Page 86 of The Demigod

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Brainstorm. Prepare. Stick together. What else can we do?”

“I’m definitely down with sticking together,” she said, pressing her head to mine.

That was one thing we could absolutely agree on.

Together.

Forever.

EPILOGUE

Nox - 1 Day

“I can’t believe your mother is Nyx,” Charlotte said. Professor Astor. The world-renowned expert on all things Greek mythology.

She was trying to maintain some decorum while perched on Bael’s lap since he’d reached out and dragged her down when she’d tried to pass.

“She’s one of my favorite goddesses. I mean… powerful enough that Zeus himself doesn’t mess with her? Epic. What was she like?”

“Intimidating. But there was a kindness there too.”

“What was the Underworld like?” Jo asked, handing a mug to Ace before sitting on the arm of his chair.

“Beautiful. And terrifying.”

“Beautiful?” she asked, dubious.

“Well, we kind of landed in the Elysian Fields. Which were every bit as beautiful as the stories—“

Lucifer snorted at that, and it took a lot of effort to keep my lips from curving up.

Ever since Daemon mentioned that Lucy got super upset when anyone mentioned how Hades took over Hell, I couldn’t help but notice it myself. And be a little charmed by it. It was kind of interesting to see how beings that we would otherwise think of as so different from us had the same silly, petty grievances that we did.

“The poppies were really pretty too,” I added, just to goad Lucy.

“I’m sure his ‘palace’ is stunning too,” Lucifer mumbled under his breath.

“Coulda done without the dog, though,” Daemon said, his fingers sifting absentmindedly through my hair.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “That’s the only dog I’ve ever met that I didn’t want to pet.”

“Guess I gotta get you a pet dog, huh?” Daemon asked, lips near my ear.

“Preferably one with only one head,” I specified.

“That might be asking for too much, given the state of the world,” Daemon teased.

“What’s so scary about a three-headed dog anyway?” Lucy grumbled to himself, flicking his lighter open and closed.

“Says someone who wasn’t chased by three snarling, snapping mouths full of, like, foot-long teeth,” I shot back. “Though your flesh-eating demon was pretty scary too. If I wasn’t with Daemon, I might have chosen death by the dogs over that thing.”

At that, Lucy straightened in his chair. “To be fair, they were never supposed to be able to cross into the human plane.”

“And, yet,” another voice said, coming down the hallway to appear in the study doorway in bloodstained clothes, “I had to get rid of three of them this week. Thanks for that, by the way,” she said, giving Lucy a hard look. “Like things are messy enough with the meddling old gods; the poor people are being picked off by Underworld creatures.”

“Just to be specific, they are creatures of Hell,” Lucy clarified. “Not the Underworld. The Underworld has… dogs,” he said with a flip hand wave.

Dale shared an eye roll with me as she pressed a hand to Minos’s shoulder.

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