Twelve: Bradley Endless
746 Words
Chapter Twelve
Bradley Endless
Hook was pacing outside of the Gate to Faerie. “Are you ready to go back?” I asked as I approached him.
“Faerie’s part of me, practically,” he said, “but you…. you’re the one I would think is more worried about.”
I stared apprehensively at the glowing door. “Well,” I said, “I have people that want to kill me. But then again, I always seem to have that regardless of what realm I’m in.”
Hook chuckled. “That’s what comes of being an asshole. Your daughter you know, she doesn’t have any of that in you. It’s amazing. I don’t believe that you’re related half of the time, you know.”
I frowned. “You’ve interacted with Tatiana?”
“Just through nightmares,” Hook admitted, “Louisa’s been using them to contact her. It’s how she was able to get you here, you know. The sleeping curse allows her to walk through people’s dreams.”
“I thought that you and Emma had parted ways,” I said, “actually I was under the impression that you had betrayed Emma.”
Hook sighed, running his hands through his hair as if he would much rather talk about anything else. “We had to make people think that. Specifically, we had to make Edward think that. If he thought that the two of us were together, he wouldn’t have let her alone. But since he thinks that we’re not together anymore, he doesn’t pay as much attention to her. Or me. So we were able to plan this whole thing.”
“Is it true?” I asked. “About Emma giving up her powers so that the Omen would release Edward?”
“She tried,” Hook said, “that wasn’t the real reason that she was put under the sleeping curse though.”
“What was it?”
“When Edward became King, the Queen’s curse took hold. You know, where if the Queen is away from the King it weakens her. It took longer, because Emma is a demi-goddess, but it still happened. That’s why we need to find Baxter, so we can go back and fix the time line so that she and Clark aren’t together.”
“What if that causes more problems?”
“Well, it can’t be worse than things already are,” he answered with a shrug.
I chuckled bitterly. “I suppose you’re right.”
I glanced at Hook. “You still in love with Emma?”
Hook nodded. “Always.”
“What happens if this changes everything? Time travel is tricky business. There’s no guarantee that you and Emma will get a happy ending.”
“Happy endings are overrated,” Hook said, “any time I get with Emma? That’s happiness. I don’t care if it is an ending, a middle, or somewhere in between.”
“Well, that is the mark of true love.”
“What about Adelaide?” Hook asked. “Are you nervous about seeing her?”
I took a breath. “Adelaide’s my beating heart. I was gone for five years without my memories. Of course I’m nervous.”
Hook raised an eyebrow. “Were you with anyone else? When you didn’t have your memories?”
I shook my head. “I tried, but it never felt right. Something always stopped me. I was a bartender. I got offers all the time. But Adelaide’s face always haunted me and if I even thought about another girl, my chest throbbed something else. Like my heart had been ripped out.”
“Well, we’re going to restore your heart,” Hook said, patting me on the shoulder.
“Daddy!” Tatiana’s voice called. She ran towards me, a backpack on her shoulders, and hugged me around my legs.
“Hey, kid,” I said, picking her up, “are you ready to go on your first Quest?”
“She’s ready,” said Nia’s voice, “and so am I.”
I glanced at my sister’s girlfriend. “You’re really going? I assumed you’d stay here and help Louisa.”
“I’ve been one of Tatiana’s guardian’s for five years,” she said, “I’m not just going to let her go.”
I smiled at Louisa, who was standing next to her girlfriend. “You’ve got a good one there.”
“I know,” said Louisa, “and if anything happens to either of my girls Bradley, I will gut the both of you like a fish.”
“Noted,” Hook and I both said.
“Alright,” said Louisa, “I’ll go so far as the Gate entrance with you. Into Faerie we go.”
Into Faerie we did.
- Writer
