32. Never
Hook’s grip on me was like steel. In a different situation, I might have welcomed that controlling hold—reveled in it even—but I could feel about a thousand eyes on us the second we were back on his ship.
I squeezed him once and tried to pull away. Instead of reading my not-so-subtle cue, he held tight.
“I can stand on my own,” I said.
His response was an indelicate grunt.
I guess that means he’s not ready to let go?
“Am I missing something?” I twisted my head to try to see behind me.
“I need a minute.”
Um, okay? Either I’d scared him or the guy was just straight up glitching.
A warm breeze sifted over my neck, sending an unexpected shiver through me. Hook finally loosened his hold and eased back with a deep worry line etched in his brow.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Nothing.” I rubbed my hands over my upper arms to clear the wave of goosebumps that had risen there. “Probably a side effect of the adrenaline.” Or the healing.
How much did it cost him to heal me like that? Did it weaken him?
His eyes searched mine. I braced for more questions, but before he could use his relentless charm to pry more out of me, an angry, animalistic bay had us both turning toward the ship’s railing.
The demon was there, ugly as ever, and trapped in the cage dangling from the side of the ship. A collection of iron cannon balls wrapped in netting hung from the bottom of the contraption, swinging into one another with each of the monster’s violent attempts to smash its way free.
“I’m a little impressed.” I honestly didn’t think the thing would hold.
“Hang onto that thought,” he said without looking at me.
“How long until…” I let the question fade. It probably wasn’t a great idea to reveal the extent of our plan to the furious demon.
Hook’s gaze shifted up, and I followed its path. In the few seconds since we’d come back to the ship, the wind had started picking up. Now, it billowed the sails and lashed at the flags. My hair whipped around my head, and the warmth I’d felt just a moment earlier was replaced with an icy mist of saltwater pelting my skin.
“We’re close,” he said, though I could barely hear him over the rising howl of the squall. He grabbed my hand and squeezed, ducking his head to my ear. “If I tell you to go inside, I don’t suppose you’ll listen?”
Fat chance.I shook my head because there was no fucking way I was missing the opportunity to watch that wicked bitch sink into oblivion.
He scowled down at me, then tugged me to the stairs leading up to the bridge. “Hold on to this and don’t let go until I tell you.”
“Seriously?” I was just supposed to stand there? “What are you going to do?”
“End this.” He shot a look at William, who had the polished wooden handles of the ship’s helm in a death grip. “Steady as she goes!”
The other man tipped his head a split second before the ship did a spectacular nosedive, sending a wall of chilly water crashing over the bow. I latched onto the baluster and Hook’s big body surrounded me, pinning me in place.
What the hell was going on with the weather? We’d sailed a lazy circle around the eddy the day before, and it had been calm.
A swell followed that thought, rocking the whole ship back up and wiping that peaceful memory from my mind. My stomach rolled and swooped like I was on a roller coaster, only the sensation was so much worse.
“Hold tight!” he yelled over the howling wind. Then he was gone, working his way toward the violently swinging cage.
The ship listed to one side, and my boots slipped as I scrambled for purchase, hugging the thick wooden support to my blood-stained chest.
I wasn’t stupid. I’d put the pieces together even though Hook had conveniently failed to bring it up. We were caught in a violent storm in a magical realm, headed for a part of the enchanted sea that was devoid of magic.
More than that. If what he said was true, it nullified magic. That was why we’d sailed out of the eddy to capture Petra. He couldn’t flash back to the ship if it was already in the void.
Basic math said if sinking into that magicless darkness was enough to take down a demon like Petra, it was probably enough to take down a demigod.
I glared up at the dark clouds, squinting against the stinging spray of saltwater.
This wasn’t the same as battling a villain. There was no way to fight the waves or the wind or the cold. All I could do was hold on and beg the universe for help.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Please. If anyone out there is listening, please let this work. I was so tired of fighting. Some days, it felt like my whole life had been an uphill battle.
When I opened them, Petra was thrashing. Her furious howl carried over the racket of the storm as a board the cage cracked and broke loose. My heart stuttered because Hook was just three steps away. He had his blade in his hand, but with every foot of progress he made, the sea tipped and tilted the ship, making it impossible for him to cut the rope.
