Page 22 of The Demigod

I couldn’t decide if the warmth of his skin or the electrical current that moved up my arm from the touch was what had a shiver racking my system.

But I went ahead and tried to make myself believe it was the former. Even if the way the pressure in my core intensified had other stories to tell.

Luckily, sneaking out of the cellar necessitated absolute silence, so I didn’t have to deal with Daemon possibly asking about the shiver, about its origins.

By the time we were deep enough into the woods to not be seen by anyone looking out the windows of the estate, that strange, warm sensation had spread from my hand all the way through my body. It was, at once, both comforting and agitating. Making me want to curl up against him, or maybe climb him like a tree, pull at his clothes, feel him slide inside…

No.

Christ.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I pulled my hand from Daemon’s, and the chill immediately overtook me as I let the shadow fall from both of us.

“It’s like watching a battery drain,” Daemon said, looking at me.

“What?”

“You looked reasonably well-rested when you first came to get me. Now, you look exhausted again.”

“I haven’t figured out how not to let the shadow take so much from me,” I admitted. “Okay. Now, I figured you could go off in that direction,” I said, waving. “And I will go this way.”

“Shouldn’t we stay together?” he asked, head cocked to the side as he watched me.

“That would defeat the purpose of having help,” I said, even if the urge to stay at his side pulled at me. “But if you think you find something, we should have a way of trying to contact each other.” I should have thought to get burner phones or walkie-talkies or something.

“Any chance you can whistle?”

“Sure.”

“Like this?” he asked, releasing a bird-like sound, but higher-pitched.

I parroted him. “But how is that going to help? These woods are vast.”

“I will hear you.”

“But I won’t hear you.”

“Okay. We’ll use the whistle for distress. But how about we meet halfway through the night at…” he started, looking around, then finding the tallest tree. “There.”

Objectively, I knew we would be wasting time by doubling back. But we would also be wasting time if one of us found something, and the other spent the whole night looking in the wrong direction.

“Okay. Agreed. Here,” I said, reaching to remove my watch from my wrist. “I imagine demons don’t have a great handle on time. And I have my cell to check.”

Daemon slipped it into his pocket since his wrist was too large.

“Hey, shadow girl,” he called when I was about to walk away.

“Yeah?”

“Be careful,” he demanded.

Then he was off, moving faster than any human could.

For the first time in days, I had something resembling hope.

With this demon’s help, I might just be able to find and free Nemesis.

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