Vicious as a Darling (Daughters of Neverland Book 1) Read online

  The crew rushes to the side of the ship, looking into the dark waves to search for the boy. At least three of them toss their weapons aside and prepare to jump in after him, but they’re not like I am. The sea can claim them so easily. She can’t claim me, though. No one can claim my life.

  I’m already running for the side of the ship, tying a rope tightly around my waist as I move. I toss my tricorn hat into an open crate as I go.

  “Smee! The helm!” I command, certain my First Mate will take care of keeping the ship steady. I don’t give him time to answer before I’m diving over the side of the balustrade, falling into open air for a moment before the chilling ocean slams into me and closes over my head. The hot rain makes it so my body violently tries to correct it’s temperature. Any normal person might have had to fight locked up muscles.

  The saltwater burns my eyes as I kick for the surface the moment my momentum slows. When I break it, I look around frantically for Anthony, searching, looking to my crew to direct me. They point to my right, urgency in their voices as they scream. I can’t hear them over the roaring waters, but I understand them just the same. The boy is running out of time.

  The ocean is so violent; it tries to pull me under, threatening to swallow me whole, but I kick my legs hard, pushing through the water, fighting the current. I only have so much time before the sea claims him, before something comes along and decides he looks tasty. A large wave lifts me high, and I get my first glimpse of arms that reach for help, of a face that barely breaks the water to take a rushed breath before it goes back under. I push harder. Another boy will not die on my watch. Too many die as it is.

  That’s when I hear the singing.

  “Fuck!” I growl, pushing myself harder, but my clothes are weighing me down, my boots filled with water. I don’t hesitate. I kick them free, letting them sink to the ocean floor in favor of saving a member of my crew.

  “Anthony!” I shout. “Swim towards me!”

  I don’t know if he can hear me – I hope he can – but I keep moving, keep searching. The singing grows louder, the words clearing up to reach my ears. I curse again. I had to ask how this day could get worse. I should have known.

  “Come little human, take my hand and see, I’m here to save you, come away with me.”

  “Fuck off!” I shout. I’m close now, close enough that I can see Anthony take one last breath of air and slip under. He doesn’t resurface this time.

  I don’t wait for him to come back up. I take a deep breath and dive beneath the surface. In front of me, Anthony struggles to reach the surface again, but he’s still weak, his time on the Jolly Roger not enough to be able to take on the sea. He fights against the current, but it only drags him under deeper, his clothing weighing him down, panic in his movements.

  From the opposite direction, I watch another form swimming towards him, and while she’s fast, I’m far closer. I’m barely wrapping my fingers around Anthony’s wrist when an unholy screech pierces through the water, and I wince. Oh, she’s definitely pissed. I don’t wait for her to attack. I yank hard on the rope, trusting my crew to be ready to pull us aboard. They don’t disappoint. The moment I stop jerking the rope and wrap my arms fully around Anthony, his eyes still open but panic setting in because he’s out of air, the rope pulls taut and pulls hard against my waist. I’ll, no doubt, be bruised from the action, but I won’t complain. A few bruises are nothing compared to saving a life.

  We both take great gulps of air as we break the surface, and I draw my dagger, prepared for a fight. The mermaid breaks the water in front of us, propelling near as we’re dragged closer and closer to the ship.

  “So beautiful,” Anthony coughs, watching the mermaid with wide eyes. I’m sure what he sees probably is, but that’s the magic of mermaids, especially in Neverland. To him, she looks like an innocent woman, her eyes wide in urgency, her cheeks flushed, her lips plump, everything possible to lure someone into the sea. The problem is, it's not really how mermaids look. It's only their glamour.

  “Look closer,” I rasp, the rope at my waist making my breath short.

  “What?”

  “Look closer.”

  We slam into the side of the Jolly Roger hard enough to make my teeth rattle, but my arms don’t let go of Anthony, the boy too enamored by the mermaid to hold onto me in return.

  Anthony squints his eyes at the woman. I can tell the moment he sees through the glamour. He jerks back as she flies closer, his arms finally wrapping around my shoulder and holding on for dear life.

