Page 53 of Midlife Demigod Unexpected

I stood up, swaying on my feet, trying to get an idea of what to do next, but I couldn’t even stand upright. I held my hands together, waiting for golden light to appear. I saw a small spark of it at the very center, but there was nothing else.

“I’m dying.” I whispered the words out loud in realization as I felt my life force slipping back toward the river.

“There’s no way in fuck I’m dying right here,” I said.

There had to be something I could do. My mind started running through all the different things I’d learned since discovering I was a demigod.

“I’m a demigod.” I said the word softly at first. But then I said it louder. “I am a demigod.” I glanced back over my shoulder at the rumbling water that was pouring out from under the cemetery. It didn’t matter for me. I was a demigod. This river wasn’t going to kill me. It might make me weak; it might make me tired; it might make me hesitate for a moment, but it wasn’t going to kill me. It was going to make me stronger.

I stood up and waded forward through the cemetery. I got up to where the swamp was. I could see the River Styx had made a small pond there that overflowed down the cliff face and into Cougar Creek.

The River Styx was loose in Cougar Creek. The zombies were in the town. I could hear the screams and the chaos. I had to find my coven, though. That was my first priority

They had been taken into the passageway but clearly, they weren’t down there now, unless they’d been thrown into the River Styx as a sacrifice. In which case, all was lost.

Still there had to be another way down there. Maybe Toern’s crypt, the one with the demon markings on it.

I moved slowly toward Toern’s crypt, knowing this was where I was going to find the answers and find my coven mates. I wasn’t sure where Chloe had gotten to, I only hoped she was safe.

When I got near the crypt, I saw the ground looked like it had exploded. This was a gateway directly to Undirheim if I remembered correctly. The domain of Thrain. It wasn’t the friendliest arrangement in the book, but under the circumstances he would probably fight on our side. My mother had mentioned he had shown up earlier. Would he give back the coven if they had been sacrificed to him?

Chapter 38

I had never felt so alone in all my life, standing at the entrance to the crypt and knowing I needed to go inside and rescue my friends.

The truth was I wasn’t alone. They were there for me. They were waiting for me. I went into the crypt carefully, but there was nothing in the crypt itself except the platform where Toern had been kept for years. I wasn’t here for the chamber. I was here for the back room.

What I needed was Mae’s finder spell. We didn’t have the same magic, though. Maybe there was a magic I could use that would be something like it.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, willing the magic to come to my hands. I was feeling drained still from my bath in the River Styx, but I knew I could at least send out a weak pulse. It only took me a moment to remember the words of the spell and start mumbling them until tiny gold lights emitted from me, showing me the path forward.

At the back of the chamber was the door leading the Undirheim. Somewhere in between, my coven was trapped. I walked down the passage some more, but it didn’t take me long to find them. The passageway opened up into a large chamber. Hanging from the ceiling in five cages were my coven mates, including Chloe.

Styx and Morel sat on thrones in the center of the room, a cauldron of fire burning before them.

“I rule here now,” Styx said.

“It’s not possible for you to rule in Cougar Creek,” I said. “This town has a demigod and you’re not it.”

Styx looked like her blood was boiling. Her face flushed a bright red. I didn’t care. There was no way she was getting my town, not on her terms.

“My terms are you leave,” I said. “I understand what you want.”

“I’ve got what I want. The only thing I need to add my collection is you,” she said.

I shook my head. “The Pentacle of Time blood bond is no more. You’ll gain nothing from killing us.”

Two cambions came forward, flanking me.

“That’s what you think,” Styx said. “I have some dark magic in store. With the sacrifice of a whole coven of witches, I can still make the River Styx run three times as large. It’ll make the opening we need to bring the Dark Fae through. That will still take a blood sacrifice and we’ve decided it’s going to be yours.”

“Well, I hate to break it to you, but those aren’t my plans for the day,” I said, swinging my hand to the right and shooting a golden ball of light toward where a cage was locked at the top. I missed the door and hit the chain, breaking it from the ceiling.

“Heads up!” I cried as Kartika’s cage dropped from the ceiling, with her in it screaming.

Styx, Morel, and I all jumped to the side as the cage crashed to the ground of the cavern and the door burst open. Kartika jumped out. She wasn’t as exhausted as I was; she hadn’t had a bath in the River Styx. She held up her hand.

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