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His face broke into one of his beaming smiles, returning to him to his full golden god/hot surfer glory. “What? Too soon?”
“Coming from the guy who looked like he was on death’s doorstep the last time I saw him? Maybe a little.” What was meant to be a light moment turned heavy when Leo’s gaze shifted to Hook.
“I owe you.” He tipped his head.
Hook’s arms tightened around me the tiniest bit, and I lifted my chin to look up at him. “What did you do? I thought shifters could heal themselves.”
There was obviously still some tension between those two, but Hook nodded once. “Nothing he wouldn’t have done for me if the tables were turned.”
An awkward silence filled the next few seconds, leaving plenty of time for my mind to wander. Where did it go? Right back to the fight with Petra and the moment I shattered Hook’s pendant.
A fresh wave of guilt hit me, followed immediately by the remembered realization that I was now stuck here.
Fuck.
“What’s wrong?” Hook asked, leaning back to peer down at me.
Rip the bandage off, Never.
“I smashed your pendant.” You know, that piece of his heart or soul or center of power that the bitch pixie had carved out of him. The piece he’d given back to me so I could get my brother home.
“I know.” He pressed a surprisingly soft kiss to my lips.
Okay, not the reaction I was expecting. “I, uh…” Had no fucking clue what to say.
A crack of thunder just about split my eardrums before I could think up what would probably have been a lame response, anyway. And yeah, I jumped like a sissy.
Glaring up at the sky, an ominous feeling started in my middle, spreading quickly to the top of my head and the tips of my toes. “That can’t be good.”
Where did it even come from?The sky was as blue as the day was long.
Hook tensed beside me as he too scanned the expanse of sky above. After a few seconds passed without another deafening boom, he cast a quick, reassuring smile down at me. “Nothing to worry about.”
I wanted to believe him, but something felt off.
Maybe I was losing my mind—definitely a possibility—or maybe strange things really were happening in Hook’s world. How would I know? It wasn’t like I’d spent a huge amount of time in his world. Maybe random thunderclaps were just part of a regular Tuesday in this place.
I’ll have plenty of time to learn all sorts of fun things about this realm now.
My heart sank, and my thoughts immediately shifted to Matty. I missed him so much already. Actually, I’d been missing him for the better part of a month, because even when we were in our world, it wasn’t like he was really himself.
The ache I’d been trying to ignore, the one that clung to my ribcage and squeezed, flared back to life.
Hook slipped a finger beneath my chin and lifted, forcing me to look at him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
He lifted a skeptical brow. “You’re lying.” A shadow of sadness colored the statement. “You want to go home.”
“Wouldn’t you if your kid brother was there? I know he has Lily to help him out, and he’s only a few months shy of being a legal adult, but he’s still my responsibility.”
He pulled in a deep breath. “Do me a favor? Head to my quarters while I check on the others. Once I’m sure everyone is okay, we’ll talk about everything.”
“Are you sending me to my room?” I asked, trying for sassy. “Bold move, pirate.”
His gaze narrowed, warming me from the inside out. “Yourroom?”
“It’s a saying,” I rushed out. “You know, it’s a human thing.”
