“He is, but I haven’t been able to discern how that ties him to you or to what is happening here.”
I combed my fingers through my still damp hair, working out a few of the tangles as I worked through my thoughts. “Okay. Let’s say he’s been getting weaker. What could he do in this world, or to it, that would put him back on the map?”
“He is a god of weather. There was a time, before the civilization that worshiped him was wiped out, when his power rivaled that of Zeus.”
“That would explain the storms.” And that was where the connection ended. “What about the demons?”
Hook shook his head and let out a sigh. “That I do not know. Gods do not control demons.”
“Who does control them?”
“More powerful demons.” He said it like it was common knowledge.
“You know some pretty powerful demons, don’t you? As in the Brethren.” As in the same guys who nearly killed my brother trying to rip Petra’s shadow out of him.
It wasn’t their fault. They were trying to help. They’d warned us about the dangers up front, and that slippery ass shadow was a mean sumbitch.
“I never did get a chance to thank them,” I said.
Hook eyed me warily. “The Brethren would not be involved in something like this.”
“I didn’t say they would be, but they might have a better idea of which powerful demons would be willing to team up with a disgruntled god. Don’t you think?”
18
HOOK
We were just leaving the boarded-up shop, with Never tucking her bracelet away in her jacket when she caught me by the arm.
I followed her gaze across the street to a figure seated on a bench. It was clearly a woman, her long, dark brown hair half hidden by a ball cap. Her clothing reminded me of something that would have been worn by a militia member, with a fitted black vest over a tan shirt, and a pair of worn cargo pants in muted green tucked into black combat boots. Every piece of clothing on her looked as though it had seen better days.
“Is that Lily?” Never asked.
I couldn’t be sure. If it was, she looked different. Older. More so than someone born in the Nassa should have looked after a mere twenty-six years.
She was alone on the bench, seated with her elbows on her knees, watching us with the stillness of a predator.
Never raised a hand in a tentative wave. “Hi?”
It wasn’t until she stood and strode across the asphalt that I was sure it was Lily Shere. She had aged. Not as markedly as Never’s brother, but given what she was, a tiger shifter born in a magical realm, it was still unusual. Now, instead of looking asthough she were a woman of the tender age of eighteen, she appeared closer to thirty.
It was a subjective assessment, of course, fueled in part by holding Leo in comparison. Perhaps I was too close and saw him too often to notice, but I was sure he had not changed nearly so much. At least, not on the outside.
“Tell me I’m not dreaming,” Lily said, as she walked up and wrapped Never in a tight hug.
Never squeezed her back. “If you are, I must be too.”
The initial hesitation coming through our link melted away, leaving only the bittersweetness of a reunion during a crisis in its wake.
They held each other for several seconds. Long enough to remind me that they’d once been very close. Back then, their relationship had been different, since Lily was trapped in the body of a companion canine, but even that could not diminish their connection.
“And you,” Lily said over Never’s shoulder. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” She opened one arm and pulled us into an awkward three-way hug.
“Likewise,” I admitted.
“What the hell are you two doing here?” She eased back and looked around us to the closed doors, then up and down the sidewalk.
“Leo couldn’t join me this time around,” I offered.
