35. Hook
As I watched Never and her fascination with her healing wound, a profound sense of relief came over me. It washed away some of the anxious energy that had embedded itself in my bones since the moment I’d realized she was important to me.
I’d seen her heal on the island, but what that truly meant hadn’t sunk in.
She was safe. Maybe not from the wrath of the gods or the whims of the fates, but from the other things that were far more likely to kill humans: illness, violence, aging. None of those things could touch her anymore.
I stood to face Nerebis, shielding Never’s crouched body with mine. Did he really think I’d let her die? That I would spend the rest of my immortal life with the knowledge that her soul was trapped in the Alius without tearing the universe apart to get her back?
His eyes searched mine silently. Then, with a flick of his wrist, Never disappeared.
I whipped around, drawing my sword as I did. It felt unfamiliar in my hand after the countless years I’d carried my cutlass, but as long as it did its job, I didn’t much care.
A quick glance across the ship revealed that everyone was gone.
It was just me and one of the most influential beings in the universe.
“What did you do with them?” I asked, letting the disdain rising in my blood spill into my voice.
“Not to worry, they’re close by.”
Not good enough. “Bring them back.” The words were barely out of my mouth when a new sound caught my attention. Fists pounding on wood and a level of colorful language that I’d only ever heard from one woman.
I had to fight a smile as I turned to see the solid wooden door to my quarters shaking on its hinges.
“What do you want, Nerebis?” I asked, returning my attention to the fate standing before me.
“If things were different, we would let the situation play out,” he said. “A resurrected human can do only so much damage in a single lifetime. Unfortunately, her newfound durability is an issue.”
“I’m inclined to disagree.” It was a blessing. A wish come true.
His eyes narrowed. “You shared your power with her, Atlas.”
“I did.”
“Humans aren’t meant to hold the power of a god. Their structure, their very essence, doesn’t allow for it.”
“And yet.” I motioned to my quarters.
“I’m just speculating here, but I imagine it has something to do with the stain on her soul. A stain, I might add, that could spread given enough time. And even if doesn’t, she still should not be here. Her soul is meant to rest in the Alius. You know it as well as I do.”
A bitter laugh bubbled up my throat. “Rest? There is no rest in that place. No peace. It is violence and pain and torture.”
“True. It can be those things, but there’s so much more to it. It’s a tricky realm.” He tugged the sleeves of his shirt up, revealing muscled forearms that were covered in ink. The words written on his skin looked like the language of the ancients, but it was hard to tell for sure with the way they moved, swirling and overlapping each other like the ink was alive. “But I suppose the heart is also a bit tricky, isn’t it?”
It was, very much so. Tricky and troublesome and all manner of unpredictable.
“You love her, correct?” When I didn’t respond, he nodded. “Your silence is answer enough, boy. Of course you do, and I’m sure you’ve told yourself you will do anything to keep her in your life. I understand that desire, but her continued existence is already causing ripples. The longer she avoids her destiny, the more chaos she’ll create. Until the day comes when we can’t undo the damage. I’m telling you right now, the others will intervene before it comes to that.”
“You’re already intervening,” I pointed out.
“To offer you a chance. This is a one-time offer, Atlas. Undo what you’ve done. Let her soul cross back to the Alius as it was meant to, and your slate will be wiped clean.”
Was that all? Condemn the soul of the woman I loved to an eternity of torture, and in return I would get to carry on with my meaningless life in this prison realm?
“No deal.”
He closed the distance between us, stopping just an inch too close for comfort. “I don’t think you heard me. Your slate will be clean. No more punishment.” He clapped one hand on my shoulder and motioned at everything around us with the other. “You will be free of this place and its shackles.”
I had dreamed of leaving this realm and rejoining the other gods for what felt like an endless span of time. It was all I’d thought about in the beginning. It was a dream I’d given up on at least a thousand times, only to find it creeping back to life a thousand and one.
A clean slate. A fresh start.
But only if I give up Never.
I shrugged away from the hand still resting on my shoulder. The only reason Nerebis would be in my realm looking to strike a deal with me was if he and the others couldn’t do what needed to be done themselves.
