Jax was unprepared for the torturous cold that ran through his body, freezing his muscles and ripping them from his control. Against his will, he was flung away from Wendy and landed on the ground. His mouth opened and shut like a fish as he struggled to breathe and push the shadow out of him.

A second later, the shadow left him, and he started to cough as air filled his lungs. Jax struggled to his knees, and then almost sank back to the ground at the sight that met him.

Wendy, beaten and bloodied, stood before him, her hair billowing out around her shoulders as if controlled by an unseen force. Her eyes were dark as the night, but her skin glowed, and the shadows, which were generally invisible to the naked eye, were becoming brighter, stronger, more lucid the angrier she became. An army surrounded her, and he knew defeat.

He had no desire to destroy her, and when he’d been given the command to bring her to Neverland, he’d almost revolted, but he had no choice. There was more at stake than any of them realized. More than Peter ever realized. He had to bring her back with him or else . . . At that moment, he hated himself for what he was about to do.

He closed his eyes, focusing his anger on the injustice of his prison. Fire pooled around his left hand, burning off the glove that he wore. He let the power flow into his palm. Please, he begged, let me be able to control the rage, control it so that it won’t destroy her.

“Jax,” Wendy called out, taking a step back in fear. “Don’t.”

“Come with me, Wendy.”

“Never,” she hissed.

“Then, you leave me no choice. Hook said if you won’t come with me, then you’re to die here.” He lifted his hand and closed his eyes, refusing to look as he sent a fireball toward her. At the last second, he lamented as Wendy flung up her hands to protect herself and screamed.

---

Some of the shadows threw themselves around Wendy, creating a shield of burning darkness. They didn’t say anything—they couldn’t—but she heard their souls cry out in pain as they shielded her, and burned up, dissolving into smoke and mist.

“No!” Wendy cried as they sacrificed themselves to protect her.

When it was over, she sat in a circle of charred grass. Tears fell freely down her cheeks. Inside, she could still feel their pain, their suffering, and their hope. The closest shadow lay on the ground, its body glowing from within, like an ember about to go out. It was the one that had attacked Jax for her.

Ignoring Jax, ignoring everything but the closest shadow in front of her, she crawled forward on her knees, and lying down on the ground, she reached out and touched the shadow for the first time. She heard a barely audible sigh as it started to fade, but she wouldn’t let go.

“Don’t give up. Don’t go,” she whispered.

The shadow reached a hand for her, as if to cup her chin, then dissolved into smoke and mist. The vaporous shadow slid up her arm, wrapping around it like a light brace, and then just vanished, dissipating into the air and leaving nothing of itself behind but a black tattoo on Wendy’s arm.

Her soul cried out, wanting vengeance, and she turned to Jax, who stood shocked by what had happened, his arms pinned to his sides by other shadows, which had stopped his assault.

“No wonder Hook wants you. You can see and control the shadows,” Jax said.

She stormed over to him, her face a mask of hate. “No one controls the shadows,” Wendy hissed. “Least of all me.” Wendy turned to the shadows and said, “I need help.”

The shadows that were on the outskirts, the ones that hadn’t protected her against Jax’s fireball, pooled around Wendy and Jax.

“What are they doing?” he screamed, his voice quivering in fear.

She couldn’t answer, her voice stolen by her uncertainty. What had she asked them to do? The shadows grasped at Jax and her, wrapping themselves around them, and then, the shadows pulled them into darkness. A tornado of cold air whipped around her, swallowing them in a vortex of cries, snarling, and gnashing of teeth.

“What is that?” Jax covered his ears.

Wendy stared in horror as Jax was swallowed by shadows and disappeared in front of her. Seconds later, Wendy was pulled after him as they exited their world.