Page 63 of The Demigod

I knew then what I’d been suspecting since right before the Underworld.

It wasn’t that I just liked her—I did. Or that I liked fucking her—I loved it.

It was deeper than that.

I was going to Claim her.

That was why I was hearing that voice, that little growlingMinewhen I was with her, when I thought of her.

I was pretty sure the actual Claiming was more dramatic than what I’d been experiencing so far.

It was only a matter of time.

Nox turned back to me at the edge of the woods, her eyes unsure but giving me a wobbly smile.

“You got this, shadow girl,” I called, fighting with my wings as they tried to shoot dramatically out.

Nox sucked in a deep breath, then brought her shadows around herself and disappeared.

I waited until I saw the door slip open, then rushed out of the woods myself, not wanting her in there without some sort of support system, someone making sure she was okay.

True, the gods had proven that I was practically powerless against them. Or, at least, against that damn Oizys—who did all that mental whammy shit. I was pretty sure that if I wasn’t chained, I might have been able to do some damage to the other siblings. But that mental torture was something I had no defenses against.

I moved up onto the back porch, careful to stay clear of the French doors, then moved to the side of one of the windows so I could glance in.

The room was moody, with just candles on for ambiance as the gods lounged around, some draped over partners. It was impossible to tell if those partners were gods too, humans, demigods. I wouldn’t pretend to know anything about how the gods fucked.

Some were being fed by said partners.Allheld glasses full of a honey-colored liquid.

It was lucky the damn poppy extract boiled down relatively clear. I think I’d been expecting red wine, not… whatever was in their glasses.

Shadows danced across the burgundy walls, but it was impossible to know which of those shadows was my brave girl.

My gaze slid around the room, looking at the different faces. Some were familiar. Others… not.

Momus was lounged in a corner with a woman in his lap, getting sideways glances from Eris and Ares, who he—no doubt—had teased mercilessly already.

“Wait,” I said, my gaze scanning the room again.

Panic gripped my system, my stomach twisting.

There was one specific face missing from the ones gathered inside.

Sure, there was a logical explanation. Maybe she was in the basement, torturing some innocent human. Or maybe she was upstairs in one of the rooms—resting, fucking, looking in on the witch or warlock.

But the shiver that slid up my spine told me that wasn’t it, that she wasn’t just off somewhere, doing some basic activity.

Hell, even if she was, it meant she wouldn’t get a dose of the drugs; she wouldn’t be neutralized. We couldn’t go in and get the witch or warlock.

We had no more poppies.

And we damn sure couldn’t go back into the Underworld again.

Fuck.

“I wondered where you’d gotten to.”

My blood turned to ice.

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