Page 105 of Another Damned Storm
Her responding smile was almost motherly. “Not this time, my dear Captain. There’s too much at stake to barter over trinkets.”
“Thank you, Rue. Truly.”
“I take it back. There is a way you can repay me.”
I arched a brow.
“Keep those deep musings on your ship.” She pressed her hands over her ears. “I really could use a little peace and quiet.”
I knew it was meant as a jest, at least in part, but humor was beyond me at that moment. “As you please.” I offered her a deep bow and flashed back to my ship.
35
HOOK
Months came and went, each one marked by a visit from my father. It was the same story over and over. He would offer me a deal, and I would refuse to take it. So, when he showed up on the deck of my ship on the one-year anniversary of Never’s arrangement, I wasn’t at all surprised to see him.
“Are you not weary of this game yet?” I asked, not bothering to come down from the helm to greet him properly. Any shred of respect I might have once held for the man died when I’d seen the way he tortured Never. The way he no doubt continued to torture her.
He rolled his shoulders back. “This is your last chance, Atlas. I will not make the offer again.”
A spear of worry shot through me. Had something changed? Was Never on the verge of giving in? I’d kept our connection wide open every minute of every day, and I’d poured as much of myself into it as I could.
It wasn’t all happy thoughts, as Never would have put it. I certainly had my bad days, but I knew my pain was barely an echo of hers.
I could still feel her on the other end, too. Still unfiltered.
Her torment was a constant bludgeoning force in my head. I didn’t sleep. I could scarcely bring myself to eat. There were days when her fatigue seemed to reach through our link and absorb my energy until I could barely hold myself upright.
But no matter how bad it got, I would not shut her out. I would not give up on her. And I would not fail her.
I leveled my father with a cold stare. “Never is all that matters to me. You can offer me everything under the stars. It won’t change the fact that she is my reason for breathing.”
He studied me quietly for several seconds, but rather than subject me to another lengthy speech or condescending quip, he just let out a disbelieving huff. Then a figure flashed into existence a few paces from him, and my heart lurched.
Never?The pulse of her energy was familiar, but the creature before me was covered in crimson scales that matched the red glow emanating from her eyes. Her fingers ended in claws that would have given Lily and Leo pause, and she had a four-foot-long tail with razor sharp fins at the end flicking angrily.
She dropped into a defensive crouch, looking suspiciously around the ship as though she had no idea where she was.
“Clear the deck!” I bellowed at my men as I took the steps leading down from the helm in a single leap.
Her emotions were still raw and wild, but she was in there. I was sure of it.
She was frightened. Or perhaps it was furious. She gnashed her teeth, whipping her head this way and that as my men made themselves scarce.
When her gaze landed on my father, a guttural growl filled the space between them.
I stepped forward to intervene, hoping to pull her attention to me, but she blinked and that red glow in her eyes changed to amber. She pulled herself upright, and as she did, the roughscales melted into her skin, disappearing beneath an ethereal glow.
“Did you finally get tired of your old tricks?” she asked, her voice laced with venom. She scanned the deck, disgust dripping from her expression. Until she found me.
“Hello, love.” With the lump in my throat and the excitement trying to burst out of me, it was a miracle I managed any words at all.
From the confusion coursing through her, though, she didn’t trust her own eyes. “Hook?” She swallowed hard. The amber glow fell away, leaving her blue eyes welling with tears. “Oh god, no,” she gasped. Horror swept through her. “No, no, no.” She spun to my father. “I didn’t mean to.” She pinched her eyes closed and shook her head. “I didn’t mean to.”
I stood there in stunned silence, my momentary joy now drowning in the misery and blistering guilt bleeding into me through our connection.
She thought she’d failed, that she’d accidentally flashed herself to my ship.
