Page 19 of Another Damned Storm (Another Damned #3)

NEVER

Well, that didn’t go quite the way I thought it would. Not that I was complaining. It was easily the hottest blowjob I’d ever given, though at some point it turned from me giving to Hook taking, and I didn’t want to think about why that shift of control was so fucking panty drenching.

To be fair, I’d grabbed his hair and shoved his head between my legs plenty of times. Memories of those moments flashed in my mind, cranking up the dial on my desire.

He eased back with a groan, leveling me with a tortured look that brought a devilish smile to my face. “You said we needed to talk. Is it safe to assume that wasn’t the conversation you were referring to?”

“That was part of it.”

His eyes searched mine before he pressed away from the wall. “And the other part?” he asked, zipping up his pants.

Down to business then. “Things are seriously wrong here.”

“So I gathered.”

“I don’t just mean the demons or the storms. Or the fact that they apparently show up at the same time. ”

Hook quirked his head to the side. “The demons come with the storms? Are you certain?”

“According to Matt. Then there’s the park.

That’s where the demons come through, and everything inside that fence is dead or dying.

And the way time seems to have taken a gigantic fucking leap forward here.

I know you told me that wasn’t weird, but my gut says otherwise.

And Lily is here in Charleston too, but she and Matty are on opposite sides of that same creepy ass park. ”

Okay, so maybe I was reaching with that one. A lot could happen in twenty-six years. Friendships, marriages—hell, entire families—could fall apart in less time. Plus, it wasn’t like they didn’t talk.

But still. This was Lily we were talking about.

Hook eyed me. “What else?”

“Isn’t that enough?” It sure as shit was for me.

“I think you’re leaving something out. About the demons?” he asked patiently.

Oh. That.

I licked my lips. May as well put it all out there. “I don’t think they want to be here.”

“What gives you that impression?”

“It was just the vibe I got when I looked at a couple of them.”

“Another gut feeling?” he asked, but there was no judgment in the question.

“Yeah.” That was close enough.

His hand slid down his hip and he looked down. Irritation flitted across his face before he shoved his hand in his pocket. “I have a few questions of my own. Did you know you would be able to leave the Alius once you were there?”

I tipped my head back and stared at the nasty ceiling. “Not really.” It came back to having a feeling. And a whole fucking bushel of hope .

“How did you do it?”

“I was on the run from an army of demons, and I focused all my energy on my brother. This is where I wound up.” I spread my arms out wide. “Well, in the park. Quid pro quo, pirate. How the hell did you get here?”

He turned and walked a few paces before circling around and coming back, though he ended up noticeably farther away. “Let’s save that detail for a later date.”

“Let’s not.” I knew evasive when I saw it, and there was something he didn’t want to tell me. “What, did you have to kill a genie to get here? Because last I checked, that curse your dad and his cronies put on you didn’t give you a hell of a lot of wiggle room.”

I also knew I wasn’t the one who summoned him this time. That was my intention. At least to try. But I hadn’t made it that far when he materialized in front of me. That was another weird thing.

When he flashed, it was instantaneous. He was there, then he wasn’t.

Or vice versa. When he showed up in the park, it was like a void in space opened up and pulled a billion tiny particles of the human realm together to create him right there in front of me.

I’d just been too damned excited to see him to care.

“Never.” He shook his head. “This can wait.”

With that tone? “I don’t think it can.”

Frustration blasted hot through our connection, but was I also picking up on a little guilt?

“What did you do to get here?” I asked. “Did you steal magic? Or make a deal?” Oh, shit. Please tell me he didn’t make a deal. There were so many ways a bargain could go wrong.

The silence that followed made my ears ring. He looked away.

Man, he really did not want to tell me .

“Pixie dust,” he admitted quietly, as if lowering his volume would lessen the blow.

My heart sank. He made a deal with the glitter bitch?

I blinked, but I didn’t even have time to fully process what I was feeling before he added, “I killed Anya and used her magic to come find you.”

Oh.

