Page 16 of The First Lost Boy (The Shadows of Neverland Duet #2)

Devin

Belle’s Journal

Peter tells me as much as he can while his mind is bridged with Ezryn’s, much to the Celestial fairy’s chagrin, even as those moments are fewer and farther between. But there is one subject he consistently refuses to broach, one that whenever it’s brought up, is snuffed like fingers pinching the end of a wick to end the life of its flame.

The Second Star.

Tonight, I sit and watch it twitch overhead.

Ezryn calls her Imani. I think she’s like him. More than that, I think she’s the one he’s hiding from.

Her light is white and harsh, her frenetic pulse searching instead of blissful.

The other stars lazily gaze down upon the world, but not Imani. There’s a desperation in her gleam, a fevered, tormented misery about her.

Ezryn is not innocent, despite what my people were led to believe. He’s guilty of a horrible crime and he deserves the punishment he faces. We never should have hidden him, and we should not be harboring him now.

We never should have gotten involved.

But no matter what Peter tries, he cannot rid himself of Ezryn. The Celestial’s dark, insidious magic drains his light away drop by drop, day by day.

Peter keeps telling me to do what I must – what’s best for our people and this world – and stop trying to save him. He keeps telling me it’s too late for him, but I refuse to accept that.

What if Imani is the answer?

What if she could tear the Celestial from Peter’s form?

Ezryn is a liar. He tells us Peter will die if he’s ever exorcised, but I don’t believe anything Ezryn says. He didn’t just lie about his crime and guilt; he told my people he would quietly hide away and not interfere with Peter’s life, but I see him in the corner of my beloved’s smile, in the facets of sharp, cunning eyes that used to shine with love and light.

Even Peter’s laughter has changed. More and more often, it’s cruel and cutting. And less and less, I am able to speak to my betrothed.

Ezryn will never be content to remain hidden and he certainly has no intention of surviving quietly in the background. The two are battling, and Peter is losing himself with each passing moment.

I must do something.

And I hope that if I am making an error, it’s not a grievous one.

If I’m right and I can appeal to Ezryn’s arrogant pride and his base desire for freedom, maybe he can cross the curse line wearing a stolen shadow. If he’s outside the protection provided by Neverland and my people, perhaps Imani will sense and find Ezryn and rip him from my betrothed, sparing him in the process.

Peter is dying in his own body and mind, and there are days and weeks that pass before I can reach him to urge him to continue fighting.

I must do this before Peter Pan is lost forever.