His measured stare hardened when I didn’t respond right away. “Let me put it another way. If you don’t unwind what you’ve done, you’ll be putting the entire human realm at risk.”
“Of what?” How could one woman—even as challenging as she was at times—have such a profound influence over an entire realm?
The last of Nerebis’s friendly, fatherly facade faded into his scowl. “The fates maintain the balance of all things, in all realms. Upsetting that balance is not wise.”
“No one has ever accused me of being wise. Hence my current living arrangements.” I swept my arm out, encompassing the Nassa. “Regardless, a vague warning isn’t an answer. How will the human realm be at risk?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “If she is allowed to continue as she is, the balance between the realms will begin to shift. An uptick in violence here, a rise in dark magic there. It will happen so slowly in the beginning you might not even notice, but the end result will be catastrophic.”
It was certainly a sobering thought. “You speak as though this has happened before.”
He nodded. “Twice. We were able to correct course the second time, but just barely.”
“And the first?”
He met my gaze with a flat stare. “The human realm was nearly wiped out.”
“Why have I not heard of this?” That seemed like the kind of tale that would have been spread far and wide in the celestial community.
“It was long before your time.”
I shoved my hand through my hair. Sacrifice Never to save every being in her realm, including her brother? And I would finally be released from this place?
It should have been a much harder decision to make. A better man—a better god—would have agonized over whether to give up the woman he loved when faced with an offer like that.
Or maybe not.
Maybe a better man would have known the answer right away. It just wouldn’t have been the same as mine.
“The answer is still no.”
He took a step back, his hands falling to his sides. “Atlas, think—”
“I will not undo what I’ve done.” Never was mine, and no one would take her from me for any reason.
His head tipped to one side. “You can’t be serious.”
“Try me.”
“We’re talking about a single human life.”
“Exactly. I have a hard time believing the future of an entire realm could ever hinge on a single soul. And if it does, if that’s truly all it takes to upset that ancient balance, then that is some piss poor craftsmanship.”
Nerebis huffed out an irritated breath, his narrowed gaze shifting to the door to my quarters and the furious cursing from the other side. “If I go back and tell the others that you’ve refused to fix this, they will come for you both. And they won’t be the only ones.”
I stepped to my left, blocking his view of the door. “Let them come.”
His expression shifted, softened. “What would she say? If I called her out here right now and asked her to sacrifice herself to save the whole of the human realm, what do you think her answer would be?”
It was a blatant manipulation to even suggest such a thing because we both knew the answer. But if it was really that simple, he would have asked her first.
“She can’t undo it on her own, so it hardly matters.”
He pressed his fingers to his temples and closed his eyes. “Tread carefully, Atlas.” When he opened them, it was like staring into the sky on a clear night, with the stars stretching out into the universe, making you feel about as important as a single grain of sand on an endless beach. “You do not want to make enemies of the fates.”
For as awe-inspiring as that warning was meant to be, it made me laugh. I couldn’t help it. Maybe it was the absurdity of the whole damned situation. Or maybe Never was rubbing off on me. Either way, only one response felt appropriate.
“All due respect, Nerebis...” I eased back a step and raised my sword, pointing the gleaming blade at his neck. “Get the fuck off my ship.”
With a shake of his head, he was gone. The door to my quarters flew open and Never charged out with my dagger in her hand. “Are you okay? Where did that bastard go?”
It was the most adorable demonstration I’d seen in a long time, but what really got to me was the fact that she asked if I was okay before anything else.
When she saw that I was smiling, she cocked her head. “What am I missing?”
Leo and my crew spilled out onto the deck in the moments that followed, all wielding weapons and ready for a fight. Pride surged at the sight of them. Somehow, despite my surly moods and clipped words, I’d managed to surround myself with some of the most loyal people in the realm.
“The immediate danger has passed,” I said, casting my voice out so everyone could hear me. “But we still have plenty to do to get this ship seaworthy.”
“What about the storm?” William asked, resuming his post at the helm.
“We’ll worry about it when it gets here. Until then, let’s get back to work.”
