Page 127 of Chasing Never
“Yes, well, you would have taken Astor as your lover, would you have not?” says Peter.
The Sister’s answer, as well as her voice, is cruel.
“But you are not Nolan Astor,” she says, “and I do not believe I am the only one who would make exceptions for him and would not make exceptions for you.”
I cling to Nolan’s chest more tightly. Of all my fears of Peter’s betrayal, there is one that had yet to occur to me until now. Is it possible that the Sister will taunt him to a degree to which he’s so jealous, so angry at Nolan, that he turns on us? I can only hope not. But if Peter is hurt, he does not betray it in his answer.
“That might be true,” he says. “But you know very well, of the two of us—me and Captain Astor—which one of us is more likely to make an exception for you?”
There is a pause. A silence that is chilling. It’s a gamble, insulting the Sister this way. But Peter insisted he knew her well enough to play on her mute emotions.
“Is that what you’re here for, then?” she says.
Desire. Her desperation for attention, for someone to long for her, cuts through even her carefully masked voice. I can feel it even without watching her, without seeing her. Her aching. Her desperation to be desired.
“I’m not sure if you’ve heard,” says the Sister, “but I have gotten what I wanted. I have no need for you any longer.”
Nolan and I both tense at the words, and I close my eyes, squinting as I press my nose against his chest. It’s agony having to trust not only Peter’s intentions, but his skill as well, especially when he has no control over the Sister’s reaction.
“Yes, I’ve heard rumors,” says Peter. “I heard that the Astor boy was stolen for ransom. Of course, that is only the mortals’ petty attempts at explaining what they do not understand. I knew it had to have been you.”
“If that’s the case, then you know that I no longer have need of your attention,” she says.
“Oh, I highly doubt that,” says Peter. “After all, the child is just that, correct? A child. An infant, even. I had assumed that even you were not so perverse.”
“Of course I’m not,” says the Sister, her voice clipped. “That child will be protected. Well cared for. No one will touch him.”
“Then you must still be lonely,” he says.
“I have a son now,” says the Sister. “Caring for him is more fulfilling than I ever could have imagined.”
I hear footsteps in the cavern. Peter must be approaching the Sister.
“But still,” he says, “you must have other desires that are not yet fulfilled. And won’t be for a long, long while.”
Nolan takes a breath, then releases me, the motion deliberate, quiet. It’s dark and I can barely see him as we unfold from each other’s arms and walk quietly down the hall, our footsteps muffled by Peter and the Sister’s conversation.
“Bold of you to think I would accept your advances after all this time,” says the Sister. “After you proved to be weak. What makes you think I would desire you any longer?”
Peter laughs.
“You have always desired me. And what you deem as weakness was only ever my attention toward Wendy Darling. Weakness might not be so attractive, but we both know that weak is not how women perceive a man who prefers someone else.”
“You insult me,” says the Sister. “And yet you expect something from me?”
“You’ve insulted me countless times,” says Peter. “I figured you liked it.”
“I suppose just once wouldn’t do any harm,” the Sister muses, “for old times’ sake, at least.”
“Yes. For old times’ sake,” says Peter.
I flinch, hoping the Sister doesn’t catch the loathing in his voice.
Nolan and I peek around the corner as the Sister flourishes her hand, causing a dark shadow to obscure the mouth of the cave between her and Peter and Nolan and me. My heart jumps in surprise. Nolan and I glance at each other.
This is better than we could have expected. We thought Peter would have to distract the Sister for just long enough for us to sneak around them into the warping. We had not expected her to summon it in front of us.
We have no time to think before we react. With a single glance of agreement, we launch ourselves into the warping.
