“We have nothing to offer Peter,” says Maddox. “You’re the only thing he wants.”
It’s Nolan who interrupts him. “That’s not going to happen.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” I say. “If we can find Peter, I think I know how to get through to him.”
Nolan tenses, and I put my hand on his, where he’s clenching my shoulder, probably without realizing he’s doing it.
“But Maddox is right,” Charlie says. “We have absolutely nothing he wants.”
“No,” I say, “we don’t. But that’s the thing. I might have been his prisoner, but I learned him. Iknowhim. We have nothing to barter with, but bartering is not the only means of persuasion.”
“Youknewhim,” Nolan says. “Neither of us knows who that man is now.”
“Do you trust me?” I ask.
There’s a silence in the room. One that’s almost deafening.
“I do,” says Charlie. “And I’m the one you shot, so my opinion should count more.”
“Technically, she cut off Nolan’s hand,” says Maddox, but Nolan shoots him a glare.
Maddox looks at me, his face softening. “Just tell us what you need.”
“Wendy,”says Charlie, the playfulness bleeding from her face. Nolan and Maddox left us alone to talk after discussing our plans for recruiting Peter. All of a sudden, my friend who was so active in the planning looks so tired, so worn, and I find myself questioning the reassurance of the healer. But then she grips my wrist tightly.
“I need you to promise me something,” she says.
“Anything,” I say.
She shakes her head. “No. None of that. That’s exactly my point, Wendy. You can’t be making promises anymore. Not ones where you don’t know the consequences. You can’t be making bargains. Not with the Fates. Not even with the fae.”
I open my mouth—and shut it again.
I want to be able to make this promise to her, but I know that deep down, if an opportunity presents itself—if it means saving my son—I’ll enter another bargain in an instant.
“I can see what you’re thinking,” she says. “And I know. I know you would do anything to get your little boy back. I’m not trying to argue against that. And I will do anything I can to help you. But can’t you see? It’s a lie.”
“What’s a lie?”
“These people. These creatures who rope you into bargains. They only have the power to do so because you allow them to. They lead you to believe you are powerless without them. That they are the ones holding the cards. They convince you that their way is the only way. That you are not clever enough, or smart enough, or powerful enough to do it without them. But you are,” she says. “There’s always another way.”
“Not always.”
She squeezes my wrist again. “I need a promise. Not a bargain. Nothing binding. Just your word. A promise between friends.”
Something about that touches my heart, but before I can respond, she continues. “And in case you think this is about me, about my injury, please don’t. Of course, that’s part of it. I don’t want to see you carrying the guilt for someone else getting hurt. But Wendy, you have to stop relying on the people who care nothing about you. This plan that you have with Peter?—”
“It’s the only way?—”
“Please, just let me finish,” she says. “I’m not opposed to it. Not at all. I’m fully supportive of you exploring any option you can to get your son back. But do not give away your power.”
“But that’s just it,” I say. “I have no power left.”
What I don’t say is that my power was taken from me the moment the Sister lifted my baby from my arms. All the cards are in her hands. And as long as Peter is the only one who has access to the Sister, the ability to look behind her shoulder at the cards belongs to him.
“No,” she says. “They have a power of their own. But you have a power of yours too. One that neither of them can understand. You love your son, and you would give yourself up to get him back. Neither of them understands that kind of love,” she says. “They understand obsession. But that’s all they have. It’s not as strong as what you—what we—have.”
“What they have sure feels stronger,” I say.