  “What the bloody hell is that?” he screams. He wraps his legs around me, too, and if it wasn’t such a dangerous situation, I might have laughed.

  I remember the first moment I’d seen through a mermaid’s glamour. Peter had dropped me in the ocean at one point long ago, playing his games which were never fun for anyone but him. He let the mermaid get close enough to wrap her claws around me and attempt to drag me under before he “rescued me”. Bastard had laughed as I hacked up seawater, as I blinked away the spots in front of my eyes.

  The mermaid had appeared beautiful to me, black hair, red lips, begging eyes. I’d felt sorry for her as she offered to take me away. I hadn’t seen through her appearance until it was almost too late. Pale skin turned mottled green. Pretty blue eyes turned pitch black. Bright red lips peeled back to reveal teeth like a shark. Suddenly, she was no longer a beautiful woman but a monster.

  Mermaids are the predators of the sea in Neverland. Like a shark, they can sense a meal miles away, and they’re fast and strong.

  The mermaid in front of us opens her mouth in a harsh scream and I hold my dagger out in defense as we’re lifted from the water by the rope.

  “Stay back, sea bitch!”

  “Give me the boy!” she cries. “Please. I’m so hungry.”

  “Go choke on seaweed.”

  She screams again and thinks about rushing us. She can’t kill me, not really, but she can certainly hurt me. I’d rather not go through the slow pain of regrowing a limb she ate. Slowly, we’re pulled out of reach, and then strong arms are looping beneath my armpits and dragging the two of us out of the sea.

  “Captain, are you a’right?”

  “Captain!”

  “Can you stand, boy?”

  My crew crowds around us, pulling Anthony away to allow me room to breathe. I take great gulps of air and slide my knife away. Pushing my hair from my eyes, I shake as much water from my body as I can. From the sea, unnatural screams sound, letting me know more of the hideous creatures have arrived, hoping for a meal, but they’ve discovered there will be nothing coming from my ship to fill their bellies, not today.

  More than a few eyes linger on my wet chest and I curse the rising tension.

  “I lost my boots,” I comment as the rain slows for a moment, turning into a mist rather than a downpour.

  My crew chuckles and at least five of them offer me the boots from their feet but I shake my head. I have a spare set in my quarters. They’re not my favorite pair, the ones I favored now in the sea for the mermaids to collect, but they’ll do.

  They all grow quiet as I step closer to Anthony. The boy is shaking so hard his teeth rattle, shivers wracking his body. I don’t blame him. The chill of the sea here feels like death, but I’m the Captain. I won’t show weakness if I don’t have to. My men depend on me.

  I’m sure Anthony expects to be punished, maybe even to be beaten for the event, but I don’t run my ship like that. There’s a reason I’ve earned the respect of my crew, and it isn’t because they fear me. They respect me because nothing is ever without cause, and I give many chances before someone is kicked off my ship onto land. We’ve had boys who refuse to work, girls who refuse to be on a ship, others who just couldn’t tolerate being on the sea at all. None of them were beaten or threatened in any way. Each was given the option to join Tiger Lily’s Tribe or Hook’s crew. I don’t like to think about the latter, though.

  “Next time, when a storm hits, make sure a
rope is tied around your waist. I might not be fast enough to save you next time,” I tell Anthony. Jeremiah, one of the oldest on my ship at the ripe age of twenty-nine, claps Anthony on the shoulder as I speak, showing his support. “Mermaids aren’t the most dangerous things here but for us, they’re the ones we see the most. If you ever encounter one and I can’t get to you fast enough, go for their eyes.” I hand him a dagger from my waist. “Don’t hesitate, because they certainly won’t.”

  Anthony looks up at me with wide eyes. “You’re not going to kick me off your ship, or punish me?”

  So many of the children who come aboard my ship were abused before and it makes me sad. My parents hadn’t been the best, but they’d never raised a hand at me. I was lucky. Too many children are beaten, forgotten, or touched in horrible ways; the Jolly Roger has become a sort of haven for them. A few of my crew call me Mother. A few other creatures in Neverland do, too, but I don’t think about that for long.

