Chapter Sixteen

 

 

The pirates were expecting us, so we didn't bother with subterfuge. We rowed a boat right up to their ship. They stood back as we climbed aboard, and made way for us. Captain Kadmos strode forward.

“Pandora,” he growled as he stroked his thick mustache. “You have taken from me, so I have taken from you.”

“Have you?” I surprised him by asking.

My warriors frowned at me, and the pirates frowned at Kadmus.

“Yes, I have.” Kadmus looked confused. “I have Tigerlily secured in my quarters.”

“I'll bet you do,” I huffed.

“Are we speaking different languages?” Kadmus asked. “You do understand that I have your precious Indian princess below decks.”

“Ah, but is she my precious, or your precious?”

Just the barest flicker of fear filled his eyes.

“She is not precious to me,” he protested.

“I think that she is,” I sauntered forward. “I think this was all a ruse to satisfy your crew's need for vengeance while you also made Tigerlily's father accept your relationship.”

“Relationship?” Straton asked. “What are you talking about, Pandora?”

“Go on,” I said to Kadmus. “Shame the Pan and tell the truth.”

“I shall murder you, you foul bitch,” Kadmus growled.

Captain Kadmus leapt forward, unsheathing his sword as he came, but I jumped into the air and hovered high above him. As he floundered, I laughed.

“To die shall be the greatest adventure!” I exclaimed.

Kadmus gaped up at me for a moment before recovering.

“Then I'll be happy to hurry you on your way!” He swung at me, but I just floated away. “You horrible harlot! You trapped us here with nothing! My men were innocent of your crimes, and yet we were punished along with you.”

“Innocent of opening the jar, perhaps,” I agreed. “But they are hardly innocents. You're pirates, all of you, and I stole goods that you had first stolen from others. In my opinion, that makes it justice.”

“Justice?” Kadmus seethed. “Justice would be seeing you hang till you choked on your tongue.”

“You shall never be happy if you hold onto this evil, Captain Kadmus,” I warned him. “Neverland is inhospitable to evil. You'd do better to let go of your hatred and try to find a new life here. Perhaps if you presented yourself better, the Indian chief would approve of a union between you and his daughter.”

“I do not love Tigerlily!” Kadmus shouted.

“You don't?” Tigerlily stood on the deck, staring at Kadmus with wounded eyes.

“Lily,” he whispered.

“No,” she held up her hand. “I allowed you to attack my people just so we could be together, and now I see that it was all a ruse to get to Pandora. I was a fool, but you are an evil man, and I would rather be foolish. Goodbye, Kadmus.”

Tigerlily held her chin high as she walked through the pirates. Her buckskin dress clinked with beads and metal tubes, and the feathers strung through her ebony hair trailed in the salty breeze. She was stunning, and no one dared to touch her. She went past my men and crawled over the railing, to sit in our boat and wait for us.

“Damn you, Pandora!” Kadmus roared and came at me.

I was floating just beyond the ship railing, above the water instead of the deck, and Kadmus had to leap into open air to slash at me. Distracted by Tigerlily and her dramatic exit, I was unprepared for his attack. But my protector, sent by the Goddess Aphrodite, was ready.

As the Captain's sword came toward my heart, and my warriors shouted in fear, a massive, green-scaled body rose from the ocean. I didn't see it at first, my widening stare focused on Kadmus, but then his stare transferred to something below us, and it filled with far more fear than I felt.

A pair of long, narrow jaws closed over the Captain's hand, severing it at the wrist. The Captain's momentum was halted, and he plummeted downward with the enormous crocodile, screaming in pain. The crocodile seemed to smile up at me, the silver of Kadmus's sword sticking out of its teeth like a silver cigarette. They hit the water together, but the crocodile created a far bigger splash. The beast spat out the hand which still held Kadmus's sword, and went after Kadmus.

“Captain!” One of the pirates tossed a rope overboard, and Kadmus swam to it anxiously.

The crocodile pursued, and I turned away. We needed to use the distraction to get Tigerlily home. What happened to Kadmus was irrelevant. Though I did wonder if death would come to Neverland, after all. It seemed unlikely that a man could survive being torn into pieces by a magical crocodile.

I alighted on the deck, and my shocked men rushed forward to surround me like a shield. All of the pirates were on the other side of the ship, though, trying to save their captain. We hurried to the railing, climbed over the side, and down the rope ladder, into our boat.

Tigerlily remained silent the entire trip back to shore.

When we reunited her with her family, the chief cried in relief, and Tigerlily looked at me sharply, with a question in her eyes. I shook my head; I would not betray her secret. Love had betrayed her, and that was rough enough as it was. I wouldn't heap more pain onto her shoulders.

Tigerlily sighed and softened, giving me a sad smile before she left with her tribe. We watched them go in silence until Drakon finally broke it.

“Was that a fucking crocodile?”