Page 63 of Another Damned Storm

His eyes narrowed. “You sure about that?”

Hook didn’t even look my way. “Yes, but if you aren’t up to the task, I can find someone else.”

He laughed, and it was a surprisingly friendly sound amidst all the hostility floating in the air. “Not at all. I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

It was Hook’s turn to glare. “Have you been keeping an eye on him?”

“From a distance, and I’m not the only one anymore. Apparently, he’s been trying to slip in and out of this realm without being noticed, but his trips are starting to draw attention.”

“From who?” I asked.

Criton turned to me. “The council.”

Well, that wasn’t what any of us wanted to hear.

“Even my father?” Hook asked. There was so much ice in his voice, I was surprised the temperature didn’t drop about twenty degrees.

He nodded.

A ripple of intense feeling bled through our connection, sending goosebumps racing down my arms. I couldn’t separate one emotion from the next, but none of them gave me the warm fuzzies.

Then again, if my dad had damned me to spend eternity trapped in a pocket realm with zero outside contact, I wouldn’t exactly be buying the guy a ‘World’s Best Dad’ coffee mug.

It also meant we might be screwed.

“I’m guessing those magical wards won’t keep you safe for much longer,” Lily said echoing my thought.

“Do you know where the weather god has been traveling to when he comes here?” Hook asked.

Criton slipped his left hand in his pocket and something jingled. “I’ll give you three guesses, and the first two don’t count.”

“Charleston.”

“That’s where the party’s at, apparently.” For a demigod who was trading information for a quick fix, he seemed awfully relaxed. And annoyingly smug.

“If by party you mean a bunch of freak storms and somerandom ass demons,” I said. “But it’s one city, and not even a big one. Why would that even ping on the powers that be’s radar?”

He scoffed. “Because those storms and those demons are upsetting the natural order of things.”

Where had I heard those words before? Oh, right. When Nerebis warned us about my whole situation. But the more I learned about what was happening in this realm, the more I questioned whether I was really the problem.

Sure, I’d lit up like a fucking glow stick in the Alius. That didn’t bode well. Except, the same thing didn’t happen in this realm, and it wasn’t like my arrival brought a swarm of locusts or triggered mass riots in the streets.

Criton leveled me with a look. “The demons and storms aren’t the only things kicking up dust out there. The council noticed the exodus of magical creatures, too. Witches, faeries, vampires: they’re all scattering. Even the shifters, and they are notoriously a territorial bunch.” He turned to Lily. “That pack you’re running is the last in the area.”

“I’m aware,” she said coolly.

“So is the council. They’ve seen what’s happening and they’re watching. As far as I can tell, they seem content to let things play out for now, but I imagine that will change when they catch wind that the outcast son and his defiant mate are mixed up in things.”

A sense of protectiveness swelled inside me, but I couldn’t tell if it was coming from me or Hook. I didn’t like the idea of the very gods who had spent lifetimes ignoring him taking a renewed interest in him just because he broke the rules to be with me and keep me safe.

“But you’re sure they’re just watching?” I asked.

“For now.”

Hook made a chopping motion with his hand. “I care little about the council. What matters at present is the weather god.Does he have a routine? Do you know what draws him to this realm when he does visit?”

Criton shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve been keeping tabs, Atlas. Not stalking.”