  “You made a mistake.” I smile gently at Anthony. “I’m just glad I got to you before the sea bitch did.”

  He looks nervously towards the ocean. “Is it all bad?”

  “Never trust anything from the sea, not in Neverland.”

  “But aren’t you from the sea?” he asks, and my crew falls silent, watching me carefully. I glance away, towards the sky for a moment, before I meet Anthony’s eyes again.

  “No. I’m not from the sea.” And then to break the tension, “now go get some food in you and try not to get eaten on your way there.”

  My crew laughs, leading the boy away and towards the galley for food. He’d need it after being submerged in the sea for so long.

  I pad on bare feet towards my quarters, looking up at Smee once to make sure all is well with the ship. At a nod of his head, I slip away, ready to get out of my wet clothes.

  Closing and locking my door, I strip free of the wet material and dig through my trunk for a clean pair of pants and shirt. I’d had to find new clothing after outgrowing all the old ones. When I first arrived in Neverland, I was sixteen, and I stayed that way for a long, long time. There’s no passing of time here, nothing to let me know what year it might be in my world, or even what season. The sun rises and sinks every day, but each day is always the same. No one ever dies from natural causes, no one ever gets sick, no one ever gets older . . .

  Until now.

  I’m no longer sixteen, that much I can tell. My body has filled out, and I appear more like I’m almost to my mid-twenties now. I’d watched my crew go through the same growth, all of us aging together, as if something in Neverland changed. And we’re still getting older.

  Luckily, it’s slow enough not to worry about. It had been sudden and quick at first; now it’s slowed to a crawl. My men had suddenly all looked towards me differently, but they respected me enough not to overstep. That didn’t stop their gazes however, though most knew well enough to know I would never look at them the same. Only the ones who came along after I gained my ship don’t realize I’ve never had a heart to give.

  I haven’t been on land since we’d started aging, terrified of what I’d find. I haven’t reached out to anyone yet, and no one has reached out to me. What if it’s only our ship? Or what if everyone else is dead? I don’t know any of the answers, but I should. I really should investigate it further.

  Something is wrong with Neverland. No one is ever supposed to grow up and yet here we are, becoming the adults we never thought we would be.

  Now would be a great time to escape this world, if only it were possible.

  I dry myself and prepare to head back onto deck. The storm passes and the seas grow calm again, the sun shining on our faces as if nothing had happened at all.

  Peter never shows up, and we sail away, the feeling of something wrong growing stronger with each passing moment.

  I can’t get the ice out of my veins.

  Chapter Two

  Standing in the captain’s quarters, I stare at the map in front of me. It’s hand-drawn, something Smee adds to if there’s anything to add. Only problem is, we haven’t added any new landmarks in a long time. We’ve already discovered everything there is to discover in Neverland, and the map is far smaller than I'd always hoped. Slowly, I tick off around the edges of the map, marking off dead ends, places where we’ve tried. Nothing but dead ends.

  There’s a soft knock on the door and I grunt to tell whoever it is to come in. I don’t look up, but I already know who it is before they come inside. Spending so long on a ship in close quarters has increased my awareness tenfold. I would know each and every one of my men from a mile away.

  “Any luck?” Smee asks. I can hear the hopelessness in his voice, as if he’s already given up. That’s what saddens me the most. I think we all gave up long ago but I keep trying because to stop would take away all purpose.

  “No,” I sigh. “We’ve traveled in circles again and again and still Neverland is always in the distance. It’s as if something always turns us around, as if it refuses to let us go.” I don’t tell him, but sometimes I feel as if we’re in a fishbowl, trapped, but there’s the illusion we could escape if we wanted. It’s a dirty, dirty trick.

  “Did you ever think this place would let you leave?” Smee steps towards my table and looks down at the map, at the hundreds of little red x’s along the edges.

  “I know someone who did.” I smile at the memory, glancing up at Smee quickly before returning my gaze to the map. “A white rabbit.” But I don’t know how he did it, and that was the problem.

