Page 35 of The Demigod

The bears were nestled past the first curve, their two massive bodies huddled close.

I stepped past them, body tense, worried they might startle and we’d have to run for our lives.

As soon as we were past them, I could feel Nox release her held breath.

“This is about as far as I got last time,” I whispered to her, still aware of the bonded bears. “But it looks like it goes deeper.”

It, in fact, went a lot fucking deeper.

“You alright?” I asked, feeling Nox getting tense.

“You don’t hear it?”

“The pulsing?”

“No. I mean, yes. That’s still here. But the noise.”

I was pretty sure I heard bats. But I was equally sure that wasn’t what she meant.

“What does it sound like?”

“I don’t know. It’s… awful. Like something is piercing my eardrums. High-pitched, I guess.”

“Is it new?”

“A little bit after the bears, I noticed it. It’s gotten worse the further we’ve gone.”

“Do you want to turn back?”

“I want to know what’s creating it.”

“Okay,” I agreed, starting to walk again.

“I can walk,” she said.

“Nope.”

“But—“

“It’s cold in here. You gotta stay close to stay warm.”

She didn’t object to that.

At least, not until we got to the deepest part of the cave.

Her body dropped from me, her hands pressed hard to her ears, her eyes huge as she looked at what was in front of us.

CHAPTER TEN

Nox

It felt like something sharp and hot was piercing so deep into my ears that it was penetrating my brain by the time I slid off of Daemon’s back.

Even with my hands pressed to my ears, it didn’t ease the pain.

But I was so distracted by what I was seeing that my hands fell away.

Daemon’s gaze slid to mine, brows raised, eyes round. “Is that…”

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