Devour the Dark (Devourer, #2)

by Nikki St. Crowe

As my mother liked to tell it, I came out of the womb with sharp edges. “They could hear my screams in every corner of the Imperial Palace.” She would smile, not fond of the pain but the pride. She would quickly add, “Never let anyone dull your edges. The world will never be your blade. You must be your own.”

Winnie Darling is the queen of this house and the dark goddess of this island. I’m happy to relent. Except when we’re in bed. Then I’m in charge.

“Let’s get to the docks before it gets too late. Before my brother does something stupid and we all have to murder him.” Pan ticks out a breath. “How about we just murder him and forget about the rest?”

“No one is murdering anyone,” Winnie says, charging ahead. She may boss us around with impunity, but when it comes to the Crocodile, she will have no say. She thinks she knows us, she thinks she has peered into the darkness and taken its measure. But Roc and I, we are a darkness that cannot be tamed and I will do everything in my power to keep her away from it.

“And Peter Pan?” Asha asks. A breath stutters down my throat and my stomach spins. Not in a good way. All those long months in the Everland prison, and later in an Everland palace, I hated Roc and Hook for not rescuing me. But I hated Peter Pan more. Not because he’d abandoned me. But because he’d taken my home from me, swept me into the magic and mystery of Neverland, introduced me to Roc and Hook, and then quickly snatched it all away.

If it wasn’t for Pan, I never would have met Roc and Hook and my heart would have never broken into a million fucking pieces.

I am who I am today because of everything that came before. How could I possibly wish for it to change now?

“I’m worried she doesn’t know what she’s gotten herself into. But, at the same time, I still feel like the girl I was when Pan took me, and if I’m still a girl, what do I know about protecting her anyway? What if I’m delusional?” I look back at Asha. “Or worse, what if she doesn’t want me at all? What if she looks at me and she sees the weak woman I fear I am?”

“You are not weak. You never were. Those were the lies they told you. Because a woman who sees her power is a woman who cannot be controlled.” I lean into her. “Where do you summon that fortitude? You amaze me at every turn.”

“I will not take you to Darkland,” he tells her. “Then I will make you devour everything you love.” She hangs her head back and laughs.

Has he been keeping time for me? The man terrified of a ticking clock? The flicker of candlelight gilds the Captain in gold, but it does nothing to hide the swollen underside of his eyes, the shadows that darken his skin. I’m only vaguely aware of the destruction I have caused him, but I already know the price has been too high.

I don’t tell him that a bullet will not stop me. I don’t tell him that there is only one weapon in the Seven Isles capable of killing me and he doesn’t have it. I think Smee does, though. How else would she have wounded Vane? Did she ever tell the Captain?

My aunt Roan often told me that my mother came out of the womb a “melancholy child, obsessed with the darkness, always flirting with monsters.”

Did she know Aaric Soren Maddred was a monster when she married him? Did she know she would birth monsters too?

“You once asked me why I kept time, why I didn’t just shift and devour at my discretion.” “I remember.” He swallows. “You told me there was a cost.” “Yes. It’s not just the recovery period, the vulnerability in being unconscious. Too many shifts and…” I sink back against the headboard and close my eyes. “Too many shifts and a day will come when I can no longer shift back.”

“What did he devour?” he asks. “A witch,” Wendy tells him. “A Myth Maker witch,” I clarify. “Fuck.” Vane turns a circle, his hand over his eyes, his jaw flexing with a grind of his teeth. “Fuck!”

“We rarely have control when we devour and sometimes we devour something we shouldn’t. There is one rule we must abide by: do not devour power.”

“Devouring power has…” Vane pauses and turns to Pan. “It has its consequences. A device was crafted to offset the mistake.” “What kind of device?” Kas asks as he ties his hair back. “A hat.”

“Hold on…did you say a hat?” “Yes, I said a fucking hat. The particulars don’t matter.”

“I think they do,” Bash counters. “What kind of hat is it? A baseball hat? A cowboy hat? A bucket hat?” Kas frowns at his brother. “What the fuck is a bucket hat?” “I don’t know, honestly. I just heard a mortal talking ...

“And Hook—” Pan says. “I’m not leaving him to you,” I tell him, risking my neck and my head. “I’m going after him. He’s my monster now.”

“I guess we’re keeping the kitten.” I scowl. “We are not keeping the kitten.” “How could you possibly turn away such an adorable creature?” “Cats are beasts.” He flashes his teeth at me. “And? We both know you love beasts.”

“There are no cats allowed on my ship!” But the cat remains a fixture on his shoulder as he continues up the street, and I’m not sure I have the energy to fight him. “Bloody hell,” I mutter. I guess we have a fucking cat.

“I don’t want your blood.” “You’ll fucking take it and shut the fuck up about it.”

Our blood is meant only to be drunk when in dire need of stabilizing the monster. It’s meant for emergencies only when nothing else will work.

It was Roc’s blood that helped me through the first phase of claiming the Darkland Shadow. When it fought me at every turn, when it tore at me from the inside, leaving three bloody claw marks over my eye. My monster didn’t like the shadow, and the shadow didn’t like my monster, and the first night, I lay in bed, writhing against their warring, sweating through my clothes while my bones ached.

