Page 12 of The Demigod

“Well, you’re very well preserved for fifty,” I said, loving the little flush that crept across her cheeks. “So, Mom woke up first then?”

“What?”

“The old gods, they’ve been waking up. Or, at least, that’s how my club has been putting it.”

“Club?”

“Motorcycle club. I dunno. It’s a business the older demons started when they came to the human realm.”

“Oh, I see,” she said, and I could see her gears turning behind her eyes. “Well, I think the primordial gods have been…awake a lot longer than the other gods,” Nox explained. “But the Protogenoi are the very basic components of the universe. They emerged fully formed and represent earth, air, sea, sky, water, Underworld, darkness, night, light, day, procreation, and time. They are, by nature—since they are the very world itself—neutral.

“It’s the newer gods who cause all the problems, who lean either good or wicked, who don’t know true balance unless it is forced upon them.”

“Hence finding your sister.”

“Yes.” There was desperation in her voice. I could only imagine the things she’d seen and heard around this place. Feeling helpless thanks to their strength and her temperamental powers. But doing what she could regardless.

“And you want my help.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t do it alone. Because I’ve been trying, day and night, for weeks. Because I—“

Her voice was getting high, borderline hysterical.

“Hey, hey, alright,” I cut her off. “No one would exactly call me a do-gooder. But one thing I am is a sucker for a pretty girl with a sad story. Unlock me. We’ll go looking.”

“There’s a catch.”

“What kind of catch?”

“You can’t be free.”

“I need to be free to help you.”

“Yes, but… but I need you to come back here in between.”

“Why?”

“Because if you don’t, dozens of innocents will suffer,” she said, her eyes going wide and sad. “I know what I’m asking,” she added. “I know what they do. Believe me, I know. And that would be done to you. But—“

“But I can take it. But I won’t die. And your conscience will be clearer.”

“Yes.”

“Well, shit,” I said, sighing. “Let’s hope we find your sister fast then, huh?”

CHAPTER FOUR

Nox

I didn’t truly expect him to agree. I mean, it was asking a lot. To be subjected to unending torture for the pleasure of wicked gods.

But he was going to be tortured either way. At least with my plan, there was a chance to put an end to it. If we found Nemesis, it would stop. He’d be free. The humans would stop suffering too.

Of course, there was always the chance that once he was free, he would run off. But, well, I had to take that chance. I had no other choice.

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