I own nothing except my characters.
So...yeah...I took a long time to update...I want to give a shout out to BookRain for letting me know it was going on a month since I last updated. Time just flies by and I have what feels like a million other stories to write for and update so sometimes I forget about one or two and I know it isn't fair to my readers so I apologize! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter!
Chapter Fourteen: The Spy...and the Indian...
~Unbowed-and-Unbroken~
Piper sighed, padding silently through the path that leads away from where Dolly is being kept in the cage.
Should…should she feel a bit better about finding her friend? But no. This is about a week (as far as she can tell) since she first found Dolly and it was a week before that to begin with and Piper has gotten no closer to finding a way off this damn island.
Narrowing her dark eyes, Piper slid closer to the trees, her sharp ears picking up the sound of rustling leaves. There is no wind, so the fact that the leaves are even moving means someone or something is lingering in the woods around her. Danger makes the hair on the back of her neck prickle in warning and Piper stiffened but forced herself to continue on with her lazy prowl.
Lowering her head, she pulled a piece of twine from one of the trees around her, nimble fingers twisting it into a loop…
Quick as a striking serpent, Piper lunged for the woods around her. She made contact with cloth and then skin, even as a startled squeak sounded. Furious fear clouded through her and Piper had the loop hooked over the person's neck and her special dagger unsheathed, warming up with quick, startling familiarity in her palm.
Ignoring that for the moment, Piper bared her teeth and jerked on the twine, making whoever it was stumble backwards against her.
Lowering her head to their ear, Piper hissed in their ear to be silent.
"P-please! Don't hurt me! It's me! S-smith!" Piper froze before a snarl of pure rage burst out of her. Spinning him around, she roughly shoved the young boy against a tree, harshly digging her knee into his gut. He doubled over with a strained yelp, dragging in rough breath as he tried to get more oxygen into his lungs.
"What the fuck are you following me for?" Piper snarled, yanking him upright and glaring at him with fierce, dark eyes. Her slim fingers tightened on the noose when he didn't answer her and Smith started choking again, clawing at the twine as his face began to turn red and tears gleamed in his eyes but did not fall.
After a moment, Piper relaxed her grip, watching him with cold eyes and a fierce scowl.
"S-s-stop!" Smith choked out before coughing explosively, his thin form wracked with body shaking coughs.
"Why were you following me?" Piper refused to allow any guilt or sympathy to cloud her brain. She needs to find out how much he knows and now.
"I-I just wanted to see what you were doing!" Smith cried out, his eyes wide with fear and pain. Piper narrowed her eyes at him, flipping her dagger around so she was holding on to the hilt, prepared to hit him over the head with it.
"Why?!" Piper snapped and he flinched, bringing his hands up to protect himself.
"I- you never tell us where you are going! I was curious!" Smith's voice shook and Piper bared her teeth angrily. Now comes the most important question.
"What did you see?"
"Nothing! I swear!"
"Liar!" Piper tightened her grip on the twine again, shaking him like he weighed nothing. "What did you see?" She snarled loudly and Smith started crying, mumbling and shaking his head in desperation. "What. Did. You. See?" Piper snapped dangerously, her anger rising the longer it took to get an honest answer out of him.
"I saw nothing! You lost me when you doubled back a while ago! The only reason I found you was because I took the wrong turn somewhere! I was just about to turn back when I saw you on the path and started following you again. Please, I promise, I'm telling the truth!" Terror shone in his eyes and Piper narrowed her own, searching him for any sign of a lie.
…he was telling the truth.
Piper paused before releasing him, sheathing her dagger and wrapping the twine around her knuckles, staring down at him darkly.
"Follow me again and not even the feral cats will be able to find your body." Piper growled. "Understood?" Smith nodded frantically, massaging his throat with relief in his eyes.
"I promise I won't!" Smith swore and Piper nodded curtly, turning away from him without another look back.
"See that you don't." Piper threatened and melted away into the trees without a sound, leaving the terrified boy trembling on the forest floor behind her.
~Unbowed-and-Unbroken~
"Pierce! You're back!" Salazar came bouncing forward, dark green eyes gleaming with excitement. "You'll never guess what Angelo and I found while we were on patrol! …We found a group of savages!" Salazar chattered, not pausing to take a breath.
"Is that so?" Piper asked, soft amusement coloring her tone and he flushed, bouncing at her side as she moved over to the fire, nodding at Angelo and sinking down onto a log.
"Yeah! And I got one! I tripped him as he was running away and Pan said I did a good job! Can you believe it? He actually called me by my name!" Salazar exclaimed before sighing with pride glowing dreamily in his eyes. "He looked right at me and everything."
"He's been like this since we caught the prisoner." Angelo confided in a low whisper, leaning over to avoid Salazar hearing them.
"I can tell." Piper whispered back, laughter tingeing her words. Angelo smirked with amusement and leaned back, watching their young friend with fondness coloring his gaze. "What is Pan planning on doing with the prisoner?" Piper asked and he shrugged, looking completely unconcerned with the whole thing.
"I don't know and to be honest, I don't care. Hopefully this prisoner will spill his guts and we can finally finish this war with the Indians but I doubt it." Angelo said boredly and Piper hid how she stiffened, muttering some form of acknowledgement before turning her sightless gaze to the fire.
…Indian?
Odd but no one had mentioned that before. How had they gotten onto the island? And how hadn't she noticed it before with their red skin and dark eyes and the way they dressed in buckskin?
Frustration burned in her at overlooking something so vital but Piper can't afford to dwell on that. Dolly can't afford for her to dwell on that. Shaking her head sharply at herself, Piper shifted swiftly to her feet, glancing around the camp for something, anything to do.
