Page 14 of Another Damned Storm (Another Damned #3)

HOOK

The sun had risen four times in the Nassa since Criton had grudgingly agreed to return to Othrys. Four days that each lasted an eternity.

Four days in which, thankfully, I still had that delicate thread of a connection with Never. I was certain our link was the only thing keeping me sane.

Before, in the quiet years when Petra didn’t have a boy to corrupt, and I no longer had the drive to visit the island and search out a fight with her minions to blow off steam, I turned to rum and women to pass the time.

My crew and I sailed the enchanted waters of the realm, helping those we liked and plundering the treasures the nine islands had to offer.

Now, the rum sat like a stone in my gut and all thoughts of plundering led me straight to Never. She was all I wanted. To build a life with her.

Curse the universe for giving me a taste of what that life could have looked like. Having her by my side every day and in my bed every night had made this realm feel like heaven. Without her, it was empty .

“Where the hell is he?” I asked, directing the question at the open water.

Warm wind buffeted my face as I rocked the helm a smidge to my left. The sails snapped when they caught the breeze, and the pull on the ship was noticeable. If I’d had a destination in mind, we would have been making great time.

Instead, we sailed aimlessly. Yes, we dropped by the eddy to make sure it was intact and there was no sign that Petra had found a way to free herself from her watery prison. It was still the same swirling vortex it had always been.

We hadn’t even had a decent storm since Never’s departure, which was unsettling. If she was in the Alius, that would explain the calm settling back over the Nassa.

But I wasn’t imagining that tug inside me.

I pressed my palm over my chest. Her pull was like a distant siren song calling out to every drop of my being. The connection should have been reassuring, and it was in a way. It also burrowed under my skin creating an unbearable itch I could not reach.

“Criton, I swear to the stars, if you don’t show your face soon…”

What was I going to do? It wasn’t like I could force him to return to this realm.

Do I dare risk summoning Nerebis again? The last time I’d tried, two days earlier, he’d surprised me by actually heeding the call, arriving in a flurry of irritation.

He hadn’t been forthcoming, however. He’d refused to tell me if Never was in the Alius or anything that might be happening with her, and he showed no genuine interest in the storms and the geological chaos that had been plaguing the Nassa.

“This cannot be the end,” I grumbled to myself. “I will not accept it. ”

“Sir? Did you say something?” William asked from his position a few paces away.

I shook my head. “Nothing of consequence.”

Never Darling had stolen my heart. She’d muddled my head and molded my dreams until they all revolved around her. And, to add insult to injury, my feisty woman had even managed to turn me into a muttering fool.

Closing my eyes, I sent out a silent call to Criton. As a god, there existed a few ways to summon one of our own. Bellowing into the sky was always an option, but it attracted attention. Since this was meant to be a stealth endeavor, I went the silent route.

Hours later, when the sun was setting in the distance, he materialized on my deck.

“Criton.” I offered him a curt dip of my chin.

“Atlas.” He looked irritated. No, that wasn’t quite right. Perhaps flustered was the word I was searching for?

The changes were subtle. His clothes were slightly rumpled and his dual mohawks weren’t as prominent as they’d been the last time I’d laid eyes on him.

“What news do you have?”

His expression turned defiant. “Payment first.”

“Payment after delivery, Criton. That is how bargains with me work.” Especially when dealing with an immortal soul who had found himself in the clutches of addiction.

I couldn’t blame him too much. Pixie dust was a powerful drug—part aphrodisiac, part painkiller. Barely a pinch of the fine powder was enough to make even the surliest of gods pliable.

Anya’s dust was one reason I’d allowed myself to be seduced by that devil pixie in the first place. When the best rum in the realm wasn’t enough to get me out of bed, a taste of the magic locked inside those tiny particles could make me fly .

She knew what she was doing using it. I knew too, but it had taken me a long while to see her machinations for what they really were. She said she wanted love, but what she really desired was control.

“Well?” I motioned impatiently.

He turned his gaze out to the water before answering. “She’s not in the Alius.”

As I suspected, but there was nothing to gain from letting him in on that secret. “Do you know where she is?”

“Do you realize how much trouble I can get in for this?”

“No one is forcing you.” I tipped my head to William who moved without a word to take over my position. Then I made my way down the steps, slowly, drawing out the tension. “You are welcome to leave here any time you wish,” I added, tapping my middle finger on the leather satchel on my belt.

Criton’s eyes locked on the small pouch as though he could smell the pixie dust inside. He licked his lips. “The human realm.”

“What about it,” I asked, being intentionally obtuse.

“That’s where your girlfriend is. A dude in a cloak escorted her to the demon realm, but she was only there for a little bit before she found her way out.”

Never was able to pull herself from the Alius? That had to mean the powers I’d shared with her were still intact. That or someone was helping her. Either way, it was an intriguing development.

“Who is paying attention to her movements?” I asked.

Criton shoved his hands in his pockets. “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“I disagree.” I took a step toward him, savoring the way he inched back.

We might both be gods and he might have certain advantages at the moment, but the imbalance of power was undeniable.

“Our arrangement was that you would travel to Othrys to learn what you could about what was happening with Never. Understanding who is involved is part of that arrangement.”

