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“Not running. I’m betting you wear out first so I can finish you off without dinging up my blade.” He flashed a devious smile at me, and I saw the excitement in his eyes. This was a game to him. I wished I had that kind of indifference. That my life hadn’t revolved around him when he’d all but forgotten about me. But tonight, I would make him feel all the years I suffered.
I watched his every move carefully, biding my time. Eventually, he’d take a wrong step, and I knew this ship like the back of my hand.
I had him right where I wanted. My cutlass was quick, cutting the ropes that held the mainsail with deadly grace. Like a dark premonition, the black banners of the Jolly Roger fell over him, pinning him to the deck. I pounced on his sprawling form, dragging him from the tangle of canvas, and wrapped my arm around his neck.
“Now, this is more like it. How does it feel, Pan? To be helpless?”
“You’re a bloody poor sport, mate," he managed to croak out. Still not taking any of this seriously.
“You owe me a life, goddamn you!”
He grunted in my arms, unable to get a word out now that I closed off his airway. A moment of panic set in, paralyzing me. How did I want to finish him off? Like this, where I smothered the life out of him? Or in a pool of blood, with him at the end of my blade? Ling chi? It was a ridiculous time to be contemplating killing methods. But it had to live up to all the years I dreamed of this.
In my momentary distraction, Pan managed to land a solid elbow in my gut. It was enough to loosen my grip, and the little fucker slipped out. He stumbled away from me, regaining his footing, and grabbing his sword. His breath heaved as he rubbed at the red marks on his neck. It was the first time that he had the decency to look afraid.
Thunder cracked, louder this time, and the skies opened. The torrent of rain coming down was as close as the boy would ever come to crying. My demon purred at the thought. The look of fear quickly melted from his eyes, his features contorting into a dark scowl. He made a move to fly, but it was useless, and he stumbled again. The power of the ruby holding firm.
“What the?—”
“Trying to cheat already? I knew I couldn’t trust you to be honorable.”
“What have you done to me?”
“Just making sure you’re playing by the rules. You do so love the rules, don’t you, Peter?”
The muscles in his jaw ticked, and the thunder crack that followed was deafening. He lunged for me, swinging his sword in one fluid movement. I pulled back a moment before his blade whizzed past my face. A smile crept into the corners of my mouth. I was finally getting to him.
The deck began to fill with onlookers. The last remnants of the Lost Boys he’d tried to dispose of. I wasn’t just fighting for myself. This was a battle for all of us.
I put everything I had into that fight. My calculating mind and muscle memory from years of fighting combined to forge me into a lethal weapon. When I pinned him against the mainmast, it was my opportunity to finish it. Our blades locked against one another. His strength pitted against mine, and he was no match for me. I pressed toward him until we were nose to nose, our swords crossed between us, quivering with the combined strain behind them.
“You tried to make me disappear,” I whispered, my eyes focusing on his. “Now your ghosts have returned to send you off to hell.”
“What have you become, Jas? It looks like the fires of hell burn in your eyes. It’s not me that’s damned.” Instead of fear at his imminent death, the boy looked resolved. Maybe he knew it was over. That his time had finally run out. With a twist of my cutlass, his hand gave out, and his blade clattered to the ground. Now, it was only Peter and the tip of my sword. I was giddy with a lifetime of anticipation, culminating in this very moment. No one would keep me from my vengeance. Not even the Divine.
“James, don’t! He’s just a boy.” Katherine’s voice cut through the rain. I had him in my grasp. My life was about to become my own again. But her words tore into my soul.
“She’ll never forgive you for this,” the voices hissed inside my head, and my sword faltered, hanging uselessly in my hand.
“Please, James. I love you. Don’t do this. Come away with me, and we’ll forget all about him,” she pleaded with me, but she was wrong. I would never forget what he did to me. I’d gone to great lengths to ensure that.
My gaze drifted from Pan as the weight of my next decision threatened to crush me. That moment of hesitation cost me everything.
In a flash, a rain-soaked Peter collided with my sword hand, sending me sprawling. My cutlass clattered to the deck while the ruby dislodged from my pocket and rolled in the opposite direction, leaving me completely unarmed. Pan lunged away from me, diving for his own sword. I was blinded by rage, and the emotion made me reckless. I gained my footing and barreled toward him just as his sword came down in a perfectly timed arc.
I felt the impact before the pain set in. I stumbled past him, my knees hitting the slick planks. Katherine’s scream sounded a million miles away as my eyes settled on the stump where my hand had been severed from my body. Instead of bright red, the blood that poured from the wound was a dark aubergine. I stared in disbelief, the contents of my stomach threatening to spill on the deck with my strange blood. What was happening to me? The edges of my vision grew dark. Shock, mixed with searing pain, created a potent cocktail that threatened to drag me under.
“Missing something, Jas?” Peter shouted. I looked up to find him holding my dismembered hand in front of my face. I tried to grab it from him, but he danced away from me, jumping on the railing of the ship.
“Give it back,” I ground out through the pain.
“Looks like you’ve sold your soul, my old friend. What’s one missing piece?” he laughed as he took in the unusual color of my blood. “Perfect bait for crocodiles. You know,” he taunted nonchalantly as if he wasn’t holding the lifeless remains of my hand, “they troll these waters for any sign of an easy meal, and they can smell when blood is spilled—especially your kind.” He held my hand over the railing, letting the aubergine blood drip into the sea below. “I have a feeling you’re tastier than most.”
My mind was in chaos, but I didn’t miss the sound of splashing water and the snapping of teeth below deck. I staggered to my feet, my injured arm pinned to my chest, the dark blood staining my shirt. I took a step toward him on shaky legs. Pan smirked at me and tossed my severed hand overboard as if he were discarding a piece of trash.
“No!” A guttural scream poured from my lips. I stumbled the rest of the way, the railing catching me in the gut. It was too late, and the only thing left of my hand… of my pride, was now in the belly of the enormous beast. The spines of the crocodile slashed through the dark water, still looking for more.
Pan’s sword sunk into the railing only inches from me, shaking me from the shock and bringing me back to the present danger I was in.
