Page 74 of Caging Darling

I offer him a cruel smile. “Don’t be so vain.”

“You should go back. Get a coat.”

“I don’t want to go back.”

“Perhaps you should open your eyes now,” he says, his voice dampened with sorrow.

“No.”

“Wendy.”

“No. You left me here. You let him…let him…” I can’t breathe, can’t think it. “The least you can do is let me keep my eyes closed. Let me… let me…”

The next time he speaks, his voice is withdrawn to the corner of the cave. It breaks the illusion, almost as much as opening my eyes would have. “Pretend? Did you ever consider that this was the sort of childish behavior that led him to leave you in the first place?”

Childish. The word is a barb in my side. A cramp in the middle of a long run. It stings of a conversation that wasn’t meant to be overheard, when Astor told Maddox I was too young for him. That I hadn’t yet learned how to be anything other than what I thought was expected of me.

“I doubt he’d find me so naïve next time around.”

“Darling.”

“Yes?”

“I thought you’d said you’d given up hope of a next time around.”

The faerie wine swirls in my head, making me dizzy. Still, I refuse to open my eyes. “That’s not how I meant it.”

Silence. When it carries on for long enough to make me nervous, I open my eyes. Relief warms me when I find him on the other side of the cave, a shadow, but here.

And here is all I need from him.

He glides over to the satchel, the one that contains the severed hand I brought back. Usually I leave them behind or toss them into the Shifting Sea, but this one I’ll toss into the ocean later tonight. Maybe it’ll find its way to the warping Tink and Michael and the Lost Boys escaped through.

“You’re still trying to communicate with him. Even after all this time.”

“It makes Peter uncomfortable,” I say.

“But that’s not why you do it.”

“Must you spoil my fun?” I keep my voice light-hearted as I try to steer the conversation back to a place I’m more comfortable with.

The wraith pauses, watching over the satchel that he can’t unpack.

“We shouldn’t see one another.”

The statement slaps me open-palmed across the cheek, my Mating Mark stinging with its impact. I’m so shocked, I almost snort. “You really are stuck on this affair you’ve constructed in your mind, aren’t you? I assure you you’re not spoiling my innocence with your company alone.”

“No.” The wraith pauses. “But I’m spoiling you.”

I swing my hand to the side, forgetting the bottle I’m holding. Wine sloshes all over my front, staining Peter’s white shirt. “It’s adorable that you think I’m not already spoiled.”

“Darling, this isn’t a decision I’ve made in haste.”

Angst constricts my chest. I swallow another swig of wine. The cave wall is cold against my skull. “You have too much time by yourself to think. Trust me, I understand.”

“Have you told Peter about your bargain with the Nomad?”

I open my mouth. Struggle for the words. “I will.”

---