Love in Neverland: Book 2 in The Neverland Trilogy (24 page)

Such as the fact that sitting around and waiting to be found was akin to suicide.  As such, she knew she needed to leave, but not without a weapon.  Still lying low, she crawled over to the cutlass and took it in her hand.  Luckily, she was already in a tunic and trousers.  The only issue was, she had no belt to harness it, which meant she would be down one hand because it would be holding onto her weapon. 

It did not matter.  She needed the weapon more than a free hand.

She headed to the door and slowly – as to not draw any attention to herself – attempted to open the door.

It was locked.

She tried again.

Still locked.

Someone locked her in.  It did not matter whom.  What mattered was getting out now.

Her eyes scanned her room, looking for something, anything, to help her with her escape, but she could see no tools that would assist her.

Up until her eyes rested on the window.

Chapter 24

The minute the cannon burst through the brig straight across the room and out the other side, Magdalena knew a battle had begun.  She stared at the hole with her mouth open, not fully believing what she had just seen. The holes were nowhere near her and Nick, but she could not help but feel her whole body shaking at the thought of what could have happened had the ball been more life threatening.  The splintering of the wood still rang in her ears; the whoosh of the ball as it hurtled toward the ship.  Her mouth hung open and she did not even realize it until she felt go dry.

“Something’s happened,” Nick pointed out, and Magda wanted to slap him.

Obviously, something had happened.  Something big and potentially life-threatening.  Her heart started hammering away, and she wondered why her body was reacting this way when it had never done so before.  She and James had gotten into their fair share of battles, but never before had Magda worried that this might be her undoing, that this battle was the one that could end her life.  She had no weapon, no way out of this cell.  She was – they both were – completely useless and utterly out of control.

She hated the feeling.

Perhaps that was why she was having an uncharacteristic reaction.

Her midnight blue eyes collided with Nick’s brown ones, and she stopped.  No, that was not the whole reason.  Or even the best reason.

She understood everything now, as she looked into his brown eyes, her entire body reacting to the sight of
him
.  It wasn’t this battle.  It wasn’t the screams she could hear, the pounding footsteps, the cries, the splash of water as bodies entered the ocean, both alive and dead.  It wasn’t the fact that she might die.  It wasn’t the fact that she did not truly know where a fairy’s soul went once they died here, and the great Unknown scared her more than anything to the point where she refused to admit it, especially to herself.

It was that she had something to lose in Nick.  And being stuck here in a cell with no weapon and no way to free them from their cell meant she had no way to protect him.

She loved him, she realized.  It was the dumbest thing she had ever done in her entire life – fall for someone as unattainable and unreachable such as Nicholas Grey – but it had happened.  She would deal with the consequences of those feelings later.  In fact, it was the most inopportune time to realize something so poignant – she could not even react to it properly – but she could not help it now.

Now, she had to do something, or they would be stuck here.  Another cannonball could fire through the brig at any time, and they might not be as lucky then.

“We need to get out of here,” Magda stated, facing the cell bars and wrapping her fingers around the metal.  “Perhaps a bar is loose, and we can jerk it out of its socket.”

She continued searching for a way out. She jiggled each bar, craning her neck to see if anything was moving, if there was a chance she could use her weight and remove it. She'd be able to slide through the hole once one bar was gone, and once free, she could get the keys and release Nick before another cannonball fired through. She went to the next one, and then the next. It wasn't long until she made her way completely around the entire cell without any movement at all. Despite looking old and decrepit, the cell was sturdy and strong. It annoyed Magdalena, and she stretched out her fingers while catching her breath.

"We're not going to be able to get out of here," Nick said, and it frustrated Magda to no end just how casual he sounded about the whole thing. Like he did not care he was trapped. Like he did not care that he could die in this battle without putting up a fight.

Before she could stop herself, Magda all but stomped over to Nick and slapped him across the face. If circumstances had been different, she would have reveled in the complete look of shock on his face. Nicholas Grey rarely if ever was surprised by anything, but she managed to catch him off-guard twice. One, just now, and twice, with the kiss. His hand gripped his cheek and his head snapped back, his eyes narrowed with anger at what she had done. Magda was not afraid of him, nor did she blame him for that anger. She hit him; he had a right to feel upset at that.

"What is the matter with you?" she asked, her eyes focused on him. Even though she was not mad, she was still firm. He needed to understand the gravity of the situation because currently, he did not, and if they were to survive, that needed to change as soon as possible. "Why are you just sitting there, without doing anything. You just saw a cannonball fly through here."

"And?" Nick asked, raising his eyebrow along with his voice. "There's nothing we can do, Magdalena. We can't get out. Why stress over something we can't change?"

"Why did you call me that?" Magda asked. She started to feel herself lose her grip on her patience and she struggled but to lose it completely. "What happened to Tinker Bell? When did you get so formal with me?"

"I thought you didn't like when I called you that," Nick pointed out. "Now you're upset that I'm respecting your wishes and addressing you by Magdalena? Can I do nothing right with you?"

"Clearly, you do not understand," Magda said. "The only reason why you're calling me by my actual name is because you want to distance yourself from me. Something changed between because of that kiss, and I don't understand why."

"That kiss," Nick said, his eyes flashing, "changed everything."

Magda pushed her lips together.  Opened her mouth.  Looked away. Thought better on speaking.  Shut it.  Looked back at Nick.  Shook her head.  It was probably the worst thing he could have told her.  She knew it was not his fault for not feeling the way he felt.  She could not change a person’s feelings.  She could not force him to feel something he didn’t, and she would not want to.  She just did not think it would hurt as badly as it did.

