Pan's Revenge (31 page)

My heart pounds a wild beat. It seems like
the real adventure begins now.

Ten years later…

I’M CHOPPING
tomatoes and cucumber for a salad. A deliciously smelling roast
pork cooks in the oven, a strawberry cream cake sits in the fridge
and waits to be cut later
after dinner. I
like busying myself in the kitchen. It’s the sunniest place in our
house in Fairy Cross.

“When will Jamie be home?” Paulina asks me as
she takes out four plates from the cupboard and puts them together
with some glasses and the cutlery on a tray to carry outside into
the garden.

After a quick glance at the clock above the
wide archway that leads to the dining room, I tell her, “In about
an hour. He said he’ll try to be here no later than seven.” And
then I sigh—for the thirty-fifth time in the past forty minutes. I
miss him and can’t wait until he comes back from his biking tour
with the guys. Three days away? That’s just too long.

On the other hand, I’m more than glad that
Jamie made such good friends in our new hometown. The way he
suffered the first few months after he’d left Neverland, the ship
with his crew and of course Peter behind, tugged on my
heartstrings. That my parents never believed us where he really
came from and called him a kid with serious issues when he
struggled so hard to cope with the change didn’t make it any
better.

Instead of
moving in with us, Jamie bought the house in our street where Peter
had made himself comfortable for a while, but not even there he
seemed to be happy. It wasn’t until three years later, when we made
a trip to South-West-England, just the two of us, and found this
beautiful house in a dreamy town called Fairy Cross, that he
appeared to find his spark again. It didn’t take him more than
twenty seconds to convince me to buy the property and settle down
here.

Not for a minute in my life did I regret that
decision.

“Angel? Are you in Neverland again?”

I jerk around
and stare at Paulina’s questioning eyes. My cheeks warm over as I
rub my hands at the back of my cut-off jeans. “Not in Neverland,
no.”

“You looked a little lost for a moment.”

Unfortunately, that is one thing that happens
to me quite often. Ever since I came back from Neverland, I kept
having moments where my thoughts suck me into short time-outs. It’s
okay for me. I just don’t like it when others catch me lost in
memories. “I’m fine.” Taking a step toward Paulina, I shape my palm
to her cheek. “Just thinking about how happy I am to have you girls
here with us.”

A brief
glimmer of sadness crosses her face, but it disappears fast and she
smiles again. “Okay, I’ll set the table and then read a little
outside. Call me if you need me to help with anything.”

I nod and watch her carry the tray out onto
the terrace, her plaid skirt swaying around her bare knees. She’s
become a pretty young girl. Both the twins have. Every time I look
at them or run my fingers through their soft strawberry blond hair,
I’m reminded of my mother. They look so much like her, especially
on the day I saw her and my father for the last time.

I was home for the weekend to watch my then
nine-year-old sisters. Mom had straightened her curls with a
plat-iron and put on very little make-up that evening, which was
quite unusual for her, but it made her look young and so very
beautiful. Dad took her out on a candlelight dinner for their
twenty-seventh anniversary.

They never came back.

A truck slammed their car off the road. There
was no chance of survival for any of the passengers the policeman
who came to inform us told me.

Jamie was wonderful at that time. Knowing
what it means to lose family, he helped my sisters and me through
the worst. We took the twins in with us and, since we both loved
them above all, we’re raising them like our own children now.

Brittney-Renae struggled with the loss the
most, so one night Jamie and I had a long conversation about her.
We found a way to drag her out of her depressions. Two Neverland
doubloons were enough to buy the three hectare land adjoining to
our property. Jamie built a stable there and we got the fairy bug a
young horse. She called it Becky, after the doll she got from our
parents for her sixth birthday. Hardly a day goes by, where she
doesn’t take the paint horse out for a ride—like she’s doing right
now. It’s good to see her happy again.

Releasing another sigh, I push the sleeves of
my white shirt up to my elbows and continue chopping the
veggies.

If it wasn’t
for this dreamy place we’ve found for ourselves, with the coast not
far and being miles away from the city traffic, I think I would
often wish myself back to Neverland. It’s been ten years since that
adventure ended for Jamie and me, but I can’t think of a time in my
life where I felt more like myself.

“I know where you are…”

At the sound of my favorite voice in the
world, a tiny butterfly in my stomach quickly calls his friends out
to play. I drop the knife and whirl about, beaming at Jamie, who’s
leaning with one shoulder against the wall in the arc. His hands
clasped behind his back, the dark leather jacket parts at the front
and reveals a firm chest beneath a white tee. He cracks a smile,
because he sure notices my staring.

Leaning back against the counter and gripping
the edge, I let my gaze skate over him, from his tousled blond hair
to the toes of his motorcycle boots. He’s a gorgeous eyeful. Ten
years have passed, and he still looks the same. Adventurous with a
whiff of danger. A perfect mix.

“You know me too well,” I tease him.

“That’s one of the pleasures of being your
husband.”

Naturally, I cast a glance at the ring on my
finger and smile to myself. It bears a tiny diamond from Neverland.
Jamie proposed to me with this ring. I never take it off and
neither the necklace with the ruby heart I carry. It’ll always
remind me of the unlikely brothers that found a happy ending after
all.

When I look
up again, Jamie is holding a shiny red apple. He tosses it across
the island counter and I catch it with both hands. Apples have
become dear to me, and warmth fills my chest at the small gesture
that revives one of my favorite memories with Captain
Hook.