  “But you belong to Neverland, Captain. You’re a Daughter,” he reminds me, and I frown.

  When I was a child, I hadn’t realized what it meant when I’d been Chosen as the Captain of the Seas. I hadn’t known the impact it would have, and while I don’t regret my time on the Jolly Roger, I sometimes wonder if I would have been able to leave had I never been Chosen. But there’s no use thinking about the past. There’s nothing to be done, and while it’s true I won’t ever be able to leave, not permanently, I still have hope. At least, that’s what I feel in my bones. I’ve never been able to actually try leaving.

  My eyes meet Smee’s, the kindness in his keeping me sane. When others had decided to let me sink, he was the rock that reminded me who I am, who told me I had a job to fulfill. He’s never made inappropriate passes towards me, never reached out in that way. But I don’t think about that too hard. It’s not because of some sense of duty. It’s because he spends his nights with Pete, another member of my crew, another friend since the beginning. Their love has refueled my hope on many days, but sometimes, not even that is enough.

  “None of the crew is claimed as completely as I am. If I can help you lot escape, that at least would make me feel better.”

  “A captain without a crew?” Smee smiles, teasing. “What would you be a captain of then?

  “Who knows?” I shrug, rolling up the map and putting it away. “Don’t you feel how wrong Neverland is? I have this vision of the land wasting away, dying, but I don’t know how. Can’t you feel it?”

  Smee studies me for a moment, contemplation on his face. “Have you asked any of the others?”

  “No.” The last time I’d seen the other Daughters, the other leaders, we’d all mostly been children, far younger. I’m afraid of what I’ll find when I see them again, when we stand before each other and admit something is wrong. “Perhaps, it’s time to call a meeting again.”

  Every so often, one of the Daughters can call a meeting of the leaders. Really, there are only five of us. Every time I think of it, it seems like there should be more considering the size of our world. Each of us has a role to play, and together, we keep Neverland from descending into utter madness, or at least, to keep some sense of strange normalcy. The beasts and creatures here are bloodthirsty. It would be very easy for everything to shatter and take the world right along with it. The Tribes are led by Tiger Lily; the Pixies and fairies are led by Tink. I lead the Seas which means the nasty mermaids
fall under my jurisdiction. I could have done without those monsters.

  Smee takes a seat on a barrel, his expression sly as he watches my face. “If you call a meeting, that would mean calling on the other Captain.”

  Smee hasn’t always been my First Mate. Before I came to Neverland, he belonged to a different crew, one he willingly left to follow me. He’s been my closest friend through all the disaster, the stress, the dire situations. I’ll never forget the circumstances that brought him to my crew. When I was Chosen, both Smee and Pete followed me without question, without hesitation.

  Love is an odd thing in Neverland. No one understands it here, and they certainly don’t acknowledge it when it happens. It’s as if this world is against love in the first place. After all, we’re all supposed to remain young and happy and carefree. Young hearts don’t know the extent of their love. Problem is, none of us are young anymore and Smee was never too young to start with. My First Mate and his beau came when they were already seventeen, almost too old for this place. He’s never spoken how he came to be here. The only reason everyone knows my story is because I was Chosen, and my loss is one spoken of in fear behind closed doors.

  “Maybe we can avoid inviting him?” I ask hopefully. I could really do without that blasted man.

  Smee shakes his head. “He’s an unfortunate part of calling a meeting. Regardless, he’s very much a part of this, even if he is a twat.”

  I sigh and slide my stationary towards me, grabbing the feather quill I keep for such things. “You’re right, sadly. I’ll send out the letters now. Tink and Tiger Lily might have more information.” I pause, glancing out the small window. “And let’s hope the Captain of the Stars doesn’t get himself killed when we meet.”

  “How would he do that?” Smee grins. “I keep imagining you skewering him with your saber. I’m not opposed to the option.” My First Mate knows the Captain of the Stars is as immortal as I am, no matter how much we may want to change that. There have been times where I’ve come close to hurting him just for the sake of it. There have been times we’ve both drawn blood.