Page 31 of Another Damned Storm (Another Damned #3)

HOOK

The moment we were back in Matt’s quarters, Angie stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

He dragged his hands down his face, looking every bit of his forty-three mortal years. “She’s usually not so hot-headed,” he said, his voice laced with frustration.

I dipped my head. “I imagine this is a stressful situation for all involved.”

“Do we even stand a chance? We’re talking about humans going up against a god. How does that end well?”

“Historically speaking, it has been done. And it won’t be just humans. Having shifters and other magical creatures on your side can help.”

“If they don’t get us all killed first.” His fingers traced the jagged lines running down his cheek.

“I didn’t say it would be easy, but if it comes to a fight, you won’t be alone. You will have Never’s help and my help.”

“And what can you do, exactly? I get that you’re supernaturally strong. Are you fast? How can you help?”

That was a good question. In the Nassa, what was left of my natural abilities were severely blunted by the enchanted waters.

Here, where the oceans were raw and vast, I had more options.

My father might have stripped his Titan powers from me, but I still had those that I’d inherited from my mother, a goddess of the sea.

“I am stronger and faster than a human.” More so now that Never had reunited me with that piece of myself I’d been deprived of for so long, even despite the fact that I was sharing that very power with her. “So is your sister,” I added.

He didn’t look impressed.

“We both heal quickly, and I have the ability to manipulate certain elements of the sea.”

He eyed me. “Can you conjure storms like Thrain?”

“Not on land, and it’s not something I’ve attempted in a very long time.

He lifted one skeptical brow. “Why not?”

“Those powers serve no purpose in my realm,” I admitted. “What can your people bring to a fight?”

“Against a god?” He blew out a long breath. “Does a willingness to die to protect what we love count for anything?”

“More than you might think. Soldiers who have nothing to lose also have nothing to live for. What else?”

He went to the window and peered out for several seconds before answering. “What do we need? What can stop threats like Thrain and Lapalme?”

“Other powerful people,” I admitted. “Thrain’s biggest weakness right now is also his greatest strength, and that is belief. The people who worship him are powering these attacks, making him stronger. If we can find a way to destroy their belief in him, he will be vulnerable.”

He turned, giving me a hopeful look. “Then we can kill him?”

“No.” Not without the council of gods stepping in with their combined power. Given what they’d let happen so far, I didn’t see them getting involved. “Killing a god requires an enormous amount of power. More than I possess, and far more than even the largest human army in history could muster.”

“So, what can we do?” he asked.

“We can subdue him, however,” I offered. “Possibly drive him back to the realm he came from.” Between Never and I, with our shared power, we might stand a chance. “But again, having other magical beings on your side?—”

He waved me off. “I get it. We need to work with everyone at Lily’s camp. What I need is information that will help me convince my people that teaming up with them is worth the risk.”

“Most shifters are also stronger and faster than humans, especially when shifted. Witches can protect your fighters and set traps for the demons. The fae have a range of abilities, including creating glamors that can be used to hide or mask soldiers or give the impression that something else entirely is happening. Shall I go on?”

Matt rubbed the back of his neck. “No. You made your point.”

“What do you have against the magical beings in your world?” I asked.

He held my gaze for several seconds before breaking away to scan his living space. “Shouldn’t you be getting back to my sister?”

Evasive and bordering on hostile. He was most certainly hiding something, but as tempted as I was to press, he was right. Never was my priority.

“Will we be welcome to return here, or would you prefer I take her to Salus?” I asked.

I may as well have sucker punched him for the look he gave me. “She—you—are both welcome here.”

That wasn’t the impression I was getting, but if he was leaving the invitation open, it would be up to Never to take him up on it. “Very well. I will see what your sister would like to do.” I tipped my head in his direction. “For what it’s worth, we both greatly appreciate your help today.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the chin jut he offered in response was in line for the mood he was displaying. I didn’t bother excusing myself before I flashed back to the cabin.

Never and Lily were both sitting in straight backed wooden chairs, staring out into the forest in silence. I cleared my throat to get their attention. “Would you like me to return you to your pack now?” I asked, aiming the question at Lily.

She nodded. “Yeah. I would appreciate it.” Then her gaze slid between us. “You two are welcome to hole up here for the night if you need some time to yourselves.”

Never shot me a look that I could only assume meant we needed to talk. The only problem was I wasn’t feeling anything coming through our connection.

I offered Lily a bow of my head. “That is generous of you. Thank you.”

Never got to her feet, though she moved stiffly. “Thanks for your help today, Lil.” She pulled the other woman into a tight hug. “And thanks for giving it to me straight.”

“Either we’re all in this together, or we’re all in it for ourselves. I’m a big fan of together.” They pulled apart, and she motioned me over with a jerk of her head. “Come on, Atlas. I’m ready to go home.”

Dropping Lily off was short and sweet. I thanked her again, and she dismissed my gratitude as though anyone would be willing to put her own safety on the line to aggravate a powerful woman whose abilities and powers were as unpredictable as her mouth.

“Just do me one favor?” Lily asked. I arched a brow, and she went on. “Take care of her?”

I almost laughed. “That is my mission in life.” Whether the stubborn woman would allow me to do so was another question entirely.

When I flashed back, Never and the chairs were gone. My blood pressure spiked for a few seconds, until I opened the door to the cabin to find her inside. She was leaning on the counter fiddling with a spatula as she waited for a pan on the stove to heat up.

“Why don’t you sit, love. I will handle dinner.”

