Chapter Twenty
CHAPTER TWENTY
Nox
“Mom?” I asked, hearing a needy little girl hint in my voice, that part of me that had always craved a maternal figure, no matter how much I tried to pretend that my father was all that I could ever need. Because he was all that I had. Because I didn’t want him to think I found him lacking.
“That is a strange word,” Nyx admitted, head tipped to the side. “But I did carry you within me. I did hold you after you came from me,” she said, eyes far away for a moment. “Those soft cheeks and big, round eyes. You turned out quite beautiful. I wondered, over the years.”
“You could have visited.”
“Not if I wanted to keep you safe,” she countered. “A half-human child. The things that could have been done to you. But you know all about that now, don’t you? Clever girl,” she added, offering me a smile. “To think to look for your sister. To work with a demon to free her.”
“And a witch,” I said, gaze moving around the room, heart sinking when I didn’t see Aggy around.
“She is currently breaking open that metal box full of food. If you can call it that.”
Thank goodness.
She hadn’t run off.
I knew she said she had no home. But if what Arick said about witches and warlocks was true, she couldn’t be out roaming the world alone, unprotected.
Granted, I had little to offer her.
But I at least had money. A car. A motel room. Clothes for her to borrow. And if nothing else, access to a warlock who could maybe protect her.
“It is no wonder you have faded so much, eating that garbage. When all you needed was this,” she said, holding a bottle of bright, golden liquid.
The same liquid I’d seen in my siblings’ cups.
“One drop, and you have almost fully recovered,” she said, making my stomach twist.
That was why I’d woken up with such a start.
“What is that? What did you give me?”
“Ambrosia, dear,” Nyx said, setting the bottle on the nightstand. “The food of our kind.”
Ambrosia.
I’d seen that word so many times in the texts I’d read about the gods.
I’d never really given it much thought. I figured it was, you know, wine. Not actual sustenance.
“Did you truly think you only needed food? You’re half god, my darling.”
“I… I did just fine on food my whole life,” I said, brows pinched as I looked at the golden liquid, smelling its sweet scent.
“Perhaps,” she agreed. “But you didn’t need to use your powers then.”
“I didn’t even know I had powers then,” I admitted, watching something flash across my mother’s face—confusion, anger? Maybe it was a combination of the two.
“When did your father tell you?”
“After he died,” I told her. This time, the look that flashed seemed to resemble pain. Maybe she really had cared for my father. That was sweet. And incredibly sad.
She opened her mouth to speak, but paused, head tilting, listening. “Your witch is returning. I must go.”
“Wait!” I said, heart surging.
“Yes?”
How could I tell her that I had a million questions, that I wanted to be in contact with her, that I would love to get to know her?
“How do I get ambrosia?” I asked. “When I run out,” I clarified.
To that, she gave me a soft smile. Almost like she could hear the words I was not saying.
“I will bring it to you. Can’t have you angering Hades again by sneaking into the Underworld, now, can we?” she asked.
Then she was all shadows.
By the time Aggy opened the door, she was gone completely.
Aggy’s nose wrinkled. “It smells strange in here,” she decided.
“Oh, that’s… my drink,” I admitted as she dropped an armful of snacks and drinks onto the foot of the bed. It looked like she’d wiped out the whole vending machine.
“Where did that come from?”
“Um, well, my mother,” I admitted.
“I didn’t see anyone leave.”
“You wouldn’t have. She has, you know, shadow powers too.”
“You’re one of them, aren’t you? Just not an evil dickhead.”
A surprised laugh escaped me at that. “I’m… partly them. A demigod, not a full one.”
“Hmm,” Aggy said, shoving a sour cream and onion chip into her mouth. “So, who’s your mom?”
“Nyx.”
“No shit?” she asked, brows raising. “Wait… then…”
“Yeah, they’re all related to me,” I admitted. “Unfortunately,” I added, thinking of the body I’d seen and smelled in the cellar. “But hopefully Nemesis is evening things out now.”
“So, is that drink what finally woke you up? Not to complain, but I had to drag you in here. Like… literally drag you. I thought you were dying.”
“Apparently, I need this drink to kind of… function, I guess.”
Or maybe I could do more than function. If just one drop was enough to revive me so much, imagine what an actual sip might do.
I could try that out, I decided, reaching for the bottle, taking a sniff, then having a sip.
It was like a hug from the inside out. It wove warm threads through my blood, my organs, my bones, my soul.
