my ally, but for how long? One wrong move and he’ll switch sides. I know he will. Theo is only out for Theo and right now I’ve given him the impression that should he remain by my side, I will marry him and make him king.

Even he must know that’s a shaky promise. After all, I married into the royal family, I was not born into it, and worse, I started out as their prisoner.

It’s a miracle I got to this point.

And it’s that miracle that is now threatening to have me beheaded.

I am on shaky ground. And Roc and James reappearing is the last thing I need.

If Hally catches wind that men from my old life have resurfaced…

I swallow as a lump forms in my throat.

I have to get them out of here. Out of Everland.

“Wendy Darling is dead,” I tell them. “You would do well to keep that name off your tongue. Do you understand?”

James sputters.

Roc elbows him.

James gives him a sharp look but goes quiet.

“Of course, we understand, Your Majesty,” Roc says and gives me a slight bow of his head.

There are so many questions I have.

What has changed? Are they friends now? And where is Peter Pan? The Lost Boys? And what of the Darling women?

What of my baby?

Once I was made Queen of Everland, the doorways to the Seven Isles opened for me and any information I wanted, I could have had.

But I didn’t ask. I was too afraid of what the answers might be.

Did Smee make it back to the mortal realm with my daughter? Was she able to hide her? Did the tyranny of the Peter Pan curse end with me?

I’m so close to asking them now, that I have to bite my tongue to stop myself. Theo will not like me looking back — it would sow doubt.

But something changed if Roc and James are here.

I both want to know and don’t want to know.

I will not dig up old graves.

They left me here to die, to fend for myself. I must never forget that.

I look to Theo. “Escort them to the docks. They are not allowed back on Everland soil.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” he says.

“And be quick about it, Theo,” I add unable to hide the urgency in my voice.

“Of course.” Theo tips his head in acknowledgment.

What I haven’t said is, Make sure Hally doesn’t see them.

“Good day then,” I turn away, my heart storming up my throat.

“Wait!” James yells. “That can’t be…Wendy, I mean, Your Majesty—we’ve come all this way…”

But I don’t want to know why they’re here. It doesn’t matter.

I slip into the shadows of the dais, then through a hidden door tucked behind the heavy drapes. When I’m safely inside the Queen’s Tunnel, I run. I run as fast as I can and as far as I can and try to pretend this has changed nothing when it’s changed absolutely everything.