“I missed you, Miss London,” he drawls as he
slowly walks toward me.

Putting the
apple aside, I fling my arms around his neck and surrender when his
tongue starts roaming my mouth.
By the rainbows of Neverland
,
I’ll never get enough of his taste. Standing on my tiptoes, my
fingers in his hair, I enjoy the feeling of his hands sliding down
my spine and over my backside. Shivers of thrill run over
me.

But Jamie pulls back all too quickly, his
eyebrows narrowed to a confused V. “Did you hear that?”

“No, what?” I gasp, trying to catch my
breath, and tilt my head to listen.

He releases me and turns around to glance out
the French doors to the terrace. “Is there someone in the
garden?”

“Only Paulina. She’s reading.”

But suddenly, I hear it too. The voice of a
boy. “…tried to shoot me with his cannon! I barely escaped.”

I freeze on the spot.

Jamie’s eyes grow wide and his breathing
hitches. It takes me all of five seconds to find my own voice
again. “It can’t be—”

“
It
must
be!”
he cuts me of, grabs my hand and drags me outside with him. I’ve
never seen him so fevered before, but then I haven’t felt this
surge of excitement in a long time myself.

Together we stumble into the garden, where
Jamie pulls me to a halt. Paulina is sitting in the shade under a
tree, flattening her book to her chest with both hands, and staring
with an open mouth to the thick branch above her head.

On that very branch hunches a slim, teenage
boy, wearing a grass green tee, his thick brown hair windblown, and
with eyes as blue as the endless sea. When he notices us gaping and
rooted to the ground, he cocks his head. A mischievous smirk plays
on his lips. “Hello, James. Angel.”

“Peter,” I croak, feeling the tight squeeze
of my stunned husband’s hand. Now it’s me who pulls him along until
we stand right in front of the tree.

“You—came here, you bloody little bastard!”
Jamie laughs, his surprise ringing in each syllable.

“How is that possible?” I blurt out.

Peter Pan
wraps his fingers around the twigs above him and leans farther down
from the branch. His eyes sparkle in the sun as he winks at
Paulina, then his mouth curves into a full, wicked grin and he
turns to us.

“With magic…”

To all my dear readers,

Thank you for bearing with me when the first
book ended on such a mean hook. I still believe that writing a
sequel was the only way to solve all the riddles of Neverland.
Hopefully, you liked the adventures of Angel and Jamie and found
the ending satisfying.

On another note, even though Peter Pan made
it out of Neverland, I’m not planning a third book at this point.
If I should ever change my mind, you’ll hear it first. ;-)

xoxo

Anna

Sunrise Avenue – Lifesaver

(Three guys and bathwater)

Dexter Britain – Nothing to fear

(Shockwave)

One Direction – Story of my life

(The boy who wouldn’t grow up)

Dexter Britain – On my way home

(Meeting Hook)

Tunes of Fantasy – My World

(The dance)

Theme song of Edward Scissorhands –
IceDance

(Bits of a treasure)

Christina Perri – Human

(Taking Angel onboard)

Martin Herzberg – Dragostea Din Tei (piano
cover)

(Broken door)

One Direction – You and I

(You and I)

Ed Sheeran and Christina Grimmie – All of
the stars

(
“I thought, maybe if I found
a way to keep you happy, you’d agree to stay this
time.”)

Once Upon A Time Theme Music

(Saving
Angel)

Tunes of Fantasy – White Angel

(The
bargain)

Casper Soundtrack – Casper’s lullaby

(Until
we meet again)

Jonatha Brook – Second star to the right

(Ten
years later. Let’s finish this story the way it
started)

Dexter Britain – Conquering time

(With
magic…)

Don’t miss Anna Katmore’s amazing teen
romance

PLAY WITH ME

Ryan Hunter’s parties are legend. And tonight
she’s going to be there.

Liza Matthews has been in love with her best friend since
kindergarten. They’re close as can be. They’ve even slept in each
other’s bed. But they’ve never kissed. Weeks away from her
seventeenth birthday, Liza hopes that soon things will change
between them. But when Tony comes home after summer soccer camp,
his mind is focused on someone else. And worse, that new girl is a
soccer player.

Fighting for her love, Liza gets carried away and makes a stupid
decision: Without the least bit of talent or any passion for the
sport whatsoever, she goes for the co-ed soccer team.

The tryouts are hell, the first match ends bloody, and the morning
after the selection party she wakes up in the worst place
possible—in the arms of the captain of the soccer team. The hottest
guy in school. Ryan Hunter.

Special Thanks

To my awesome
Street Team!

Jessa Markert, Connie Nguyen, Felisha Miller,
Tiffany Williams, Stevie Morell, Shannon R Miller Hodges, Cassi
Haley-Munday, Norma Salazar, Ashlynd Kyle, Nikisha Evans McKinney,
Diana Terrado, Alesia Jean Farnham, and Jennifer Herondale

You guys rock!!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ANNA KATMORE prefers blue to green, spring to
winter, and writing to almost anything else. It helps her to escape
from a boring world to something with actual adventure and romance
in it, she says. Even when she’s not crafting a new story, you’ll
see her lounging with a book in some quiet spot. She was 17 when
she left Vienna to live in the tranquil countryside of Austria.
From there she loves to plan trips to anywhere in the world. Two of
her favorite places? Disneyland and the deep dungeons of her
creative mind…