Page 27 of Another Damned Storm (Another Damned #3)

NEVER

“Would you like to return to our room at Rutledge?” Hook asked.

To where my brother and niece were, in their big, protected compound? “No!” Panic slammed into me like a fist to the chest. “I cannot be around other people right now.”

And fuck me, I didn’t know what hurt more, the fact that I suddenly couldn’t trust myself or the look Hook gave me when I admitted it.

In a blink, we were back in the abandoned shop where we’d had our little reunion a few days earlier. “Wait here,” he ordered.

“You’re leaving?”

“Only for a moment.” Hook tugged my hand like he meant to pull me into his arms, but I jerked back, pulling it out of his grip.

Yeah, I saw the irony. I desperately didn’t want him to leave, but I’d also just attacked him like a rabid badger. There was no world where holding me close was the sane choice.

His brow pulled together. He opened his mouth to say something, then rolled his bottom lip between his teeth .

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I just…” I was terrified that if he put his arms around me—caged me in—the animal inside me would come back out to play.

The crease in his brow deepened. “No more apologies, Never. I will return shortly. You have my word.”

I swallowed hard and nodded. The moment he disappeared, I sank to the filthy floor, laid down on my back, and pressed my palms to my eyes. “What the fuck is going on?” I’d never felt so out of control in my life.

At the same time, I felt more powerful than ever. We’re talking skin-tingling, hair-vibrating, amped-beyond-reason kind of powerful.

It was terrifying, and not just because I couldn’t control it. Power like that was bound to be addictive. And I wasn’t just scared. I was pissed too.

Why the hell would I attack Hook?

Attacking Lapalme at least made sense. It wasn’t the smartest move, but the way he was talking about destroying my family made me want to tear him limb from limb, preferably with my bare hands.

But Hook? He wasn’t a threat to me.

He was everything to me.

“Fuck!” I slammed my fists into the concrete floor beside me.

“Love?”

Perfect.

I blinked my eyes open to see Hook standing a short distance away wearing a frown. “Hey. No need to look so worried. I was just having myself a little temper tantrum.”

He arched one dark eyebrow. “And breaking the floor, I see.”

I sat up and squinted down at the concrete. Sure enough, a web of fine cracks radiated out from where I’d struck the dingy gray surface. “Apparently.” And that was just one more reason I shouldn’t be around humans .

I could only imagine what would happen if I got all choked up while I was hugging Matt or Angie, and I accidentally squeezed too tight.

The thought made me sick to my stomach.

“How did you not crush me like a bug when I was just a lowly human?” I asked, staring down at my hands.

“Would you believe me if I said I was tempted to, once or twice?” he asked.

It was meant to be a joke, but I couldn’t find it in me to smile. “So, what, you just have killer restraint?”

“That and lifetimes of experience wielding my power. It’s going to take time and effort to learn how to handle your newfound strength.”

I knew that. I did, but there was more to it. I pushed up off the ground and dusted off my hands, then held them out in front of me again, balling them up and extending them slowly. “I don’t feel like myself,” I confessed. “Not entirely, anyway.”

When I dared a glance up, he was studying me. Then his gaze shifted to the boarded up windows and the chained door. “I have somewhere else I’d like to take you to continue this conversation. It’s safe. Miles away from others.”

I shoved my hands in my back pockets because I couldn’t figure out what else to do with them. “Where?”

Hook tipped his head to one side. “A small cabin in the woods. Lily said it’s where she goes when she needs an escape.”

“And when she needs to let her tiger run wild, I bet.”

He held out his hand like he meant for me to take it, but again, I hesitated. If he was going to take me, I would have to touch him, but I still felt strange.

“You are not going to hurt me, Never.”

I chewed on my lip. “Our experience earlier begs to differ.”

“Then at least talk to me about it. Tell me what happened.”

“I don’t know what happened.” That was the truth.

“Lapalme was pissing me off, and the longer we stood there, the angrier I got. You heard what he was saying. This is the asshole who made us what we are, who damned me and Matt and Angie to the Alius. And now he’s trying to kill us off?

” I took a deep breath, trying to calm the fury that was threatening to rise again just from thinking about it. “I just snapped.”

He nodded. “What were you feeling aside from the anger?”

Was there anything else? “Protective, I guess?” I pulled my hands from my pockets and dragged them down my face. “And just really, really fucking pissed.”

