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Probably not. She was powerful, cryptic even when she was willing to help, and she had a way of pulling a person’s deepest, darkest thoughts from their mind. But for what I wanted to know, she was my only option, short of confronting Petra directly.
My blood was positively boiling for a fight, but a confrontation with the demon now would be short-sighted. As far as the creature knew, I was none the wiser about her little trick, and I intended to keep it that way.
Moving to the railing, I untied the line and lowered the skiff into the water. “I’ll be fine, William. Stay. Check the men. Those are your orders.” With that, I tossed the rope ladder over and made my way down.
Night was in full bloom as I grabbed the oars and started rowing, silently daring the sirens circling the ship to try something. I was already pushing the edge of my control. Fury at the possibility of being manipulated by the demon. Frustration and confusion surrounding Leo’s disappearance. And a sense of loss that sank far deeper than I ever would have expected.
It was all churning inside me, just itching for an outlet.
2
NEVER
“Lily?” I asked stupidly, even though I’d just watched her morph from my faithful, furry companion into a woman.
Whether she actually heard me or not was debatable. Leo—the sun kissed, surfer boy Adonis—had her wrapped in a hug so tight, maybe she couldn’t hear anything.
To be fair, she was clinging to him with the same kind of desperation, like they were long-lost siblings who’d never expected to see each other again.
I shot a glance at Matty to check how he was handling, you know, everything. He was watching them too, but with a look on his face that set off tiny alarm bells in the back of my mind.
Did he see something I didn’t?
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
His attention snapped to me, eyes flickering black for less than a heartbeat before their familiar blue returned. A chill raced through me, but when I blinked, Matty was just Matty.
You’re seeing things, Never.
Which, yeah, that tracked. It had been a fucked up few days, even by my standards.
That raised another question, though: Had it really only been a few days? Hook had mentioned something about time slipping between his world and mine, but he hadn’t gotten around to explaining what that meant.
Also, the thought of him hurt.
It wasn’t a physical pain. Not the way a bruise was sensitive to touch, or the way a shock of fear prickled the skin. The ache that came with picturing Hook’s face in my mind was deep and heavy, and utterly irrational.
So, I did what I did best and buried it until I could deal with it when no one else was around.
“Matty?” I called his name again, pulling his attention from Leo and Lily. Again, for a split second, I felt like I was looking at someone else.
A growl lifted the short hairs along the back of my neck, and I whipped around to see Leo moving Lily behind him. For a big, human-looking guy, his growl had a decidedly animalistic tone to it. A little too predatory for my liking.
I moved to step in front of Matty, mirroring Leo’s protective stance, but his gaze flicked to me. “Get away from him, Never.” The warning in his voice kicked my pulse up a notch.
I threw another glance at my brother, only this time, I didn’t just imagine that flicker of black. His eyes were the color of midnight, pure pitch, from corner to corner and lid to lid.
And worse, I knew those eyes.
A sick feeling snaked through my middle. “Petra?”
“No,” Matty said, in a voice that was too low and raspy to be his.
“Never, move.” This came from the unexpectedly familiar woman standing next to Leo.
Lily. It would take me a bit to really wrap my head around that whole situation.
I eased back a step, putting a little distance between me and my brother while discreetly slipping the hand holding the pendant behind me. “Who are you?”