“How can I help?” Never asked, her gaze sweeping across the deck and the men returning to their tasks.
I had the urge to tell her to go back to our quarters, draw a nice bath, and wait for me there, but something told me she wouldn’t appreciate that suggestion.
“Leo?”
He was already halfway across the ship and headed away from us, but he turned at the sound of his voice. “Yeah?”
“Never wants to lend a hand. Do you have anything she can work on?”
He huffed an amused breath as one of his charming smirks quirked the corner of his lips. “Yeah, I could use some help over here.”
Internally, I still bristled a little at the idea of the two of them growing closer, but that was my own insecurity at work. I wanted them both in my life, and if there was going to be any chance of that happening, I had to give them the room to have their own friendship.
Glancing down at Never, I cocked an inquisitive brow. “What do you say?”
“Put me to work.”
* * *
That night, after the repairs were finished, and the ship was en route to Leo’s island home, I told Never what I knew. Both about the magic I’d used to bring her back and what sharing my power with her meant.
Did it make her a god? Sort of. It granted her some of the same powers I had, though we wouldn’t know the full extent until she worked with them. That would take a while.
I was also honest about the fact that she might be able to use her new abilities to leave the Nassa on her own. She was silent for a long time following that revelation.
“I need to see my brother again, at least to check on him.” She shook her head. “Is there a limit to how many times you can—” she waved her hand in a small circle “—flash?”
“Not really. It doesn’t use as much energy as you might think if you’re moving just you. Transporting someone with you is a different story.”
“So, flashing Petra to the ship?”
“It took a little out of me,” I confessed.
Her blue eyes searched mine. Worry and hesitation bled through our connection as if it were my own.
“What happens if I do leave? What happens to us?”
That was the question I’d been dreading, but now that she’d said it aloud, there was really one answer. “I’ll wait.”
She scoffed, albeit gently, and leaned back in her chair. “Right. I guess it’s not like you can go anywhere.”
Why had I thought having this conversation at the table was a good idea? It put a frustrating amount of space between us when all I wanted was to gather her up in my arms and take her to bed.
Oh, right, that was precisely the reason I’d chosen the table.We both needed enough space to have this discussion with clear heads.
I leaned my elbows on the smooth wood, laced my fingers together, and leveled with her. “I would wait for you even if I wasn’t anchored to this place. No matter how long it took.”
She cast a skeptical glance my way, but instead of hitting back with some snarky remark, she studied me. “You mean it.” It wasn’t a question, though the note of surprise in the statement stung a little.
“I do.”
“You realize how different we are, right? My life experience is a sliver of yours. An itty-bitty fraction of a fraction.”
The woman wasn’t giving herself enough credit. “I’ve known beings who have been around millennia who haven’t lived as much as you have.”
“I’m trying to be serious here, pirate.”
“So am I. I don’t care how different we are. If I can find a way to go with you, I will. If I can’t, I’ll wait. Because you, Never Darling, are worth waiting for. I love the way you challenge me. I love that you push back when I push you. I even love that mouth of yours. I’m pretty sure it’s going to get you into a world of trouble over the years to come, and I want that trouble. I want everything.” I pushed away from the table, stood, and held out my hand. “But if that’s not what you want, tell me now.”
She hesitated for a moment, finally putting her hand in mine with a teasing roll of her eyes. “Will I have to put up with more of these corny confessions?” She tried to ask it with a straight face, but the stubborn woman was fighting a losing battle with her smile as I pulled her to her feet.
If that wasn’t enough to tell me what I needed to know, the intensity of the emotions pouring out of her left no doubt. She was letting me in, letting me feel everything she was feeling.
The experience was as exhilarating as it was humbling.
I trailed my fingers up her arm, over her shoulder, along her delicate collarbone, and finally around her neck. “What did I just say about that mouth?”
She lifted her chin in a clear show of defiance. “That you love it.”
A satisfied growl rumbled from my chest. That was the right answer, but she wasn’t getting off that easily. “I also said it would get you in trouble.”
She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, the first hint of amber glowing at the edge of her irises. “Come on, pirate. Show me what you’ve got.”