Lost in the Never Woods(99)

“Hurt them?” Its dark eyebrows furrowed. “I need them alive and frightened. It’s the mental and emotional suffering I’m after.” Its gaze shifted down to the children. With a twirl of its wrist, a shudder of air rolled through the trees. The very corner of its lip peeled back from its teeth. “However, I am growing quite tired of this game of cat and mouse, Wendy.” It flicked her a hollow stare. “It’s not fun anymore.”

“Wendy,” Ashley squeaked.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Wendy took a step closer to the tree and firmly planted her feet on the ground. “Where’s Peter?” she said. Her legs shook, but at least her voice sounded steady.

“Peter?” The shadow yawned, bony joints popping as it stretched on the branch. “Oh, he’s a bit tied up at the moment.” A wicked smile twisted its lips. A long finger pointed somewhere above her head.

Wendy looked up.

Suspended in mid-air was Peter.

Thick, ropy shadows hung from one of the gnarled branches of the great tree. They snaked around his waist, pulling his back in an unnatural arch. More shadows twisted around his arms and legs and up his throat. They pulsed and thrummed, draining him of his light.

Peter’s skin was nearly colorless. The rich red and brown of his auburn hair had faded. Now it was ghostly silver, the color of starlight. Thin lines of gold, liquid magic, ran from Peter’s nose and the corners of his parted gray lips. He didn’t move or speak. His eyes were closed, his deep-purple eyelids barely fluttering. A single drop of gold rolled from his eyelashes and ran into the silvery hair at his temple.

A sharp inhale caught in Wendy’s throat. “Peter.”

“It’s just a matter of time before Peter Pan is no more,” the shadow said slowly, as if savoring the taste of each word.

Anger burned inside her. “Why are you doing this?” Wendy snarled.

“Why?” the shadow asked. Its eyes narrowed to black slits. “Why?” It was no longer relaxed and enjoying itself. It stood up, its body growing rigid. The ground beneath her feet began to quiver. “Shadows and darkness used to rule over man with fear,” it told her. “Then light magic began to take over, like Peter. He was created to be my opposite, to bring joy and laughter,” the shadow spat, its lips curling back over its gleaming teeth. “Peter took care of the lost souls of the children that I used to torment!”

Its booming voice thundered deep within her chest. A chill snaked up her bare arms. She heard the frightened cries behind her. Wendy squared her shoulders, firmly placing herself between the children locked in their cage and the shadow perched in the tree.

“He brought them peace, and soon there wasn’t enough suffering for me to feed on. I grew weak and was bound to him!” The limbs of the tree shuddered. The shadow rolled its shoulders and popped its neck. It closed its eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “But all of that will be over soon,” it said calmly with a grin. “I will destroy your precious Peter, and nothing will be able to stop me.”

With a flick of the shadow’s wrist, the black tendrils holding up Peter snapped. His body fell to the ground with a heavy thud. His arms sprawled out on either side of him like broken wings.

“Peter!” Wendy ran and fell to her knees at his side. “Peter, open your eyes, you need to wake up,” she said, frantically shaking his shoulder. She pressed her palm to the side of his face. Her thumb grazed the gold trailing from the corners of his mouth. It was warm and sticky against his icy, pale skin.

He was so pale—was he still alive?

Peter groaned, a guttural sound from deep in his chest.

Something between a sob and a sigh of relief burst past Wendy’s lips. His chest rose and fell in quick, shallow breaths. “Wendy?” He tried to open his eyes to look at her, but they kept rolling back into his head, unfocused. The cobalt starlight had vanished from them, replaced with nothing but yawning black pupils. His hand, heavy and with little control, fell to the side of her face. His cold fingers pressed into her cheek, his palm on the hammering pulse at her neck. “No,” he moaned, thick with grief, catching on a sob. “You have to—you have to get them out of here.” Peter’s eyes tried to find Benjamin, Ashley, Matthew, Joel, and Alex in their cage. “You have to take care of them.” Another shuddering breath. Peter’s face crumpled. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he murmured.

Wendy put her hand over his and squeezed it tight. “It’ll be okay, you’ll be okay,” she told him. A hot tear fell from her chin. “You just have to hang on, okay?” She couldn’t lose him, she wouldn’t. But how could she possibly stop the shadow on her own?

“This is actually quite poetic!” the shadow announced. It smiled, pleased with itself. “You’ll be able to watch as I suck dry what’s left of Peter, and his last thoughts will be of how he failed to save you,” it cooed. Its black, hollow eyes shifted to the children, who shrank back from the bars. “Mmmm.” Craning its back, it inhaled deeply through its nose, mouth splitting into a wicked smile as it refocused on the children. “Delicious.”

Peter’s eyes were wide and pleading. He was too weak to say anything more. His hand chased after Wendy as she pulled away.

With one last look at Peter, Wendy stood and turned to face the shadow. “He doesn’t need to save me.” She planted her feet, placing herself between Peter and the trapped kids, and the shadow in its tree. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “I won’t let you take any of them from me,” Wendy said, raising her voice.