Page 18 of Caging Darling

But I know why. I go with him, because I don’t want to have a good enough reason not to.

CHAPTER 7

“Where have you been?”

I blink, and Peter comes into focus before me. I’m lying in his arms, facing him, Michael snoring softly on the cot across the room from us.

“Hm?”

Sleep keeps my eyes heavy. This is the first time I’ve slept soundly in months, but Peter’s question woke me. When I blink the sleep away, I catch him inspecting me. As if he thinks he can read my mind through the lines on my face that he’s put there.

“Where have you been?”

My laugh is pleasant. Flirtatious, almost. “Here, of course. Where else would I be?”

I’m hoping to alleviate the concern in Peter’s face, but his expression only hardens. “You got away from Victor today.”

I stiffen. “He told you?”

Peter shifts in bed, propping his head on his hand so that he’s no longer eye level. “Of course, he told me. I specifically charged him to keep an eye on you when you were out of the Den, and he had the audacity to come back without you.”

My irritation at Victor dissipates, overcome by fear on my friend’s behalf. “It wasn’t his fault. I wandered off.”

“Where did you go?”

I pause. Cling to the fact that Peter’s bargain doesn’t force me to speak my true thoughts. Doesn’t refuse me the right to keep my secrets. For a moment, I worry he’ll threaten Victor if I don’t tell him, but then Peter’s expression softens.

He reaches out and runs his hand through my hair, pressing his forehead to mine. “I’m worried about you, Wendy Darling. Tell me where you went. Please.”

His eyes are the gentlest of blues, and I find myself lost in them. My heart aches with the urge to please him, to make the pain in his eyes go away. To erase it with placating words. But telling him I spent the afternoon with a wraith who echoes Astor’s voice won’t take that pain away.

Choosing Peter means making him happy. Not hurting him unnecessarily.

So I choose that which will hurt him less. “I went looking for more faerie dust.”

Peter’s face falls more than I expect it to. Guilt raps at my chest, but I rest against the spot where his fingers cradle the base of my skull.

“Wendy Darling,” Peter says, searching my face for the answer to a question he’s yet to ask. “Am I not enough for you?”

“It’s just my head. I can’t focus on anything when it hurts like this. When I’m so…” Thirsty doesn’t quite seem like the right word. I feel underfed. Provided just enough to make me crave more.

“I know,” he whispers, rubbing at my temples. Where my head typically hurts.

It hasn’t hurt all afternoon.

“How would you like to go away for a while?”

“No.” The word comes out of nowhere, much like his offer.

Peter juts his head back, confused.

“No, I want to stay here with you.” Thoughts of Astor returning to Neverland while I’m away gnaw at my stomach.

Peter smiles, relieved. “You would be with me. We could go away, the both of us.”

“But…But I thought you couldn’t leave without the Sister’s permission.”

“Well, it’s not exactly the romantic getaway I would have envisioned for us. But I asked her, and she agreed to let me take you with me on my next mission.”

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