Another board ripped free. Petra’s scaled arm snaked out of the opening, dangerously close to Hook, who was too focused on cutting the line to realize what was happening.
“Watch out!” I screamed as loud as I could, lunging away from the relative safety of the stairs.
I stumbled to the railing just in time for him to twist out of the demon’s grip. Another powerful wave rocked the ship, sending him sliding across the wet deck. How in the world he managed to stay on his feet was beyond me, but when he caught sight of me, he looked terrified.
Not a great way to boost a girl’s confidence.
It’s fine, I lied to myself.
Yes, I was the fucking idiot for not to what I was told, but there was no going back. I clutched the railing, dragging myself forward with my jaw clenched and my eyes slitted. Wind tore at the sails, carrying away huge swaths of canvas like they were made of silk. It battered every inch of my exposed skin and made it damned near impossible to see.
When I was close, I knelt and reached for my blade, only it wasn’t there.
“Muther fucker,” I hissed. I’d left it in the jungle with Anya, and now I had no way of cutting that goddamned rope.
I dared a look at Hook. He was fighting to get back across the deck to me, but each time he tried, the ship listed or dove, sending him in a different direction. Almost like the universe was working against him.
Something hit the railing above me, and I squinted up to see the demon’s claws clinging to the wood.
This cannot be happening. Not when we’re so fucking close.
“Never!”
I twisted just in time to see Hook shoving his cutlass, handle first, across the deck. His aim was true, and I managed to snag it before it slid past me and tumbled overboard. Without waiting or planning or overthinking, I stood and swung.
The rope snapped, and the cage fell, but the demon was still there, clinging to the wooden railing with one deadly set of claws. A swell caught the front of the ship and pitched it sideways, slamming me into that very same railing hard enough that Hook’s blade almost slipped from my grip.
Seasickness and panic rose up inside me, burning the back of my throat, but I swallowed hard. If I managed to live through this, I was pretty sure I was going to puke the minute I wasn’t fighting for my life.
That’s future Never’s problem, I reminded myself.
What I needed, before I could lose the lunch swimming in my stomach, was one clear shot. The ship rolled and swayed. Bile threatened again, leaving its acidic taste lingering. Then another demon hand joined the first, clawing and climbing.
Come on, coward.If I kept waiting for the right moment, that thing would kill us all.
Those claws swiped at me, only missing by a hair when I ducked out of the way.
Fury filled Petra’s ugly face. The storm was reflected in those glassy black eyes. Then her lips peeled back in a snarl, and I remembered, in vivid detail, my first encounter with the monster.
In my world, with her growling my family name.
This bitch isn’t getting another shot at anyone I care about ever again.
I swung the curved blade with everything I had, letting my own furious war cry erupt from my lungs. She fell away with an angry scream that was torn away by wind, and I watched with a strange fascination as the monster—with one bloody stump flailing through the hole in her cage—disappeared into the churning water.
Petra’s remaining hand, claws still anchored in the wood, remained, even as the motion of the ship nearly sent me over the railing with her.
I didn’t want to touch them.
But what if that was all the shadow needed? What if a single monster hand was enough for the magic in this realm to bring her back?
I braced with one arm and pried the sharp claws loose with the curved blade. The ship dipped and rolled mercilessly as I worked, like a wild horse trying to buck me off. Wet wind yanked at everything. My hair, my clothes, my courage.
When I finally tossed Petra’s severed hand into the water, I only had the space of a breath to revel in that minor victory before another crushing wave hit. My feet slipped. Every inch of me was soaked to the bone.
I abandoned the blade and used both of my arms to clutch the railing, but my grip on the slick wood was failing.
“Come on!” I yelled.
Whether I was yelling at myself or the storm or the universe, I couldn’t say for sure. Maybe all three, but it was the storm that answered. It gave me a three-second reprieve from the violent rocking as a dark wave the size of a ten-story office building climbed into the sky.
We’re so fucked. So, so fucked.
Something hard slammed into me from behind, knocking the air from my chest. The next thing I knew, I was on the deck, pinned between that immovable stone and the thick wooden balusters, as a crushing wall of water dealt a punishing blow.
The ship cracked and groaned under the assault.
Then another wave hit. And another. And another.