The look she gave me was six kinds of skeptical. “You know how to cook?”

“You wound me.” I pressed a hand to my heart.

That at least got a little laugh out of her. “It’s just that I’ve never seen you do it before.”

“I might point out that you haven’t cooked for me either.” That was how life worked when you lived on a ship with an onboard cook.

She held up the spatula and motioned me over. “Have at it. I’m too damned tired to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

I perused what she had laid out on the counter. “Toasties?”

“I’ve always called them grilled cheese sandwiches.”

“But I assume the preparation is the same.”

She shrugged, then spun one of the chairs around, straddled it, and sat down. “You’re the chef. Make them however you want.”

“In that case…”

It only took a few minutes to whip up four sandwiches, complete with bacon, thanks to an ingenious package of precooked strips I found in the icebox. By the time Never was halfway through her second sandwich, her eyelids were already drooping.

“Today took a lot out of you, didn’t it?” I asked.

She blinked at me slowly. “I thought I was supposed to heal faster, but I am sore all over. ”

“Let’s get you into bed,” I said, taking her plate from her and scooping her up in my arms.

“Is something wrong with me?” Her inner walls came down with her fatigue and it was all too easy to sense the worry swirling inside her.

“I wouldn’t stress about your magic.” I lowered her on the bed and set to work removing her boots. “Your power still has limits, as does mine. If you use too much, too often, it can take a while to replenish. Once you’ve slept for a couple of hours, your body will recover on its own.”

I tugged off her pants, leaving her panties in place as I shoved my desire down. There was nothing overtly erotic about the plain black cotton, but they may as well have been made of the finest lace from the way my body reacted to the sight of her.

Later, I promised myself. When she wasn’t so exhausted that she was fighting to keep her eyes open.

Fighting and losing, I might add.

I was still getting undressed myself when I heard the first delicate snore slip from her lips. It took some careful maneuvering, but I managed to slip into the squeaky bed beside her and drape one of her shapely legs over mine without waking her.

That was where she stayed, unmoving, until the sun that had set shortly after we went to bed rose high into the sky. When she finally did stir, she snuggled that irresistible body of hers in closer.

“Hey.” She tipped her head back to glance up at me. Her voice was rough from a long night of hard sleep, but her eyes were filled with a softness that tugged at my battered heart.

“Hello, love.”

After several more minutes of simply being together in silence, she grudgingly rolled backward and stretched out on the mattress with a groan. “How long have I been out? ”

“About sixteen hours.” Endless hours in which I had lain awake trying to find a way out of this mess.

“Seriously?” I glanced toward the shaft of light spilling through the window, and she followed my gaze. “Shit. We need to get up.” She wrenched herself into a sitting position.

It took a great deal of effort not to catch her around the waist and haul her right back down. “How are you feeling?” I asked.

She stood and stared down at her body. “Shiny and new.”

That was a relief. “I’m assuming you want to go see your brother.”

She nabbed her pants off the old dresser and shook them out. “Yeah. I was actually hoping to get back there earlier, before he has a chance to call a meeting with all of his people.”

I dragged myself up, letting my bare feet hit the intricately woven rug. “Are you expecting trouble?”

We both finished getting dressed as she filled me in on the conversation she’d had with Lily while I was flashing Matt and Angie back to their compound. His was a tragic story of losing the love of his life in one of the most horrible ways imaginable.

It certainly made it easier to sympathize with his dislike of magic.

At the same point, it wasn’t something he would be able to ignore.

If the girl’s mother was as gifted a witch as Lily said, she would begin presenting with her own powers before the year was out.

Sooner if stress or fear pulled them to the surface.

If that weren’t complication enough, she also carried the same demon blood Never and Matt shared. Had he stopped to consider what that might mean for her magical abilities? Or for her… inclinations, so to speak.

Demon blood by itself didn’t guarantee that a person would turn out bad, but it did make it more likely for them to gravitate toward the darkness.

For Never, she’d harnessed that impulse and turned it toward fighting demons at a young age.

But for a young girl whose mother had died a violent death, who didn’t have a mentor to prepare her for what was coming, and who resented being caged and coddled… it was a recipe for trouble.

“His experience does explain some of the questions he had about our abilities,” I said.

Never checked to make sure her dagger was secure in her boot and straightened. “What did you tell him?”

“The basics. We are stronger and faster than humans, and I might be able to harness the power of the sea in the right situation.”

She opened her mouth to say something but closed it quickly. After a few seconds, she said, “Because the water here isn’t already all jacked up with magic, right?”

I smiled. “You do listen.”

She smacked my chest playfully. “I do, jerk. I just don’t always take advice when it's given.”

“Or follow orders.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I do so.”

“When it suits you.”

“Exactly.” She leaned up on her toes and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

We arrived in the room Matt had reserved for us, but as we moved through the corridors, they were eerily empty. Until we entered the one that funneled into the large community area. Low murmurs and a few angry shouts filtered through gaps around the heavy steel doors.

Never paused with her hand on the latch, peering through the small square of reinforced glass. Hesitation filtered through the link.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Just bracing for the crowd. ”

She wasn’t the only one who had a dislike for large gatherings. “I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

She cast a grateful glance over her shoulder. “I know.”

Her confidence in me humbled me in ways I would never be able to explain. I reached around her and pressed the latch, letting the door swing open. The chaotic sound of a heated meeting flooded in around us, and at the center of it stood Matt and Lily, side by side.