Page 101 of Another Damned Storm

The amber in his eyes flared to life. “And I would rather die here and now than spend eternity without you.”

His kiss was crushing. It stole the air from my lungs and the strength from my legs. I clung to him shamelessly, desperate to hold onto him, the moment, the future I’d been foolish enough to let myself dream up for us.

I wanted that future so goddamn much it hurt. I wanted more of his too proper speech and his playfully condescending looks and his irresistible smile. More than anything, though, I just wanted more time… with him.

And the only way to get what we both wanted was to beat his giant dick of a dad at his own fucking game.

When Hook pulled back, I already knew what he was going to say. His emotions were all tangled up with mine, but I felt it. “I lo?—”

I pressed a finger to his lips. “Do me a favor, pirate?” I asked, wiping the tears from my face with my other hand. “Tell me in a thousand years.”

A sad smile lifted just the corners of his lips. Instead of pulling me into a hug that might have broken me, he took my hand, lifted it to his lips, and pressed a kiss to the inside of my wrist. “I’ll be waiting.”

Before I could second guess myself, I turned to Iapetus. “I’m in.”

In a blink, the archaic stone rotunda was replaced with towering, half-dead trees. The daylight that had been streaming in the arched windows turned a dusky crimson, like the last few minutes of sunset during wildfire season. And Hook was gone, but Iapetus was there with me.

“Are you planning on sticking around to keep an eye on me?” I asked bitterly.

He studied me. “I am here simply to ensure you understand the terms.”

“I have to stay in this realm for a thousand years, I have to learn to control myself and my powers, and I can’t lose my humanity. I think I’ve got it. What I want to know is what will happen to my family for the next thousand years.”

“They will be protected.”

I waited for him to go into a little more detail, but he didn’t. “What about Hook?”

“My son is already back in the Nassa where he belongs.”

The barest whisper of relief swept through me, but that was all that I was feeling. My connection to Hook was silent.

I pulled in a deep breath and turned my face to the sky so he couldn’t see me blinking back tears. “When does the clock st?—”

A low growl from behind me had me spinning around, and that fast, the power and wildness inside me surged. A glance over my shoulder showed me Iapetus was gone.

I held my last memory of Hook firmly in my mind and cracked my knuckles. “I guess it starts now.”

34

HOOK

I stared at the marks on my wall. A mere thirty of them.

How has it only been one month?Perhaps my perception of time was skewed after the way the fates had manipulated everything, because it felt like lifetimes had passed since the last time I’d held Never in my arms.

My one saving grace—and perhaps the most torturous part of it all—was that the connection we shared had somehow managed to survive our separation. I was beyond grateful for that link to her, but there were times when the emotions and the struggle pouring through were so intense that I could barely think.

She wasn’t holding anything back.

No matter how much it hurt, however, I couldn’t bring myself to close the door on my end. It was all I had left to hold onto.

“Hello, Atlas.”

I rolled my eyes at the sound of my father’s voice. The temptation to tell him he wasn’t welcome on my ship or in my realm danced on the tip of my tongue, but I bit the words back as I turned. “Iapetus.”

“It’s just us in here, Atlas.” He motioned to my quarters. “You can call me Father.”

I could, but I wouldn’t. “What can I do for you, Iapetus?”