More than that, she did not realize things would change so drastically between them.  In fact, she hated herself for it.  For not thinking through the consequences of her actions and what they would cost her.

The kiss meant everything to her.  But it was not worth losing Nick as a friend.

The past two months had been unlike any she had ever experienced before.  She had felt things she did not realize she could feel, and she was grateful for the opportunity to experience it.  She laughed more than she ever had before, she had rolled her eyes so much she was surprised they were still in their sockets, and she had fallen in love.  Perhaps her body doubted her heart because the feeling was new and unfamiliar.  It was scary because now she had everything to lose –

And she did.  Lose everything, because of it.

Tears burned her vision, and she tried so hard to blink them away but with absolute horror, she realized one or two slipped past their barrier and eclipsed her cheek.  Immediately, she brushed them away with the back of her hand and hoped he did not see it, but of course, how could he not when they were so close in a brig, with nothing else to look at, no other way to grab their attention with.  She was making a spectacle of herself, and she could not hate it.

“How?” she forced herself to ask and hated – absolutely hated – that her voice came out shaky.  “What’s changed?  We can simply ignore that anything transpired between us.”

“We can’t.”  His voice was soft, and he had the decency to look away.  “I can’t ignore what’s happened, and I won’t forget it.”  He took a step forward and reached out to her, then hesitated, dropping his hand back to his side.  “Why in the world would you kiss me?”

Magda swallowed, unsure where this conversation was going or what any of it meant.  At least, when she spoke, her voice came out clearer than before.  “Because I wanted to,” she told him. 

It was such a simple answer, Nick looked flabbergasted.  She wished she could help him understand, but she could not force him if he did not know.

"I'm in love with Remy," Nick said, and he blinked, almost as though he had not expected himself to admit that out loud. Once the words were out, once they came from him, they were true, they were real. He could not take them back. "I'm in love with Remy."

"Yes, I know." Magda made sure her voice sounded nonchalant, even a little flat. She did not want to come across as bitter or jealous. It was not his fault he loved Remy and it was not Remy's fault, either. She refused to be a bitter old hag about a love that did not work out the way she had hoped. There were other men out there, and while she was not keen on discovering just who those men were, she knew that Nick was not the only one. Even if he was the one she wanted. "I know that. That shouldn't change just because of a kiss."

Nick was about to respond. He opened his mouth, the words on the tip of his tongue, ready to pour out, when the door to the brig slammed open. In walked men Magda recognized, and she completely forgot about Nick and all her troubles regarding emotions.

"Charlie!" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling as a smile formed on her lips. "My goodness, am I glad to see you. Can you get us out of here?"

"Magda." He gave her a lopsided smile, crossing his arms over his chest. Charlie had this knack to look completely at ease, even with the world falling apart around him. She envied his nonchalance, especially in times like this one. "How is it that you always seem to get yourself in messes such as this one?"

The second man, Brimstone, searches the desk and found a ring of keys. He walked to the brig and began sticking them in the hole, hoping to unlock one.

"You know me," Magda said with a grin of her own. When they came closer, she realized the men were wet, almost soaked to the bone. "Is it raining?"

"Nah," Brimstone said, shooting her a grin. "Charlie and I went for a dip before engaging in a battle with Pan."

When a key clicked the lock open, Brimstone stepped aside to let Magda pass. When Nick made a move to leave, both Charlie and Brimstone stepped in front of him. Both looked at Magda for instruction.

"Let him free," she told them. "He's not a threat to James. We're all on the same side when it comes to Pan."

Charlie nodded and opened up the door so Nick could step through.  However, Magda did not watch him do so.  She did not speak to him, did not look at him.  If she was being honest, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him at this moment.  She was still hurt, angry, and confused.  Instead, she gave her crewmates a smile, and without waiting, spun on the heel of her boot and headed out the door, leaving Nick to do whatever he wished without complication.

She needed to find James. James was here, and there was a good chance he could use her help. That, and he might genuinely want to see her. Because, as she emerged from the brig and on the deck of the ship, she realized she missed him. Really and truly missed him. Perhaps now he did not need her to watch Nick and distract him. If she were back with James, she did not need to worry about Nick. She could forget about him and her feelings, put them both behind her, and distract herself enough to the point where she could move on.

Nick, himself, was a distraction and one that very well could cost her her life. She loved him and she lost him though she knew she could not lose something she never had in the first place. All she knew was that she put her heart and her feelings on the line, and Nick returned them in pieces. She could spend time trying to mend the pieces together or she could set the pieces down and forget about everything for the time being. The best course of action for her right now was to forget.

She would fail. Miserably. She already knew this. But if she wanted to survive the night, it was something she needed to do. She could cry later.

"Magda!"

Charlie shook her out of her thoughts and pulled her into a hug.

"It's so good to see you again," he said, and she could not help but smile because Charlie was not the sort to be outwardly emotive. Actually, in that respect, they had been very much alike. Before her time with Nick. Before she had fallen in love. The hug was quick but the fact that it was a hug at all meant a lot to Magda, and she tucked the memory away to save for later. "We're in a bit of a bind."

"I can see that," she said. "Where's the captain?"

"Fighting and killing," Charlie said. "His usual."

Without warning, Nick pushed past them. He did not speak. He did not even shoot a glance at Magda. He kept his brown eyes focused, in front of him. He did not allow himself to give anything away. Magda almost hated him for it. How could he be so nonchalant when she was breaking inside?