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I yanked Never behind me roughly. She tried to fight, but I refused to let that monster hurt her again. If I’d been there the first time, that first night she’d returned to this world, there was a good chance I would have gutted the boy to get the shadow out of him after what it’d done to her.
“Get. Out.” The words came out through gritted teeth, short and clipped. It took me a moment to realize it wasn’t the creature who was doing the talking. He turned his head slowly, wincing as he did, until he was looking at the pot on the stove.
With a violent jerk, the boy was facing Never again, only it was painfully clear who was running the show. The thing lunged forward, shoving me aside in its bid to get at her. And it was strong. Considerably so given its weak human host.
Its hand swiped mere inches from her throat before I caught it by the hair and yanked it back. It whirled on me, snarling and snapping like the feral creature I knew so well. I slammed the thing first against the counter, scattering bowls and books and heavens knew what else on the ground. Then I changed course, catching it by the back of its filthy shirt and hurling it at the wall.
“Stop!” Never screamed, her voice laced with agony.
I knew why she was screaming. I fully understood the reason she charged up and tried to shove me out of the way, but I couldn’t let the shadow escape again. The thing tried to get to its feet, so I moved in and delivered a swift kick to its rib cage.
The blow felt like a betrayal because that was what Never was feeling. It didn’t matter that what I was doing was meant to keep her safe. I wasn’t trying to kill her brother, but all she saw was an assault on a being that looked tragically like someone she loved.
The problem was, we couldn’t go easy on the human and hope to capture the shadow. That wasn’t the way things worked.
It crawled across the floor making miserable, desperate sounds meant to elicit compassion. Unfortunately, I had none for the demon or its shadow. Grabbing it by the throat, I hauled the thing up to face me, its boyish face twisted into a mask of pure hatred.
I knew the feeling. My hate for the demon had faded at some point during our endless lives, becoming little more than a slow simmer rolling in the background. Until I’d found Never on the beach those many months ago.
Since that morning, my enmity had grown. Sharpened.
The shadow kicked out, catching me hard in the knee before twisting out of my grip. It spun and kicked again, connecting with the center of my chest and driving me back. I smashed into a soft body and heard Never’s muffled cry of pain as we both crashed to the floor.
Common sense told me to keep my eyes on the boy, but everything in me wanted to turn and check on her.
Footsteps pounded the stairs, echoing into the room.
“He’s getting away,” Never grunted, sounding more angry than hurt.
Except, when I looked up, the shadow was still there, and it was wearing a smile so sinister it brought the hairs at the back of my neck to attention.
It fished a small silver rectangle out of its pocket and flipped the lid.
A lighter?Why would the thing need a lighter?
It took another half second for my brain to pick up the nearly undetectable scent of gas under the overpowering stench of rotten eggs.
Panic flared inside me. I didn’t have time to think. All I could do was haul Never into my arms and make a mad dash for the nearest exit. I spun at the last minute, letting my back absorb the impact of the shattering glass as I held on to the woman I loved for dear life.
A blast wave propelled us out, followed by a shock of heat and flames that made my heart twist for fear of what it might do to Never. I saw and felt it all in slow motion, watching the flames singe the air around us before gravity took over and the world went black.
17
NEVER
We hit the ground hard. A teeth-cracking, wind-knocking, not entirely sure I remained fully conscious kind of hard. It was only by the miracle of the stubborn demigod who’d made himself my cushion that nothing felt broken.
Correction: nothing inmybody felt broken.
Hook was a different story.
I eased off him, biting back a wince at the unnatural way his bones shifted under my weight. He was perfectly silent, eyes closed, and the world around us fell away. I reached an unsteady hand up to cup his cheek, trying like hell not to see the pool of thick red blood growing beneath his head.
“Hook?” I whispered. I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. Seeing him like that made everything inside me try to lock up.
When I didn’t get a response, I grabbed him by the jaw. “Goddammit, pirate. Open your fucking eyes.”
That fall with me on top of him would have killed a normal person. There was some consolation in the knowledge that he wasn’t actually a person, but only a little. He’d said magic worked differently in the human realm. Did that mean his own immortality might not function the same way?