“Whoa. Weird.”
“What?” I asked, looking at Aggy.
“You just… got less pale immediately. Those smudges under your eyes are gone.”
“I wish it could work for you too,” I said, looking at her. So malnourished and exhausted. Though she had clearly bathed and stolen some of my clothes for herself.
“I’ll be fine now that I’m out,” Aggy said, shrugging. “Though, with the world going to hell, I’m worried I won’t ever be able to get a decent iced caramel latte anymore…”
“It’s getting bad out there,” I agreed.
“So… where is he?” she asked, making my gaze shoo back to her.
“Where is who?”
“The dude whose crap is scattered around?” she clarified, gesturing vaguely.
“Oh. I… don’t know. He was with me earlier. We were supposed to save you and free Nemesis together. Then he disappeared.”
“Is he your boyfriend or something?”
“Or something.”
“Did you have a fight?”
“No. No, things were good. We literally went into Hell together. He was… I don’t think he would have left me willingly.”
To that, Aggy nodded.
“Well, we could look for him,” she suggested. “Maybe… tomorrow, though? I haven’t slept more than an hour or two at a time in a year.”
I didn’t want to wait.
Not with how good I was finally feeling.
But, I reminded myself, Daemon was immortal. He would be okay for a couple more hours.
“Of course,” I agreed.
“Do you mind?” she asked, reaching for the remote. “I missed an entire season of my show.”
“Knock yourself out,” I said, smiling as she gathered her food, then came to sit next to me against the headboard, munching and drinking and watching a show.
Her relief was palpable, even if she was playing it down. I couldn’t imagine what she’d been through for so long under the gods’ thumbs.
After meeting Arick, and now Aggy, I was left to wonder what the future held for witches and warlocks in this world. If they were so sought after by the gods—even ones as powerful as Zeus himself—how could they all possibly hide and protect themselves?
“I can practically hear your thoughts,” Aggy said, making me stiffen. “Relax,” she said, smiling at me. “I actually can’t. But you’re doing a lot of thinking.”
“I am.”
“About your guy?”
“About you, actually. And those like you. I met a warlock recently who was fighting off Zeus himself.”
“He must be a powerful warlock.”
“That’s what I hear,” I agreed. “How do you plan to protect yourself now that you’re free?”
“I’ve had nothing to do for a year but think,” Aggy said.
“And what did you come up with?”
“I want to start a coven. Or maybe a school. A school coven?” she said, rolling her eyes at herself. “I just think… if I can round us up and get us all in one place, we would be so powerful. Too powerful to fuck with. I mean, also a huge target, of course. But it seems safer than for us all to be out in the wild, fending for ourselves.”
“I actually think that’s a really good plan. With the way the world is going, you could probably have your pick of school or college campuses soon.”
“It’s been bad, huh?”
“Every day is another new ‘natural disaster.’ But now, the government isn’t really helping anymore. So everyone is fending for themselves. It’s about to get really violent soon. And then, of course, there are the demons and beasts.”
“Because things aren’t fun enough,” Aggy said with a head shake.
“Right?” I agreed, sighing.
“What’s your plan, long-term?” she asked.
“Honestly? I haven’t given it much thought. I was so focused on freeing Nemesis, hoping she would balance the scales. After that… I had no plan.”
“But you have a guy.”
“Yes. Sort of. Maybe.”
“Oh, the old ‘Yes, sort of, maybe.’”
“We haven’t had a lot of time to discuss things. We’ve been hard at work and… not working.”
“Oh, goddess; I miss not working . Well, when we find him, you two can have a nice little chat. You know the old ‘Are we going to hunker down through the apocalypse together or not?’ chat.”
“That old one,” I agreed, smiling. “It really does feel like the end of the world, doesn’t it?”
“Or, at least, the end of the world as we’ve always known it,” Aggy agreed, finally finished with her vending machine dinner and sliding down under the covers, already looking half-asleep.
Within two minutes, she was out cold.
I carefully climbed out of the bed, took a shower, changed, and started to clean up the room a bit.
Sure, the chances of anyone renting the place again when things were falling apart so quickly were slim, but that didn’t mean I had to become discourteous. Plus, it allowed me to channel my anxiety.
There was no stopping my swirling thoughts, the way my stomach was clenching at the idea of what Daemon might be enduring.
It was just a day .
Less, even.
Then we could find him, save him, and get the hell out of here.
That was the plan.
Until the door of the motel room flew off its hinges.