Page 44 of Ozma

An idea sparked in Jack’s mind as the first apple tumbled down on the brownie’s head. She let out a small yelp of fear and Jack gave Ozma’s hand a squeeze. “She’s going to drop that,” he whispered, “and we’re going to use it as a distraction to get out of here.”

“What? No!” Ozma replied. “The commotion will only bring more of them down here.”

And the more fae that came, the better their movements would blend in with theirs. Jack nodded once. “Exactly.”

The crate finally toppled on the brownie, apples rolling everywhere, and Jack prepared to run. “Stay with me,” he said and crept toward the stairs.

“What was that?” someone called from above. “Everything all right down there?”

Jack tucked Ozma beneath the stairs and squeezed in beside her, just as a handful of brownies and elves hurried into the storage rooms.

“Shit,” Tik-Tok shouted. “Whatthe fuckdid you do now?”

The crushed brownie stumbled over her words as the others quickly gathered the apples.

Now, Jack mouthed. His hands shook slightly with nerves, but this was their chance. He sprang out from behind their hiding spot with Ozma right behind him. Keeping one eye on the brownies, Jack took the stairs two at a time. The distraction worked as well as he’d hoped—the crew’s attention was focused wholly on the mess, and his and Ozma’s movements were lost in the frenzy to pick up the fruit.

But that was where the success of Jack’s plan ended.

More pirates worked the rigging, lugged ropes, and lowered small row boats from the side ofThe Wizard. And every eye swiveled to Jack and Ozma—the pair of fae bolting from the bowels of the ship as if their lives depended on it.

Because they did.

“Jump,” Jack yelled as he reached the side of the deck. And he leapt, trusting Ozma would follow. The waves sucked him under just as another body sank down beside him. The warm, salty water stung his eyes, but he kept them open, waiting to see if it was Ozma or someone else. Once the bubbles cleared, he found his beloved reaching out for him.

Jack grabbed Ozma’s hand, his lungs begging for air as they surfaced. He glanced at the shore—the distance seemed manageable, but he didn’t want to be wrong. “Wait,” he rasped. Turning back toward the ship, he fixed his gaze on one of the lowered row boats that was within reach. Jack tilted the side of the boat toward them. “Get in,quick.”

Ozma heaved herself up over the side and helped Jack in beside her as dozens of fae looked down at them, shouting. Tik-Tok loomed above the rest with an expression of pure fury.

“Leave them,” he yelled. His lips curled into a cruel smirk, his red irises blazing. “They have nowhere to go.”

Nowhere to go?The Wizardwas anchored farther out since there wasn’t a pier, hence the row boats, but there was most definitely a landmass.

“That’s not good,” Ozma breathed as Jack was about to row.

“What’s—” Jack’s gaze landed on the shore. Aquamarine sand sparkled in the fading sunlight and, beyond that, black skeletal trees loomed like shadows. But that wasn’t what Ozma was talking about.

On the sand walked dozens of fae. Fae and—Jack squinted—humans. They wore dirty, torn clothing, their hair unkempt. It was the blank expressions paired with ravenous eyes that set Jack’s pulse racing though.

“Shit.”

“What are they?” Ozma asked.

Damned if I know.Jack swallowed hard. “A huge fucking problem, that’s what.”

Chapter Nineteen

Ozma

Hisses and growls drifted over the silver sea. Ozma couldn’t take her gaze away from the fae and humans hovering at the edge of the forest and on the shore. She hadn’t been around many others until recently, but she knew they were not supposed to look like this. The faes’ skin had a purplish hue, their pointed ears drooped over, their cheeks sunken. Everything about them appeared hollow, a shadow of what they once were.

As for the humans, their gazes seemed unfocused, their bodies leaning to one side, as though they might topple over at any moment. From what Tik-Tok had said aboard the ship, they were all addicted to faerie fruit on the island. The sprite had told her that there was an enchantment over everyone here, and this wasn’t what Ozma had been expecting at all. Perhaps she’d imagined them with pupils dilated a little more, like how Mombi’s would get when she ate certain mushrooms. This was so much worse.

Ozma swallowed, her eyes roaming from the fae and humans, to the skeletal black trees with their glistening white leaves and long ivory vines, and back to the crazed faces of the victims, their lingering movements. She chanced a glance over her shoulder toward the ship, its sails down, unmoving.

Tik-Tok still stood there, his arms draped off the side of the ship, his red eyes lazily watching them. A wicked grin spread across his face, replacing his earlier anger.

“Go on. I won’t stop you,” he called, daring her, then swiping a lock of obsidian hair behind his gold-studded ear. His face was beautiful in a vicious way, and she wondered about his part in all this.

---