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His gaze settled on the pendant, and he was silent for a long moment, long enough to make me want to squirm beneath that assessing stare. “Don’t even think about taking it from me again,” I said flatly.
Those whiskey eyes met mine and his jaw tensed, like he was offended by the thought. “Knowingwhatit is won’t help you access the power of it, but figuring out how you made it work the first time might. Tell me again what happened, and this time tell me everything, every single detail.”
41
HOOK
Never walked me through the night of her arrival in my realm again, but nothing stood out.
No, that wasn’t true. Lots of things stood out. Like what Petra was doing in her world in the first place. Someone would have had to summon the demon, that was the only way it could have made that trip, but Never was convinced it hadn’t been her brother.
Who would dare meddle with that kind of magic? And why turn around and sic the demon on Never in the park? Petra and the Darling family had a history, yes, but what was the point in drawing them together again? What purpose would that serve?
Then there was her boyfriend. That stood out in a big, find-a-way-to-her-world-to-kick-the-shit-out-of-him-on-her-behalf kind of way. I considered it, briefly, but she didn’t seem terribly upset by his betrayal. If she was, it was nothing close to the betrayal and rage pulsing from her when she’d stormed into my war room demanding I return her necklace.
Those things were all interesting to note, but they weren’t helpful in terms of getting her and her brother home. We could separate the boy from the demon’s minions, that I was sure of. We’d stolen plenty of the demon’s captives in the past, but where I had always failed was finding a way to send them home. Every time.
Except for Wendy.
Now I understood it was the power she’d stolen from Anya that had helped her escape. The same power now dangling from Never’s slender neck. My power.
“Knock, knock,” William said, balancing a tray on each hand.
Scents of freshly fried bacon and lightly toasted sweet bread spread through the room, and Never’s stomach rumbled loudly again. She turned the most enticing shade of pink at the sound, and I couldn’t help but laugh. The woman was a world of contradictions. Bold and brash in all the best and worst ways, but her own hunger was somehow a source of embarrassment.
I stood and took a tray from William. When Never started to get to her feet, I motioned for her to stay put, set the tray in her lap, and lifted the lid. She leaned over the array of fresh food and inhaled deeply, her eyes fluttering closed as an inappropriate groan escaped her lips.
I glanced at William, feeling oddly protective of that sound. Not that I had any right. She wasn’t mine to keep.
My first mate was already moving around the desk and setting up my breakfast, pretending like he hadn’t heard that illicit sound.Good man.Always the professional, he was, but that only slightly tempered the ancient imperative rising within me that demanded I not only throw him out of the room, but that I cut off his ears for good measure.
No one but me should get to hear her make those sounds of pleasure. Except, as I had to keep reminding myself, she was not mine.
“Thank you, William.” Despite my effort to sound civil, my voice carried a dangerous edge, and his eyes widened for a split second before his gaze dipped respectfully to the floor. When he lifted his chin, he kept his eyes on me, nodded once, and stepped out of the room without casting so much as a glance in Never’s direction.
“You should really try to be nicer to him,” she said, drawing my attention back to her. She dipped her fork into the fluffy scrambled eggs and bit them delicately off the tines. How she could give me such a judgmental look while she did that, I had no idea.
“I’m his captain, and I’m plenty nice to him when the situation calls for it.”
She bobbed her head side to side and swallowed. “Then why did it sound like you were about to rip his head off? What, did he lay out your breakfast utensils in the wrong order?”
I narrowed my eyes at her, debating how to handle her when she was clearly goading me. She had an adorable smirk on her face that made my own lips curl up in the first hint of a smile. It was tempting to let me suck her into a little argument over nothing, but if we did that, she wouldn’t eat, and we would either end up at each other’s throats or tearing off each other’s clothes. As much as my whole being longed for the latter, she needed food first.
“Eat, Never. We can discuss proper protocol for a first mate later.”
She eyed me like she wanted to argue, but instead she lifted a slice of sweet bread to her lips and shoved it in her mouth like an animal. Her smile was triumphant until I gave her a little wink.
“Good girl.”
She looked like she might choke on that giant mouthful of bread. Fortunately, instead of trying to talk, she just glared daggers at me from across the desk. That was fine. She could be mad or cranky or whatever suited her in that instant, so long as she finally settled down enough to eat. The woman had to be running on fumes, which wouldn’t help her make smart decisions when the time came.
I was fully expecting her to launch into a tirade the moment she swallowed down the bread and chased it with a gulp of cool water, but she kept quiet, tucking herself into the meal with surprising enthusiasm. I ate slowly, keeping an eye on her tray as she devoured every morsel on it. When she’d finished the last bite and looked down, the disappointment on her face bordered on comical.
I slid my own barely touched meal across the desk and leaned back, patting my stomach. “I don’t think I can eat another bite.”
She finally looked up, spotted the pile of food still sitting there, and I was struck by the hunger lingering in those eyes. “Help yourself.”
Again, she glanced longingly at her own empty tray. “No, I’m good.”