I got the sense he wanted to come closer and wrap me up in his arms, but he kept his distance. Probably a smart move since my emotions were ricocheting off each other and my brain was struggling to catch up.

It was the kind of news that should have made me happy. I hated that wretched little bug. We’re talking a full-on, enemies-list-for-eternity kind of hate.

But if it was that easy—why had it taken him days?

“I was only recently made aware that a pixie’s magic could be used in such a way,” he said, clearly sensing what I was feeling and thinking.

That still wasn’t fair. I was lucky if I could pick up on vague emotions coming through our link, but if I wasn’t careful, he could basically hear my thoughts.

And he was made aware? Someone had to tell him how to use pixie dust? “You had a visitor?”

He rolled his bottom lip between his perfect teeth. “A demigod named Criton.”

“Wait.” I held up my hands. “A god dropped in on you in the Nassa? Way to bury the lead.” That was a huge deal, especially since Hook had told me a while ago how long he’d been trying to get the gods and the council to hear him. “What did he want?”

“The dust. He sensed Anya’s death in some way and came to collect her remains.”

“What, was he planning on shaking the dust out of her wings?” The visual was mildly amusing, but I was obviously missing something.

“When a pixie dies, her body breaks down into its base magical element. Rather quickly, it would seem.”

I wrinkled my nose. “So, when you said you used her magic?” I asked, eyeing him.

He nodded. “I mixed a small amount of the dust from her remains with the enchanted sea water from the Nassa.”

“You... drank her?” That was a little gross, right? Like, I knew the magical world had its own rules and all, but that had a pretty high yuck factor.

Then again, I ate chicken. And I had once imagined carving off her wings and making jewelry out of them.

So, maybe swallowing a little magical dust wasn’t that grotesque.

“The god was the one who told you how to use it?” I’d already forgotten his name, but it hardly mattered. “What did you give him in exchange?”

“We split it. He took the bulk, I kept the rest.”

“That was it? No other on-the-sly deals or arrangements?” It seemed too easy. And convenient. “How did he know about the pixie dust? How to find it? How to use it?”

“In some immortal circles, it has more recreational uses.”

“You mean it’s a drug.”

“A powerful one. Even more so when it is the dust of a dead pixie as opposed to the dust her wings shed.”

“Addictive as shit, I’m assuming.” That or it was worth something. Why else would a god venture to the Nassa to get it?

His gaze drifted around the abandoned space before settling on me again. “It can be.”

And just like that, the sick feeling was back. “What about the way you used it? ”

“That was very different from those who ingest it for fun,” he assured me.

Relief filtered through my thoughts, and it was only then that I realized how fucking tense I was. I rolled my neck out. Then my shoulders. “Are there any side effects?”

He shrugged. “As a drug, yes. Euphoria and a pleasant numbness. As a travel aide? Aside from a rather violent trip, none that I can tell.”

That was something. “Well, I’m glad you’re here.”

His expression softened. “As am I.”

“I don’t know what to do here. I thought we were supposed to have decades. Maybe a lifetime or two before my impact was really felt.”

He finally moved closer and pulled me into his chest. “That was what Nerebis alluded to.”

“So, why is this all happening so fast?” And where did the time go?

Hook stiffened against me. It was a small thing, but I knew. “Spill it, pirate.”

He huffed out a tired laugh. “Nothing gets past you, does it?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

He told me about how he sent Criton to Othrys and how one of those divine creepers might have been watching me. I’d made a spectacle of myself on plenty of occasions, but the idea of some decrepit old god going all voyeur on my life kind of pissed me off.

“You think he’s up to something?” I asked.

Hook lifted his brow in the subtlest of confirmations, then he reached into his back pocket. “Give me your hand.”

I did as he asked. We might have our differences, and more than a few secrets, but he’d earned my trust. That wasn’t easy to do .

He slipped a familiar copper bracelet around my wrist. The one that kept prying eyes from finding me in the Nassa.

“Nope.” I immediately took it back off.