“And when you attacked me? What then?”

I looked him in the eyes. Honesty was the best policy, right? “Threatened.”

“You saw me as a threat?” he asked the question, but from the way it trailed off as he tipped his face to the sky, it didn’t feel like it was really directed at me. “And your eyes turned red.”

“What?” Did I hear that right? I still wasn’t used to the fact that they could glow amber like Hook’s.

He pinned me with a look I couldn’t read, and the next thing I knew, his big hand was wrapped around my neck, and we were surrounded by pine trees, fresh air, and the sounds of startled wildlife. He slammed me flat on my back and loomed over me without releasing my neck.

A jolt of panic rocked me. “Are you out of your fucking mind?” Because, one, that was a dick move. And two, he’d shut me out of his head. I grabbed his wrist and tried to break his hold. “What the hell are you doing?”

“What are you feeling now?” he asked, scowling down at me.

“Angry. And confused.”

“Am I a threat?”

“Yes.” I glared up at him. “To my sanity.”

The barest twitch lifted one side of his mouth. Then he started squeezing. At first, it was almost erotic. I mean, what girl doesn’t love a good hand necklace? But as the seconds ticked by without his grip easing, a new wave of anxiety grew.

I wrapped both of my hands around his wrist and tried to pry myself free, but it was like he was built out of stone. The pressure in my head built until black spots swam in my vision. Alarm raced up my spine.

I tried to yell at him to let go, but nothing came out. I dug my heels into the ground and bucked. He didn’t move an inch. And the smile that had ghosted his lips a few seconds earlier was gone, replaced with a determination that spiked my blood pressure.

He wasn’t really trying to kill me. He wouldn’t. Hell, I wasn’t entirely sure he even could. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that, but the longer he held me down, the more my need to survive drowned out any kind of logic or reason.

He leaned down until his face was inches from mine. The amber rings in his eyes exploded to life. “Do you feel the threat now?” he growled.

Fuck me. I’d forgotten how intimidating he could be. Goosebumps sprang up all over my body, but instead of cowering back or nodding, power surged inside me, and along with it came a kind of fury that demanded action.

“Almost there,” he said.

A strange sound vibrated from my chest in response to his voice. The need to get him off me clawed at my insides, but the fucker would not relent. I closed my eyes and thrashed against him, but for as strong as I’d grown, I was still no match for him.

“Open your eyes, Never.” The command in his voice was like throwing fuel on a fire.

My eyes snapped open and my need to protect myself fell away. What replaced it was a bone-deep desire for violence. I stopped digging at his wrist and struck out, catching him in the jaw with my right fist and scratching at his throat with my other hand.

“There it is,” he snarled. Blood dripped down his neck as his grip disappeared and he hauled himself off me.

I was on my feet a second later, gasping and gagging even as I threw myself at him, intent on destruction. He flashed away before I could get my hands on him and I whirled, frustration rumbling out of me.

“Breathe, Never,” he said.

A growl that felt like it started in my toes vibrated my chest. It was the only response I could manage because the emotions roaring through me were too strong.

Violence. Blood. Destruction.

That was all the beast inside me wanted.

I lunged and he flashed away again. I spun, emitting an inhuman howl as I did.

“Come on, love. You can do this,” he said. “I need you to breathe. Deep breath in.”

I was panting, humming with unleashed power, but I also heard what he was saying despite the primitive part of my brain trying to drown it out. With a hell of a lot of effort, I managed to suck in a lungful of air.

“Good. Now, look inside yourself. Find your control.”

More animalistic sounds rolled out of me, but on the inside, the human part of me was clinging to his words.

Find my control. I searched, found a tiny thread, and pulled. It seemed like an impossibly small thing, like trying to rein in a raging bull with a piece of twine, but little by little, I was able to push the mindless fury down.

It wasn’t until my chest had stopped heaving and my nostrils had stopped flaring that I realized my connection to Hook was wide open .

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“You felt all of that, didn’t you?” I asked, still a little out of breath even though the physical damage he’d inflicted was completely healed.

He nodded. When he stepped toward me, I stepped back. I expected him to respect that I needed distance the way he usually did, but he just kept coming.

“Stop running from me, Never. Let go of whatever guilt or hesitation you’re feeling. It’s just you and me out here, and I assure you, no matter what happens, we will both be okay.”