Wendy's POV

“Stay.” I blurted out the word hanging in the air like a poorly aimed arrow. Even I was surprised. George – His Highness George – stood frozen halfway out the ruined doorway. The command so unexpected seemed to have knocked him off balance.

He turned slowly a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. “Stay? Here?”

I swallowed the initial impulse wavering. “Just... until the door is fixed. It's almost dawn. I... I just don't want to be alone with a gaping hole in my security.” The excuse sounded lame even to my own ears. But the truth the underlying vulnerability that had driven me to speak was...