“You can’t stop me.” “If I can’t, then Pan will.” “He can’t stop me either.” The shadow pulses like an energy field. It likes it when we fight because our fighting is always quickly followed by our fucking. And when we are together, no air, no space between us, the shadow is truly whole.

and folds his hands over his middle. “They’re going to find out eventually.” “I know that.” “Asha is…” “Something else.” Vane laughs. “She might be the most intuitive, intelligent person I’ve ever met.” “She’s trouble.”

He laughs again and looks over at me. “Are you scared of her?” “Slightly.” I smile. “Don’t tell.”

“After Lainey, I didn’t think I’d love anything ever again. Win taught me otherwise.”

I sigh and take another hit. “Wendy and the Captain…” “You’re holding them at arm’s length just like you did me. I know what you’re doing. You don’t have to try to find words to explain it because I already know you’re going to downplay it. You want to be happy again? Grab them by the shirt and embrace them. And don’t ever let go.”

“I never would have expected to receive relationship advice from you.” “And I never expected you to be fucking Hook and yet…” I shrug. “What can I say? I have a thing for mouthy pirates.”

“Off to bed with you.” “With me? Or with you?” She gazes up at me, eyes glassy in the flickering lamplight. “I’m not going to take advantage of you.” “Then let me take advantage of you.” “Naughty, naughty Darling girl.”

“Did you ever have feelings for me? Or was it just a game? Was I just property to claim?” So we’re going down that road. “I could ask you the same. Back on Neverland, you leapt from my bed to the Captain’s with very little restraint. And in the end, you chose neither of us. So is it wrong of us to find solace in one another?”

“Solace. You fight him at every turn.” “Because I like it when he gets bratty. What are you getting at?” I repeat. “I don’t know. I don’t want to be jealous. I want you to reassure me. I want you to tell me that I’m not just a bonus piece of candy, that I’m something more than a chess piece, a game to be won and⁠—”

Maybe this is love. Maybe love is the same as worship. We could all learn a thing or two on our knees.

You do know that if you break a pinkie promise, I get to break the pinkie?” “I’d like to see you try,” she says and slips back inside the ship.

“Will you make me a promise?” I look back at Roc. “Depends.” “This is serious.” All the humor is gone from his face and his green eyes glint in the light. “Okay.” “If I lose control in any way, you will kill me.” I’m angry at him in an instant. “Don’t fucking say that.” “I will not descend into madness.”

“There’s another Myth here named Amanon. One of the Seven. This Myth has a sister. I’m sure you’ve heard of her.” “Mareth,” Roc guesses. Malachi nods. “She knows you devoured her sister. She will come for you, here or Neverland or any of the other islands. So really, what choice do you have? It’s better to partner with me.”

Finally Vane says, “I assume you have a plan?” “Of course.” Malachi smiles. “I’m not sure if you heard, but after your role in the death of the Remaldi family, the Privy Council decided to requisition Maddred Manor.” Roc visibly tenses.

“They’re hosting a ball there tonight to announce Juliette’s engagement. It’s to be her summer residence. That place is fucking frigid. It’s the perfect place to escape the city's stinking heat. But I digress. The Myth will be there tonight. Kill her, and I’ll give you the hat.” He extends his hand. “Do we have a deal?”

“The shadow is more powerful when it’s together. Exiling me here only inhibits it.” “She has a point,” Roc says. “Shut up. You don’t know anything about the shadow.” “I mean, half plus half equals one. I do know how to count.”

“You, Asha and I will go to the manor,” he goes on. “I will kill the Myth to fulfill our obligation to Malachi and as soon as he’s given us the hat, I will kill him too.”

“I don’t care. I’m still killing him.” Firecracker digs his claws into Roc’s shirt and climbs up on his shoulder. “I feel it’s my duty to point out that by killing Malachi, we surrender a potential ally in this fight against the Myths. Mareth, her sister, Amanon, I can guarantee they aren’t the only ones on Lostland plotting the occupation of the Seven Isles.”

Vane crosses his arms over his chest. “He broke into the warehouse.” “Yes, and he could have taken anything. He took a hat.” “This time. What will he take the next?” “Don’t kill him,” Roc finally says, and there is a finality in his voice.

“We’ll make a date of it.” Winnie smiles over at me. “We’ll all go then.” Roc snaps his fingers at James. “You’re coming too.” “I don’t want to go dress shopping.” “Too bad.” James grumbles but follows the order. On his ship, he may be used to being in charge, but when it comes to Roc, he and I have both met our match.

“A great many things,” is what Roc says. “I’ll say.” Antony reaches out, hooking his arm through Roc’s, cozying up to him. James takes a step, pushing his hook between Roc and Antony. Both men glance at James and I see the sudden surprise dawn on James’s face. “I…he…” James crumbles. “Please get your hands off him.”

Antony cocks his head back. “Oh. Okay. Okay.” He looks up at Roc. “Someone’s finally managed to snag you?” “When a handsome pirate claims me, who am I to resist?”

“I’m afraid.” The words slip out of me without thinking about what they might cost. Winnie tilts her head, regarding me like a puzzle piece, defining my edges as if to decide where I might fit best. “Why?” she asks. “They abandoned me once. They can again.” My vision goes watery with tears. “And now they have this entire thing without me. I don’t want to ruin their equilibrium.”

Winnie snorts. “Have you ever thought to ask yourself if you are the equilibrium?” I frown. “What do you mean?” “If there is anything I’ve learned about being with Vane and Pan, Bash and Kas⁠—” “Wait, you’re with all four of them?” My question comes out almost a wheeze of incredulity.