Page 34 of The Never Queen

“And we will figure this out too.”

“But why do they want me dead? They should ask Doren. I’m no one.”

That’s where she’s wrong. She is someone to so many. I think that’s why Doren wants her gone. Because he knows with Winnie Darling beside the twins, with me and Vane at her back, we would create an unstoppable force.

And weak men are terrified of powerful women.

“We’re going to handle it,” I tell her again and kiss her. She leans into the kiss, happy to have a distraction. But not now. Not yet.

Vane and I have much too much to discuss.

I nod at the twins and they sink in on either side of Darling. Bash has made a bowl of popcorn, another favorite of Darling’s, and she takes a handful, popping a piece into her mouth.

I meet Vane’s eyes and gesture for him to follow me outside to the back porch.

The crickets are chirping with a few tree frogs filling in the lulls. Vane pulls out a cigarette and offers one to me. The lighter comes to life in his hands, the sharp orange flame hitting the planes of his face.

Smoke fills the night.

“The fuck is going on?” he says evenly.

“Hansel is surprising.”

“No shit.” He leans over the porch railing, forearms on the banister. “You ever run into him before?”

“Sure.” I fall into the chair tucked into the corner. “Many years ago, on Winterland, in a remote village outside the city. They were hunting one of the woodland witches who supposedly lured children from their beds. I was there looking for one of the Lost Boys that had been taken by a pirate crew. Hansel came over and asked me if I was still taking Darlings, and I said yes. He snubbed his nose, as if that was the most disgusting thing he’d ever heard.”

Vane glances at me over his shoulder. “So why come to our aid then?”

“I don’t fucking know.”

“You think it’s a trick? He’ll pretend to be on our side and turn on us at the last second?”

“He could have easily done that tonight. Why let us go? Why prolong it?”

“I don’t know.” He takes a hit and exhales into the night. “None of this makes sense.”

“You ever cross paths with him?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“And…Jabberwockies are immune to their glowing bone shards.”

“Wait…does that mean the jabberwocky comes out when the Shadow is subdued by the bone shard?”

“No. It doesn’t work that way.”

“Do you think…if you gave up the Shadow?—”

“No,” he says, cutting me off.

“It would give us an advantage, Vane.”

He shakes his head and comes over, joining me in the opposite chair. “I’m not giving up the Shadow. For one, I don’t know what that would do to Win now that we’ve shared it forso long. And two, if she happens to get separated from us…” He trails off, the nightmare scenario unsettling us both. “The Shadow will keep me connected to her. It’s the only thing we have for sure right now.”

I nod and take a hit. “No, you’re right. Kody will come through on the stones.”