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She continued studying me, but after a moment, it was as though she was looking through me. Hopefully to a world beyond the Nassa and the twisted magic of this cursed realm.
The silence stretched, interminable seconds ticking by, testing the limits of my already tattered patience. After what felt like a lifetime, she pulled in a heavy breath and let out a disappointed sigh. “I’m afraid I can’t answer that.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“I can see forward, not back. While I did enjoy watching the Darling woman, my vision of her was lost to me shortly before you arrived. Leo of the shifters was also lost at that time.”
“You can’t see them at all?”
She tipped her head to one side. “Not enough to give you the answers you seek. Unless knowing they are both still alive helps you in some way?”
My grip on my cutlass tightened. If I hadn’t already been able to feel Never’s pull tugging at something deep in my being, that might have been helpful. As it was, I knew she was alive. Just as I would know when her time in the world of the living ended.
We were connected now. It was a fragile connection, granted, but it was there. If she was feeling a fraction of what I was...
I couldn’t let myself think about that. Not when I had much, much bigger problems to contend with. Like what Petra had planned.
“Can you see what the demon means to accomplish by sending its shadow to the human realm?” I didn’t have high hopes, given the witch couldn’t see Never in her world, but I had to ask.
Rue’s upper body rocked gently side to side, like she was listening to music only she could hear. “The demon wants to leave this place, and it is working to put all the pieces in place.”
“What pieces? Where?”
“In the human world, of course. A human boy with the blood of a demon running through his veins, the demon’s shadow, and an amulet containing the power of the gods. It’s a simple equation.”
A thread of ice weaved its way down my spine. “You’re not talking about Never’s brother, are you? Is he the one who carries the blood of a demon inside of him?”
She tipped her head toward me. “As does your woman.”
“What?” Surely, I was misunderstanding something.
“The original Darling made a wicked deal to come to our world.”
Oh, I knew Wendy had been working with demons, but a demon couldn’t simply infuse a human with its blood. That kind of infection couldn’t be wished or cast or spelled into existence. The only way Never and her brother could have demon blood inside them was if they were born with it.
Had Wendy truly been so foolish?
Remembering the girl who’d come to Nassa riding a storm of demonic power, perhaps the answer to that question was obvious. She’d been sweet, but dangerously naïve. Though, she must have had some worldly experience to not only summon but also strike a deal with a demon capable of sending her to my cursed realm.
Then there was the last piece of the puzzle. Calling that gruesome hunk of what looked like a raw gem an amulet was a kindness. It made it sound like a simple piece of jewelry when it was something else entirely.
I’d sent that part of myself with Never so that she could get home. And, selfishly, so she would always have a piece of me resting close to her heart.
It was supposed to keep safe, not put her entire world in danger.
“You’re sure?”
Empathy softened the sea witch’s vaguely reptilian features. “Nothing is certain, Captain. Any moment that has not already come to pass may yet be changed.”
I’d forgotten how frustrating it could be dealing with her. Helpful and utterly unhelpful all at once.
“The demon means to use the shadow and the power of the amulet. But how?”
“By becoming the boy.”
“No.” The word slipped out before I could catch it.
Is that even a possibility?
