Page 42 of Another Damned Storm

Shit was weird here, right down to how I was being pulled in a few different directions at once. I came here to check on my brother, and I’d found him caught up in a world where demons and destruction were the new norm. That was one.

There was also Hook. And damn, that man had a strong fucking pull. Even quietly working our way out of the park, I could feel his eyes on me. His anger and relief and desire all pulsed through our connection.

Beneath that, the Alius was calling to me too. That dark lure was a different beast altogether. I’d gotten just a taste of what my power could do in that realm, and I’d liked it a little too much. But the realm had gotten a taste of me too, and that greedy bitch wanted me back.

And, finally, there was another tug, this one tied to a certain broody pirate but separate from him. I couldn’t begin to explain how I knew it was the Nassa drawing me back—through him—but I knew. It had been nagging at me since the moment Tenebris swept me through space to the Alius, and it was only getting stronger.

They all were.

Once we made it through a small break in the fence surrounding the park, Matty—Matt—placed a firm hand on Angie’s shoulder. “You, young lady, are in a heap of trouble.”

She shook her head. “But nothing happened!”

“Thank the stars for that favor.” His stance softened a touch. “We got lucky. What if somethinghadhappened, Ang?”

“I would have fought, just like you and Never and this guy.” She gave Hook a little wave. “Hi.”

His scowl turned into a devilish smirk, and he dipped his head. “Hello, young lady.”

Matt glared daggers at him before turning back to Angie. “You are fifteen years old. That is too young to be fighting demons.”

I bit my tongue to the point of pain to keep my retort from slipping out. I’d started hunting demons with my mom when I was ten. By fifteen, I was doing it on my own more often than not.

Granted, I’d tried harder to shelter Matt when he was younger. I wanted him to have a normal life. So, he’d only been on a few daytime hunts with me by the time he was seventeen. But there was a mountain of difference in maturity between fifteen and seventeen.

Not to mention, back then, we’d been the only ones who could see the demons. At least that I knew of. That was something I needed to remember to ask him about later.

“I’ve been training with Aunt Lily,” she countered.

He was unimpressed. “You are not to step a single foot—a single toe—in that park. You got it?” When she opened her mouth to argue, he shook his head. “This is not a democracy. Just nod.”

She didn’t. Instead, she glared up, her feisty brown eyes daring him.

“Or you can spend the rest of your natural life locked in the compound,” he offered.

Angie’s defiant expression faltered. “You wouldn’t.”

Matt ducked down until he was eye level with her. “There is nothing I won’t do to keep you safe.”

“Including making me a prisoner?”

He laughed, but it was a humorless sound. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg, sweetheart.”

She huffed, turned on her heel, and mumbled somethingunder her breath as she stomped across the street toward Rutledge Compound.

“What was that?” he called after her.

She whipped around and yelled, “Mom never would have treated me like this!”

Matt winced. It was obvious that Angie’s teenage emotions had gotten the better of her. I’d lashed out like that once or twice when I was her age, but even I felt the sting of that comment.

I braced for my brother to yell something back, but he didn’t. He just watched her stalk off and kept watching until she was past the guards and inside the gate.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean that,” I offered.

“I know.” He closed his eyes for a second and pinched the bridge of his nose. “She is my daughter, after all.”

Ooo, was that a little snark? “I was just trying to help. I was a teenage girl once.”