Now, the rum sat like a stone in my gut and all thoughts of plundering led me straight to Never. She was all I wanted. To build a life with her.
Curse the universe for giving me a taste of what that life could have looked like. Having her by my side every day and in my bed every night had made this realm feel like heaven. Without her, it was empty.
“Where the hell is he?” I asked, directing the question at the open water.
Warm wind buffeted my face as I rocked the helm a smidge to my left. The sails snapped when they caught the breeze, and the pull on the ship was noticeable. If I’d had a destination in mind, we would have been making great time.
Instead, we sailed aimlessly. Yes, we dropped by the eddy to make sure it was intact and there was no sign that Petra had found a way to free herself from her watery prison. It was still the same swirling vortex it had always been.
We hadn’t even had a decent storm since Never’s departure, which was unsettling. If she was in the Alius, that would explain the calm settling back over the Nassa.
But I wasn’t imagining that tug inside me.
I pressed my palm over my chest. Her pull was like a distant siren song calling out to every drop of my being. The connection should have been reassuring, and it was in a way. It also burrowed under my skin creating an unbearable itch I could not reach.
“Criton, I swear to the stars, if you don’t show your face soon…”
What was I going to do? It wasn’t like I could force him to return to this realm.
Do I dare risk summoning Nerebis again?The last time I’d tried, two days earlier, he’d surprised me by actually heeding the call, arriving in a flurry of irritation. He hadn’t been forthcoming, however. He’d refused to tell me if Never was in the Alius or anything that might be happening with her, and he showed no genuine interest in the storms and the geological chaos that had been plaguing the Nassa.
“This cannot be the end,” I grumbled to myself. “I will not accept it.”
“Sir? Did you say something?” William asked from his position a few paces away.
I shook my head. “Nothing of consequence.”
Never Darling had stolen my heart. She’d muddled my head and molded my dreams until they all revolved around her. And, to add insult to injury, my feisty woman had even managed to turn me into a muttering fool.
Closing my eyes, I sent out a silent call to Criton. As a god, there existed a few ways to summon one of our own. Bellowing into the sky was always an option, but it attracted attention. Since this was meant to be a stealth endeavor, I went the silent route.
Hours later, when the sun was setting in the distance, he materialized on my deck.
“Criton.” I offered him a curt dip of my chin.
“Atlas.” He looked irritated. No, that wasn’t quite right. Perhaps flustered was the word I was searching for?
The changes were subtle. His clothes were slightly rumpled and his dual mohawks weren’t as prominent as they’d been the last time I’d laid eyes on him.
“What news do you have?”
His expression turned defiant. “Payment first.”
“Payment after delivery, Criton. That is how bargains with me work.” Especially when dealing with an immortal soul who had found himself in the clutches of addiction.
I couldn’t blame him too much. Pixie dust was a powerful drug—part aphrodisiac, part painkiller. Barely a pinch of the fine powder was enough to make even the surliest of gods pliable.
Anya’s dust was one reason I’d allowed myself to be seduced by that devil pixie in the first place. When the best rum in the realm wasn’t enough to get me out of bed, a taste of the magic locked inside those tiny particles could make me fly.
She knew what she was doing using it. I knew too, but it had taken me a long while to see her machinations for what they really were. She said she wanted love, but what she really desired was control.
“Well?” I motioned impatiently.
He turned his gaze out to the water before answering. “She’s not in the Alius.”
As I suspected, but there was nothing to gain from letting him in on that secret. “Do you know where she is?”
“Do you realize how much trouble I can get in for this?”
