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24
HOOK
“Get us as close to shore as you safely can!” I yelled to my men.
They were working as quickly as they could. Any fool could see that. That fact did little to quell the impatience eating at me. The ship moved like a tired slug thanks to a distinct lack of a breeze to help us along.
I tipped my head to the sky.Really? When I need help more than ever, this is how you respond?Shaking my head, I chastised myself for even bothering. The other gods—if they even still existed—wanted nothing to do with me.
So, I couldn’t help wondering if the fates were conspiring against me.
A fresh wave of pain bled through my connection with Never, turning my vision crimson. There was no way to tell where the pain was coming from or how serious it was. None of that mattered when every second that passed meant more of her blood was spilling in the dirt.
I needed to get back to the island.
And when I get there, Leo is dead.I shook my head, trying to clear the image of his enormous tiger pinning her to the ground. His claws…
More pain brought that image right back in full force, followed by a heart wrenching sense of acceptance.
Was she giving up?
“Faster!” I bellowed. Quitting was, unequivocally, unacceptable.
A new flurry of emotions and sensations trickled in. I didn’t even have time to parse them out before the pain reared its head again.
Rage was the only response my mind and body had to that sensation. The urge to stop Never’s suffering was the driving force behind it, but if I couldn’t have that, destroying anything that had ever given her so much as a sliver in her finger would fill the void.
Gripping the wheel at the helm until my knuckles paled, I glared at the island. Petra’s camp was halfway up the mountain. Even in broad daylight, I could pinpoint it without thinking.
From that spot, a flash of amber light shot up through the trees.
“What the devil?” The question was barely out of my mouth before a blast of power slammed into me.
The next thing I knew, I was staring up at William’s worried face, backlit by a perfect, blue sky.
“Captain? Good gods, man, you scared the life out of me,” he said, holding out a hand to help me up. “What was that?”
“No idea.” But that wasn’t entirely true. As I took a quick inventory of myself, I felt different. My chest and back tingled wildly at two familiar spots. “It can’t be.” I jerked myself up to sitting and yanked at my shirt. “My scar. Is it—”
Disappearing?
The evidence was right in front of me, but William’s wide-eyed stare said it all. In the space of a few quick seconds, it was gone. Only one thing could have healed that mark.
My power had been returned to me.
Pulling myself to my feet, my men inched back. I flexed my hands and tested the tired joints of my body to find they weren’t tired anymore. For the first time in centuries, I was whole. At least, in the physical sense. It felt like a miracle, until my brain caught up with what that change meant, and my newly whole heart cracked inside my chest.
The pendant had been destroyed.
Frantically, I searched within myself for that tenuous connection to Never, and I found nothing.
Not even a whisper.
The loss nearly pulled to my knees before my anger surged.
“Forget going to shore,” I growled. “Set course for the eddy.”
“Sir?” William asked hesitantly. “Are you okay?”
