12. Hook
Never rolled her eyes. “It can’t be that bad. What, are you a demon?” An expression flickered across her face like a light bulb had just gone off in her head. “Holy shit, are you?”
That might have been easier, given what I knew about her. From her reaction, the woman clearly didn’t know she carried demon blood. Bringing up that tidbit would help deflect from me for a while. I was tempted to try, but if I wanted her on my side—and if the universe saw fit, by my side—I owed her the full truth.
“I’m not a demon.” She relaxed a little. “But I am a demigod.” A phrase I wasn’t all that fond of. Demi meant part, not wholly of the godly realm, but since I’d had half my power stripped from me before being banished to the Nassa and forgotten about, it was the closest description I could find.
Never’s lips twisted in a disbelieving smile. “Ha ha. I see what you’re doing, Hook.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Trying to disarm me with a little comedy?”
Was it really so foolish to think she would simply believe me? I shook my head. “No comedy. It’s the truth. It is the reason I can’t die.”
She was silent for a long moment, studying me. “I thought the whole immortality thing was one of the perks of your world.”
“It is, after a time, but only for certain beings. Humans and merfolk mostly. But I can’t die in any realm. At least, not without significant godly interference.” It’d been millennia since the gods had dared execute one of their own, as far as I knew. Then again, it had also been millennia since I’d had contact with any of them.
They had all left me to rot in the Nassa with a demon whose crimes would make most mortals sick. Anger curled in my stomach. The punishment for my misdeeds was beyond cruel. A hundred years of exile I could see. Millennia? That seemed exceptionally harsh, even for a council of immortals.
“Are you going to tell me any of what you’re thinking, or are you just going to go on having that private conversation in your head?” Never asked. Her tone was teasing, but the look on her face told me she wasn’t taking the news as lightly as she might have me believe.
I let out my stalled breath and sat back, resting the hot mug on my thigh. “I was thinking how punishments handed down by gods can be excessive compared to the infraction.”
“Why was that the thought that popped into your head?”
“Because I haven’t spent the bulk of my existence in the Nassa by choice. That place is a prison, and I was cursed with guarding the demon and making sure it never fully escaped the realm.”
“Uh huh.” She sipped her coffee with a thoughtful expression. “You told me that before, though the demigod thing puts a twist on it. So, you what, just adopted the pirate persona? That was your go-to?”
“I found life in the Nassa was better on the water. It was easier to keep tabs on all parts of the island, and it made it more difficult for the demon to antagonize me.”
“I take it she did that a lot?”
“There was a great deal of violence in the beginning. It was just the two of us back then. Our battles would rage for days, until eventually, I grew tired of fighting. That’s the thing about a life that spans hundreds of generations; you grow weary of everything after a while.”
Which wasn’t to say I gave up battling Petra all together. Once I’d ventured to the other islands in the realm, procured my ship and crew, and the demon figured out how to lure boys from Never’s world to the island, things had gotten interesting again.
It always circled back around.
“I see.” Something I said must have struck her the wrong way, because the ice in those two words could have chilled my still steaming coffee. “Well, I appreciate the warning.”
She straightened, and I wracked my brain trying to identify what I’d said that would lead her to close herself off from me.
“So, you’re here to take the demon back, right?” she asked.
“That is my duty, yes. But—”
She held up a hand, cutting me off. “Good. I mean, getting that thing out of my brother is my only priority.” She looked down at the contents of her mug before setting it aside with a look of disgust. “If there’s nothing else I need to know, I’m going to get dressed so we can get this show on the road.” She unfolded her legs and stood.
I rose with her and caught her by the wrist with my free hand before she could beat the hasty retreat she so clearly wanted. “What did I say to upset you?”
“Nothing. You just... cleared some things up for me.” She shook me off, and despite the rising urge to yank her down over my lap and paddle her plump ass for that utterly unhelpful answer, I let her go.
“Did you get all that?” she asked, throwing the question at Leo with enough snark to make even me cringe.
He was leaning against the wall in the hallway, and how long he’d been there eavesdropping was anybody’s guess.
“Not really. Next time, can you speak up a little?” he fired right back.
“Fuck off.”
Then he smirked at her, and much to my frustration, she seemed to soften.
The door to her bedroom clicked shut, and I slowly set my mug down on the table next to hers. “Care to enlighten me? Because for the life of me, I can’t see what I said that would get that kind of reaction out of her.”
He laughed. It was a condescending sound, and maybe I deserved it for the way I’d treated him the night before. He didn’t owe me anything, and despite the claim I’d laid on Never, they’d clearly formed a bond in my absence.
It wasn’t as if either of them ever expected to see me again.
“I believe I owe you an apology.”
Leo let out a shallow huff. “You think?”
Could just one thing with my infuriating woman go smoothly? Just one? I ran my hand through my hair and winced when I caught a whiff of the scents clinging to me. “What are the chances she would object to me using her washroom?”
This time, when he laughed, it was the real thing, free of bitterness. “I would object if you didn’t.” He wrinkled his nose and gave his head a shake.
“Very well. I should only be a moment.” I moved past him down the hall.
Just as I was pulling the door shut, I heard his quiet voice drift in through the crack. “Take all the time you want, Atlas. The longer you’re in there by yourself, the more time I’ll have out here with her.”
I had the sense he was goading me as a friend, but a possessive growl rolled through my chest all the same. I shut the door the rest of the way, a little harder than I’d intended with Leo’s words echoing off the walls.
The shower was easy enough to operate, and I was in and out in no time. When I stepped back out into the hallway wearing just my pants, droplets of water still clinging to my chest and back, it was just in time to run into Never coming out of her room.
She paused with her bedroom door open and watched me, not saying a word.
“I had a quick wash. I hope you don’t mind,” I said, running a hand over my chest to wipe away a little of the moisture. Yes, it was a deliberate move. I’d said something to turn her cold, and until I figured out what that thing was, I intended to find other ways of warming her back up.
She didn’t move even an inch, so I dropped her a quick wink and headed back into the living room. When she finally made her way back to the living room, Leo and I were deep in discussion on how to separate the shadow from the boy.
“The thing needs power to draw Petra into this realm,” he said.
“Correct,” I agreed. “A great deal of power. So, why hasn’t the creature come for Never?”