Page 11 of Another Damned Storm

That pulled a weak laugh out of her. “Probably not the last one.”

“You’ve been training every day.” I squeezed her, reveling in the feel of her body against mine. It wasn’t an erotic pleasure either. It was so much sweeter than that. “That’s the point I’m trying to make, knowing would only have worried you. Needlessly, I might add.”

“That’s not your call to make, pirate.”

“I respectfully disagree.” We were in this situation because of my actions. I was the one who held her under the water for too long, and I was the one who shoved my power into her body to drag her back from the abyss.

She leaned back and eyed me. “What happens if I take it off?”

“Please don’t remove it.”

“I didn’t say I was going to. What I asked is what will happen if I do.”

Multiple beings had been using powerful magic to find her. While I couldn’t tell who or what they were, I did know the only thing holding them at bay was the wards. “If you remove the bracelet on the ship, you will likely be fine. Anywhere else and they will find you.”

“Is that what Rue told you?”

How quickly I’d forgotten about the sea witch. I gave her a tight squeeze and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. “We should bring Leo back in for this part of the conversation.”

When I loosened my hold, Never stepped back. “Bad news?”

I failed to see how Rue’s disappearance could be a positive development. “I’ll be right back.”

With that, I stepped outside and crossed the deck to Leo. He was standing with his back to me, silently scanning Nusthena in the distance.

“I’m tempted to throw you overboard,” I said, though there was no real threat in the words.

He nodded without looking at me. “But you won’t.”

“You know why I kept the wards from her.”

“Just like you know why I told her about them,” he countered.

I leaned my hip against the railing beside him and crossed my arms over my chest. “It certainly wasn’t for her safety, or her peace of mind.”

He shot me a sideways glance. “I did it because she needs to know.”

“And what do you think she’s going to do with that information?”

Her power was still very raw. If she lost hold of her emotions at the wrong moment, the repercussions could be devastating. Adding the stress of being hunted to the stress of learning how to control her power? It was a recipe for trouble.

Leo shook his head. “What she does with the knowledge is up to her, Atlas. You gave her that power, and it made her a target. Hiding that from her isn’t helping her.” He twisted around to stare me down head on. “You’re underestimating her, again. Never Darling is not some helpless girl. She was killing demons long before either of us even knew she existed.”

Maybe he was right. I did have a tendency to forget that detail about her. In my defense, however, I’d fallen for her before I shared my power with her. I felt her die in my arms. It was difficult to reconcile the reality of such a determined warrior living inside such a fragile body.

She wasn’t quite so fragile anymore, at least not in the physical sense, but that still didn’t mean I would put her at risk by letting my guard down. If I lost her now, it would break me. Of that I was certain. And a broken god was a dangerous thing.

5

NEVER

A horrible, sick feeling had been churning inside me since the moment I’d nearly plummeted into the lake of lava. The toe-curling fear that robbed me of my common sense left a sour taste in my mouth, but that wasn’t the worst of it.

Not even close.

“Is this because of me?” I asked. The chaos on the islands, the crazy ass storms, Rue’s mysterious disappearance. It all added up to one thing. “Is this what Nerebis warned us about?”

Hook’s protectiveness flooded into me, pulsing through our connection. The longer we were connected, the easier it was to pick up the nuance to his emotions. The ones he let slip through, anyway.