Page 55 of Another Damned Storm

I nodded. “Do you remember how you did it?”

“Honestly? I imagined dragging my magic to the surface, kicking and screaming,” she said.

Lily was watching her intently. “Okay. So, try it again, only this time, instead of forcing it, let it rise. And if that doesn’t work, treat it like an ally and ask for its help.”

The expression on Never’s face was comically skeptical, but an underlying determination trickled through our connection as she focused on Lily. After a few short seconds, her eyes were glowing a brilliant amber.

“How does that feel?” Lily asked.

“Better.” She looked between us. “That’s a lot better.”

A thread of alarm rose inside me. “Do be careful with it, love. Our power differs from shifter power, and it might be even more so with your blood.”

“Damn,” Lily breathed. “I forgot all about that. I bet demon blood does change the equation.”

The light in Never’s eyes slowly dimmed until they returned to the kind of blue I could get lost in forever. “Things did get pretty interesting in the Alius.”

“How so?” I asked.

“For starters, it wasn’t just my eyes that glowed.” She held out her hands as if she could see light emanating from them.

Lily’s brow lifted. “Seriously?”

She nodded, then pressed her lips together. “And there was this whole thing where I didn’t sound like myself.”

“Please explain,” I said. Some gods could infuse their voice with their power in order to influence other beings. I was among them, and it typically affected those around me muchthe way it did when a shifter alpha threw power behind their voice with a pack member.

More hesitation rolled off Never. What was she worried about?

“I kind of sounded like a… wild animal.”

Lily and I shared a look, but I couldn’t say whether or not her suspicions aligned with mine. “What kind of animal?” I asked.

She shifted in her seat. Then shifted again. “A big one. It might have scared a couple of the demons.”

There it was. Another not so fun potential Nerebis had warned me about. As her power grew, the demon blood in her could begin to exert a greater influence. I had no direct, or even indirect, experience with such a thing, so I had no way of knowing.

“Perhaps I should summon the Brethren sooner rather than later,” I suggested.

19

NEVER

The concern in Hook’s voice did nothing to ease my nerves. “You want to summon them now because of me?”

He took my hand, trying to soothe me with his touch. “In part. We already need to discuss the situation here in Charleston with them, but they have a great deal of experience with demons of all levels. That is a unique qualification that may help them determine whether the magic that rose inside you in the Alius was related to your blood or my—our—power.”

Okay, yeah. That made sense. Why was I so paranoid about this now? Especially with these two. A quarter of a century might have passed but Lily used to be my ride or die. That had to mean something, right?

And even though I still got a little insecure when Hook closed himself off from me, I didn’t seriously think he would do anything to hurt me. So what if some big, bad demons in the human realm decided I was trouble? I wasn’t alone in this, and that was what mattered.

Lily cleared her throat. “While I’m not against your plan to call on them, let’s not do the talking here. My people are already twitchy about having a couple of godly types on their turf. TheBrethren might be enough to push a few of them to leave town for good.” She eyed me critically. “Are you sure you’re okay with this, Never?”

Was my hesitation written all over my face?

Hook leaned close. “She’s known you for most of your life. It makes it much easier to read a person.”

I was tempted to elbow him and tell him to stay out of my head, but I didn’t really want that. The opposite, in fact. My craving for him had only grown since I’d taken on his powers.