Page 31 of Another Damned Storm

He just looked at me for a minute with a stillness he’d never had growing up. “I was in a coma for a couple of weeks afterward.”

Damn.I closed my eyes, letting the hurt spread through me. “I am so sorry.”

“For what? The shadow only jumped out of me because of you.” He shifted in his seat. “What happened with that whole situation?”

“Hook and I got rid of it,” I said flatly.

“How? That thing was so strong, Nev. It nearly killed me.”

No point in pulling punches, right? “Hook killed me before it could finish the job.”

He blinked a couple of times, then his eyes narrowed. “You’re joking, right?”

“Nope. He brought me back,” I explained, figuring that was the next question on the list.

“Hook.” He closed his eyes for a second. “That’s Atlas, right?”

“Yeah. I take it Lily told you about him too?”

He shrugged. “Some.”

I was almost too afraid to ask the question that was burning on the tip of my tongue. “Is she okay?”

His hardened features softened into a smile. “She is, and I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to hear that you’re back.”

“Thank god. So, you two still talk?” Part of me had expected them to be attached at the hip, but that was the same part that had expected to find a much younger version of my brother when I returned.

He reached up and stroked a rough hand over his beard. “Not as much as we used to. She has a lot on her plate, keeping her part of the city safe. And I have a lot going on here.”

“And the demons?” I asked.

“They come with the storms,” he confirmed. “When we originally took over this place, the storms were only hitting us once a week. Now, they’re nearly every day. Which leads me to my next question: what were you doing in the park earlier?”

“That’s where I landed.” I walked him through what happened after I pulled Petra’s shadow into me, holding back a few key details. Like, how I was kind of immortal now, and possibly responsible for the shitshow the human realm had become.

Matty might be my brother, but a lot had changed since I’d seen him last. For both of us. And some secrets needed to be guarded more than others.

He listened quietly, nodding in all the right places, until I got to the Alius part of the explanation. “Are you telling me I’m going to hell?” he asked.

I wanted to say no, but based on my description of the place, the word fit. I looked around the small space to make sure Tenebris wasn’t lurking. “That’s part of the reason I’m here. If I bring you back to the Nassa, it won’t matter.” I could save him, from death and from the eternal nightmare that would inevitably follow.

He stood, raking his hand over his head as he cast a long glance around the room. “I appreciate the thought, but I can’t leave.”

“Why not?” I pulled myself up and circled around him. “This world has gone to shit, and staying pretty much guarantees you’ll end up in hell.” I didn’t add thewith mepart. He didn’t need to know that. “I’m giving you a way out.”

The door to his room swung open and a teenage girl walked in. “Hey, Dad. How was your—” Her words cut off abruptly when she spotted me.

“Hey, Ang,” Matt said, smiling warmly at the girl. “This is Never. Never, meet my daughter, Angie.”

12

HOOK

The sun had risen four times in the Nassa since Criton had grudgingly agreed to return to Othrys. Four days that each lasted an eternity.

Four days in which, thankfully, I still had that delicate thread of a connection with Never. I was certain our link was the only thing keeping me sane.

Before, in the quiet years when Petra didn’t have a boy to corrupt, and I no longer had the drive to visit the island and search out a fight with her minions to blow off steam, I turned to rum and women to pass the time. My crew and I sailed the enchanted waters of the realm, helping those we liked and plundering the treasures the nine islands had to offer.