"Pierce! Over here!" Smith hurried into the camp, looking flushed with exertion, the tiniest tinge of fear in his eyes as he looked at her.
"What do you want?" Piper asked shortly, a hidden warning in her dark eyes. Smith flinched a little and his eyes widened as he reflexively clutched at his wrist, the one scarred forevermore by her nails.
"I wanted to show you the savage." Smith muttered, glaring at the ground. Is he daft or something? How is it he continues to not get the message that they aren't friends and she doesn't particularly have any desire for that to change?
"Why?" Piper asked bluntly, reflexively dropping her voice into a lower timber better suited to a boy.
"Well…" He hedged, flicking his eyes around nervously.
"Spit it out or bugger off, Smith." Piper snapped and his head shot up as he stared at her.
"One of them recognized your feral cat!" Smith blurted out and she inwardly cursed, gripping his arm tightly and dragging him out of the camp, shooting deadly glares at the boys watching them curiously. "Ow!" He yelped, tripping and stumbling as she roughly 'escorted' him away.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Piper snarled dangerously, invading his person space and dropping her other hand down to where her dagger is hidden in the folds of her sweater.
"Nothing!" Smith yelped, flinching his head away. "I just thought you would want to know!" Smith started trembling and Piper hissed something under her breath, shoving him away from her and pacing in the area.
"What makes you think the savage recognized Fiercemoon?" Piper snapped and he straightened.
"She was in a tree and he looked up, smiled and whistled something at her. Fiercemoon just stared at him before she trotted down, walked up to his cage, crawled in, curled up on his lap and then fell asleep." Piper stiffened and stared at him incredulously.
"Are you sure it was my Fiercemoon?" She asked blankly, the smallest bit of possessiveness swirling in her chest. Sensing she wasn't exactly happy, Smith edged a little back before nodding. "Is she still with the savage?" Piper asked and he shook his head silently, large brown eyes focused on her face.
Pacing around in a large circle, Piper cocked her head to the side, glaring at the ground. What is her feral companion doing with a savage?
"Wh-what are you going to do now?" Smith asked hesitantly and she nearly shrugged before pausing, her gait slowing to a crawl before she stopped moving, frozen as she stared off at nothing, her clever mind racing behind dark eyes.
Nibbling on her lower lip, Piper barely winced at the small flashes of pain, running a hand through her dark curls, briefly startled at the lack of mud before she shook that off.
Maybe…hmmm.
Her fingers twisting and dancing in a few strands of her hair, Piper stared sightlessly at a tree, her mind racing.
If she could get to that savage, maybe she could find a way off of this cursed island. Maybe…maybe this could be her way to get Dolly back home!
Excitement seared through her and Piper whirled around, drawing short. Her hand shot to her dagger but her wrist was gripped sharply by Pan, who smirked down at her with glittering emerald eyes. Pushing her backwards, Pan ducked Piper's swipe at his head and rammed her against a tree, wedging his knee between her legs and yanking her arm above her head, snatching up her other wrist and lifting it up to the other one.
"What in the bloody fuck d'you want?" Piper snarled angrily, her teeth flashing threateningly in the fading light.
"Ah, ah, ah! Speak like the young lady we know you to be, Piper." Pan purred and she snapped her jaw shut, narrowing her eyes at him, the fire in them smoldering angrily, to his amusement.
"Fuck. You. In the arse. With. A. Broom." She enunciated each word clearly with a sweetness that was at odds with the choice of words she was spitting out with careful, practiced venom. Pan's eyes widened for a moment and she felt a vicious flash of satisfaction before yelping when he tightened his grip on her wrists with pointed cruelty.
Reminded rather sharply of her vulnerable position, Piper tried to snap her knee up but Pan was prepared and slid closer, trapping her further against the tree. They were both pressed so tightly together, not even the fading light was able to creep between them.
Twisting futilely, Piper snapped her head forward but Pan dodged the attempted head butt.
"Please, do keep trying. I'm having so much fun here." Sardonic amusement dripped from his voice and Piper snarled at him wordlessly, breathing harshly with fierce anger. Their bodies were pressed so tightly she could feel every flex of his body against her own and it was distracting her, which in turn, pissed her off even more.
Heat thrived between them, summoning a sheen of sweat on her gleaming copper skin.
"Keep doing this. I seem to be getting…excited." Pan raised his expressive bronze eyebrows, a dark gleam in his eyes as he ground his hips into hers in a deliberate fashion. Her body arching forward at the unexpected jolt of heat and pleasure, Piper bit back a cry, her eyes turning wild and tumultuous.
Attraction, burning anger, slight curiosity, vicious animosity, something budding on hate and another, unnamed emotion flashed through her dark eyes and Pan cocked his head to the side, the smile fading a bit as he stared at her. It wasn't often he was intrigued by someone so this is capturing nearly all of his attention.
"Smith."
Nearly.
"Leave us."
Oh shit.
Niikkii95 - Aw, thank you! I'm sure the writers of Peter Pan stories are grateful for that!
Amina212 - Hello! I personally adore reading about strong female main characters so when this idea popped up, held me hostage and refused to let me go...I just had to do it! Thanks for your review and I'm glad you liked the lake scene!
BookRain - First off, I am so sorry for the long wait! I really appreciate you sending me that PM because I hadn't even started on the next chapter until then, so thanks for that swift kick in the rear! It jump started my writing so feel free to do that again if you feel like I'm taking too long in updating! :) Now, I'm glad you picked up on they mysterious feeling in that last chapter. The knife will be special but in order for me to tell you how, I would have to ruin future surprises for you and I can't do that. If Cortez does like Piper as in like-like, Peter is not gonna like it! You are such a loyal reviewer and I really appreciate it. Once again, thank you so much!
zuleika126 - Thank you and sorry for the long wait!