Page 39 of The Demigod

I hardly recognized myself.

Not only was I pale and exhausted-looking, but I was starting to get gaunt in the face, my cheekbones hollowing out.

“That vending machine had nothing good,” Daemon declared when I walked back out. “How about I drive back to town while you’re taking a shower, get us something decent to eat, that way we’re not wasting any time?”

Maybe I shouldn’t have trusted him with my car when he could easily just take off with it, leaving me without transportation to take care of the hurt and dying humans, or to find someone to help me with Nemesis. But this was a man who willingly let me chain him each morning, who carried me on his back, who let me nap on him.

For a supposedly ‘evil’ creature, he’d been nothing but good to me.

So I tossed him my keys before gathering some fresh clothes and making my way into the bathroom.

The water was hot enough to scald, turning my skin bright pink. But it still didn’t feel warm enough to chase the chill out of my bones.

Eventually, I climbed out, dried off, wrapped my hair into a French braid to keep it out of the way, then slipped into my clothes. This time, I was careful to add on layers: a long sleeve under a sweatshirt, then a zip-up hoodie, leggings, and two pairs of socks.

It was still just barely enough.

But Daemon was knocking, so I made my way across the room to let him in.

The scent of pizza met my nose, making my belly let out an embarrassingly loud grumble. I couldn’t blame it, though. I hadn’t fed myself in over a day.

“Pizza is always a good idea,” Daemon told me. “Plus, I got coffees,” he said, pulling the tray off the pizza box. “And a bag of road trip snacks. But I left those in the car. Dig in,” he demanded, holding the box out to me.

I didn’t even take one of the flimsy paper plates he held. I just shoved half the slice into my mouth, chewing greedily.

Daemon put the box down on the end of the bed, reaching for his own slice. “I get that you’re on this noble mission, sweetness, but you can’t save anyone if you aren’t at least feeding yourself.”

“It wasn’t intentional,” I insisted, bristling as I reached for another slice. “I literally couldn’t go any further. Believe me, sleeping in the woods wasn’t something I wanted. I honestly can’t believe I lived, considering how cold I’ve been.”

“It’s never been like this before?” he asked.

“You mean before I started using my shadows for sneaking around the estate?”

“Yeah.”

“Um… no. At least, not that I ever noticed. If I had, I probably would have just thought I caught a chill or something like that.”

“And it’s gotten worse the longer you’ve been using your shadows?”

“Yeah.”

“At least we know that’s what it is, I guess. Maybe Arick can help with that.”

“How would a warlock know about my powers?”

“He’s a big reader. Has a whole separate guest house full of books. If anyone would know, it would be him. At least until we are back here, though, you can give your powers a rest. See if that helps.”

I wouldn’t lie—at least not to myself—I was looking forward to a break. That made me feel like a selfish coward, but there was no reasoning with feelings.

Between the two of us, we finished the pie—me eating slightly more than he did.

“Do you want to shower?” I asked, looking at his skin, still caked in dried blood that was now smeared with dirt.

The looks he must have gotten in town. Then again, things were so crazy out there right then; people were probably quickly getting jaded.

“I have nothing to change into. I’ll shower at Arick’s. He’ll have something for me to wear.”

“Okay,” I agreed, taking the coffee he held out for me. “Ready?”

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