Page 15 of Another Damned Storm

It was like lifting a hundred- and forty-pound sack of potatoes off the ground.

“Why the hell am I doing this again?” I grumbled to myself.

I knew the answer. What I was doing would help protect everyone I cared about, including Hook. That explanation, however, didn’t completely shut down the whiny, selfish voice inside me that wanted to stay.

So, I did my best to ignore it.

“Boss the fuck up. We have shit to do.” Starting with figuring out how to summon a fate.

I’d been hoping showing up on the island without the bracelet would be enough, since Hook made it sound like I was being perpetually stalked.

“Where did you come from?”

Looks like he was right.I didn’t recognize the odd male voice, and rather than whipping around and letting the guy know for sure he’d gotten the drop on me, I turned slowly.

“Took you long enough,” I said, laying the snark on thick. It was a good thing the words were out of my mouth before I caught sight of the guy’s flowing black cloak.

And was that a scythe? Really?

It was still night in the Nassa, but the moon was shiningbright enough that I would have been able to see his face if it wasn’t hiding in the depths of his hood.

“I have been searching this realm for you for quite some time, Miss Darling.”

“It’s Never,” I said flatly. “And what’s with the getup?” I motioned to his Halloween-esque outfit. “You look like the ghost of Christmas future.”

He chuckled, but the sound made my scalp tingle because it seemed to come from all around me. “Not a ghost, but I am here to escort you to the rest of your future.”

An escort sent to take me to hell? Fun job. “So, what, are you like the grim reaper?”

His hood moved from side to side. “In a sense. I am Tenebris.”

Okay, not quite as cool as a reaper, but I had heard of him. “The fate who is responsible for severing the thread of life, right?”

“Correct.”

“Yeah, I heard you’ve been looking for me.”

The hood dipped. “It is exceedingly rare that a soul has the power to hide from me so thoroughly.”

“I’ve been working on my hide and seek skills,” I offered with a shrug.

Tenebris was quite a bit different from his fellow fate. Nerebis had shown up on Hook’s ship looking and sounding like a fit and healthy middle-aged dad. Tenebris’s language was more old school, kind of like Hook’s, at least when my pirate was being proper.

And the clothes? I mean, I guess he was embracing his truth with that get up, but still.

An uncomfortable silence stretched between us until he finally responded. “That may be, but hiding from a fate requires far more effort than simply finding a good hiding place. I cantravel to any realm in the universe.” He motioned with his scythe to the open sea stretching out in front of us. “Even the ones others have long forgotten about.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. Other than, congrats? I mean, youdidfind me. That has to count for something right?”

More silence. It was one thing to get that kind of treatment from Hook. At least with him, I could figure out if I was getting under his skin. This guy was giving me nothing.

“I suppose,” he finally said.

I waited, but when he didn’t go on, I shook my head. “Are we going to stand around making shitty small talk like two virgins on a first date or can we get this show on the road?”

An unearthly chuckle lifted the hair on the back of my neck. “Nerebis warned me about your colorful personality. It is refreshing to see he wasn’t exaggerating.”

That pulled a bitter scoff out of me. I really should have been trying harder to play nice with him, but I wasn’t in the mood. “I’ll make you a deal: I’ll tone down my color if you let me drop by the human realm on our way out of town.”