Page 68 of The Demigod

With that, she took my hand.

We inched together through the house, silent, barely even breathing.

The second we were outside, we both just… ran.

For our lives.

Because we both knew that was what was at stake.

We didn’t stop.

Not until I literally couldn’t go anymore, my lungs on fire, my heartbeat slamming.

I felt a small bit of comfort that it wasn’t just my waning, draining powers when I looked over to see the witch standing with her hands on her knees, panting for breath.

“What’s your name?” I gasped out between breaths.

“Agatha. Aggy.”

“Aggy,” I said, taking slow, deep breaths. “How long have they had you?”

“I honestly don’t even know. It was… spring, I guess.”

Almost a year.

They’d had their hands on this girl for almost ayear.

“You’ve kept that protection magic going for a year?”

“Why do you think I look like this?” she asked, waving down at herself.

So.

It wasn’t just my powers that came at a cost.

“If I was free, I could recharge. But without that, I had to just… waste away.”

“Wait… if that screaming sound was protection magic, then why was Nemesis’s prison screaming?”

“Because… because they were… hurting her. When she was trapped and couldn’t fight back.”

Oh.

So she was going to be good and pissed when we released her.

That was a strange kind of comfort.

“We need to free her,” I told Aggy. “And then I can get you a shower, food, a comfortable place to sleep. Then I can take you home.”

“I don’t have a home,” she said. “But I would love some food. They barely fed me. Wanted me weak, I guess.”

“Yeah. They’re bullies like that,” I agreed. “Okay. Let’s get to the cave.”

We walked then, both too tired to hurry.

As we neared the mouth, Aggy’s hand reached for mine, likely remembering the bears and knowing we needed to hide ourselves.

I reached for the shadows. And, for the first time, it felt like they hesitated, like they didn’t want to come.

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