If some rogue god really was watching my life for sport, or whatever reason he might use to justify it, he would notice if I suddenly went missing. And if he really was involved in what was happening in the human realm, what would he do when I wasn’t there to keep him entertained?

“I appreciate the gesture. Really. But think about it for a second,” I said.

“Just for now, Never.” He took it from me and gently slid it back on. “For a little privacy.”

“If you were so worried about privacy you probably should have given it to me before I apologized.”

His eyes widened.

Yeah buddy. He was just figuring out that there was a chance that old creep watched this sexy beast face fuck me. It definitely shouldn’t have been funny, but I had to bite my bottom lip to keep from smiling too big.

“Perhaps you should wear it indefinitely.”

I snorted a laugh. “No shame here, pirate. Given the chance, I would do it again, audience and all.”

A possessive growl rumbled from his chest as a deep, masculine pride welled up inside me. I might not appreciate every second of our magical connection, or how lopsided it was at times, but I loved having such intimate knowledge of the effect I had on him.

“I can’t tell whether you love that idea or hate it,” I teased.

“Perhaps you haven’t noticed yet, but I don’t share what’s mine.”

“And I’m yours?”

He wrapped his hand around my throat and squeezed gently. “Is there a doubt? ”

I gave my head a little shake. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”

Hook brought his lips within a whisper of mine, our gazes locked. “You are mine, Never. Just as I am yours. Then, now, always.”

Swoon. He liked that word: Always.

As in forever.

All I could do was nod.

His grip tightened when he kissed me, still not cutting off my air but sending a clear message. Then the pressure was gone and he was stepping back.

It took me a minute to find my words after his declaration. He’d left the door between us wide open and it was… a lot.

I slipped the bracelet on my wrist. “You think it’s safe to talk now?”

He held up his own hand, revealing a small line of glowing symbols circling his wrist. They were there and gone in a blink. “I, too, am warded, though we should still be careful. I’m not sure how effective the wards will be in this realm.”

“If you can ward your body, why give me the bracelet?”

“You would have known right away what I was up to,” he admitted.

And I wouldn’t have been happy about him protecting me. As stubborn as I wanted to be about it, I could see the logic.

“Let’s get back to the god before my rebellious side kicks in.”

He smiled. A real, genuine smile that made my heart melt. “Very well. The god I mentioned is up to something, but I cannot be sure of what.”

“I didn’t recognize the name, and you said he was old. How old are we talking?”

“Nearly as old as the Titans themselves.”

“Super old. Got it.” I tapped my finger against my chin as I thought. This guy was so old that I couldn’t remember learning about him. “Do gods need people to believe in them for power or something?”

Hook arched a brow. “Some do, yes.”

“And if they are forgotten?”

“Those who lose their following slowly lose their power. They don’t die. At least, not in the way mortal beings often think of death, but they will fall into obscurity and find themselves forgotten even amongst the gods.”

“Is he like that?” I asked.

“He is, but I haven’t been able to discern how that ties him to you or to what is happening here.”

I combed my fingers through my still damp hair, working out a few of the tangles as I worked through my thoughts. “Okay. Let’s say he’s been getting weaker. What could he do in this world, or to it, that would put him back on the map?”

“He is a god of weather. There was a time, before the civilization that worshiped him was wiped out, when his power rivaled that of Zeus.”

“That would explain the storms.” And that was where the connection ended. “What about the demons?”

Hook shook his head and let out a sigh. “That I do not know. Gods do not control demons.”

“Who does control them?”

“More powerful demons.” He said it like it was common knowledge.

“You know some pretty powerful demons, don’t you? As in the Brethren.” As in the same guys who nearly killed my brother trying to rip Petra’s shadow out of him.

It wasn’t their fault. They were trying to help. They’d warned us about the dangers up front, and that slippery ass shadow was a mean sumbitch .

“I never did get a chance to thank them,” I said.

Hook eyed me warily. “The Brethren would not be involved in something like this.”

“I didn’t say they would be, but they might have a better idea of which powerful demons would be willing to team up with a disgruntled god. Don’t you think?”