He all but growled with frustration. “No one back home is watching, Atlas. You and I know what she’s done, throwing the realms into chaos, but as far as I could tell, the others either haven’t noticed or they don’t care.”

I bristled. “No one?” After the warnings Nerebis had leveled that seemed unlikely. “You’re wrong, Criton. Someone is manipulating something, and I aim to stop them.”

“This coming from a god who can’t even flash himself out of a puddle.”

The anger growing inside me sharpened. Never was the only soul in the realms who could get away with snarking at me. “And do you know why I was cursed to this puddle , Demigod Criton?”

My sentence was handed down long before he was even a glimmer in his mother’s eye, and judging by the way he eased back another step, he’d heard the rumors.

“I’m not looking for trouble,” he said quickly.

“In fact, you know, you can just keep the dust. I really should be weaning myself off the stuff.”

Oh yes, he knew the story. Filled with blood and vengeance and betrayal.

I pulled in a deep breath to stabilize myself before untying the pouch from my belt and tossing it at him. “A deal is a deal.”

He caught it, fumbling the rich leather in his twitchy fingers. “There’s no way this is half.”

I shrugged. I had five other satchels just like it hidden away in my quarters. “It should be more than enough to sate the hunger gnawing at your insides. For a while.”

Depending on the depths of his addiction, that amount might last a week or it could sustain him for years. Were I to bet on it, I would put my gold much closer to a week .

“You promised me half,” Criton complained.

“And you promised me information. As I am unsatisfied with the quality of said information, I am only inclined to pay for what I have received.”

“I told you what I know. No one has even noticed that she’s back in the human realm.”

“And that doesn’t strike you as odd? According to Nerebis, a human being resurrected and gifted the power of a god has only occurred twice in the whole of history. It should have drawn attention.”

Criton’s eye twitched.

I knew it. “What aren’t you telling me?”

He shook his head.

It took everything in me not to reach out and throttle him. “Who is watching her?” It was the only thing that made sense.

His gaze shifted to the sky for a beat. “Look, I’d never even heard of this guy until you sent me up there, and I don’t know for sure that he is watching. If he is, he really doesn’t want anyone else up there noticing.”

“Give me a name, Criton.”

He rubbed his lips together. “Thrain.”

It took me a moment to sift through memories of my time before the Nassa. “An old Neolithic god of weather?” I asked.

He nodded quickly.

“That’s… odd.” His involvement would explain the storms and possibly some of the other upheaval, but what possible reason could he have for watching Never? “Did you speak with him?”

“Hell, no.” He cast me an incredulous look. “That dude has anger issues.”

“How so?” Thrain and I hadn’t crossed paths many times, but back when I’d been welcome amongst the gods, he’d been congenial enough .

Criton’s fingers gripped the small sack of pixie dust so tightly it was a miracle it hadn’t burst. “Most of the old gods don’t give two shits about humans, but I heard Thrain’s power is anchored in belief, and he’s been getting weaker.”

Ah. “The humans have forgotten about him.”

He tapped the side of his nose with his index finger, then pointed at me. “Two points for the damned pirate god.”

“What makes you think he’s watching Never?” The thought made my blood warm in a purely violent way.

“Call it a hunch.” He glanced up again, quickly, as though Thrain might lash out and strike him down where he stood. “But if you’re looking for evidence, you’re shit out of luck.”

“Did he communicate with anyone else? Or was he, perhaps, acting…” What would Never call it? “Shifty?”

“Still struggling with the modern lingo, huh?”

“I would have used the term ‘surreptitious’ if I thought you were bright enough to understand it.” See, Never really was wearing off on me. I straightened. “Please just answer the question, Criton.”

“Not that I saw. He kept his distance from everyone else.”

It was infuriating having my hands tied as they were when Never’s life and future were being manipulated. They had to be, and yet no one took notice. As quickly as the fury rose, it was buried beneath a mountain of guilt.

Had I not behaved in exactly the same way when I’d been part of their world? Careless and dismissive.

I cringed to think of the monster I might have become had I not been cursed to the Nassa. I’d been livid at first, naturally, but over time I’d learned to look inward and see my follies. Not always, perhaps, and certainly not quickly, but enough so that I was still humbled by what I saw some days.

“Is that all you can recall?” I asked .

He shoved his hands in his pockets and the muted jingle of coins carried on the breeze. “Pretty much.”

“Very well.” It wasn’t as much as I was hoping for, but it was more information than I’d started with. “Remain here a moment.”

I fetched two more satchels of pixie dust from my quarters. The space still smelled of Never, a scent I cherished even though it tore my heart open every time I inhaled it.

When I returned and handed it over, Criton tossed the bag gently in his hand as if weighing it. “What are you planning on doing with the rest?”

That was a good question. It was worth saving, if only as a future bargaining chip.

“What would you suggest, aside from ingesting it?”

A sly smile hid some of the shadows beneath his eyes. “If you’re so interested in the girl, why not use it to find her?”

I motioned to the sea. “You do recall I am bound to this realm, don’t you?”

He held up the small leather pouch. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”