around her. Was she dreaming?
Peter stood in the center. The sparks winked beneath his bare feet. He held his right hand at his side, palm forward in caution. In his left hand was a sword, but not a normal sword—not that Wendy had ever actually seen a sword in person. But this one was made of the same golden sparks that surrounded him. It looked solid and weighty in his hand, a shelled hilt that curved into a long blade. It sparked and glittered in his grip. The light caught in the deep lines of worry on Peter’s face. His eyes were intense as they searched Wendy’s. The light reflected and danced in them.
“Wendy, are you okay?” Peter took a step forward and Wendy flinched back. His gaze followed hers, which remained locked on the weapon in his hand. He cursed under his breath and, with a twist of his wrist, the sword disappeared in a shower of sparks.
It only made her feel a little better. She was in a daze, chest heaving up and down. All traces of that thing were gone.
“What was that?” Wendy croaked. She could see from the lights that whatever had attacked her was gone, but they were starting to fade. She didn’t want to be left alone in the dark again. Wendy scrambled to her feet, but her legs were shaky and fatigued. She stumbled, and this time she let Peter reach out and help her.
“Peter, please, we need to get out of here. There’s something in the woods,” Wendy pleaded, her voice hoarse and cracking. She tugged on his arm with her quivering hands. Her eyes dashed around wildly. They weren’t alone. Something was in there. It was going to take her. Tears blurred Wendy’s vision.
“Shh, it’s okay, it’s gone now,” Peter said, gently cupping her cheek in his warm hand, but his soft voice did nothing to reassure her.
Wendy shook her head violently. Her knees buckled under her. Their only source of light was fading rapidly.
She pulled harder on Peter’s arm. “We have to get out of here—we can’t stay here! I can’t!” She felt the woods pressing in around her. Any moment, fingers would reach out and snatch her up. She would be trapped and lost among the trees forever.
They needed to leave, they needed to escape—
It came crashing back with violent weight: the reason she was in the woods to begin with. “Alex,” Wendy choked out. “It took Alex!” She spun, looking in all directions. “ALEX!” she shouted, throat raw. Her head whipped around. Her hair stuck to her lips as she called out for him.
Which way had he gone? Where had it taken him? “We have to get him back,” Wendy said. She made for the woods, but Peter caught her by the elbow.
“We need to get you home,” Peter said. His voice was steady, which only angered Wendy.
Peter was calm, and she was furious with him for it.
“No, we need to find Alex,” Wendy insisted. “We can’t just abandon him here!” She tried to jerk her arm away, but Peter held on.
“They’re already gone,” he said. His expression was defeated but certain. “It’s dark, we don’t know which way it went, we need to go back—”
“No!” Wendy shouted at him. Wrenching her arm free from his grasp, she shoved him away. “He’s alone!” She squeezed her hands into fists. “You don’t know what it’s like, being in these woods! We can’t just leave him!”
Wendy’s eyes stung and her vision blurred. She rubbed at them angrily. Couldn’t he see that? Didn’t he understand?
Peter’s arms fell to his sides. His eyebrows tipped and the look of pity on his face made her want to slap him.
“Wendy,” he said gently.
But gentleness was not what Wendy needed. She needed to rage and scream against the night.
“We have to find him!” Wendy imagined Alex’s terrified cries. She pictured him lost and alone. It was her fault he was gone. She should’ve rescued him. She should’ve kept him safe. Wendy imagined her brothers.
“WE CAN’T LEAVE THEM!” she shouted before sobs overcame her. Collapsing on her knees, she ducked and twisted her arms over the top of her head, trying to shield herself. Her fingers tangled themselves in her hair. She was terrified and exhausted. She wanted to find Alex. She wanted to find her brothers.
She wanted to go home.
Wendy felt Peter kneel down next to her. Through her elbows, she could see him hold a closed fist out in front of her.
Just as the