Sliding down the tunnel in the tree I had jumped into, my heart racing, I couldn't picture anything but me plummeting to my death. What if this was all just an elaborate trick of Nevaeh's to kill me? Perhaps all an illusion? We hardly knew each other after all.

My fears were wiped away though when I suddenly came to a stop, crashing into a cushioned mattress, very much alive myself. The room I was in was dimly lit with torches, and Nevaeh stood off to the side.

"Sorry, I should have warned you," Nevaeh said shyly, "I, uh, heard you screaming."

"Oh," I said, embarrassed. I looked around. "Is this your... home? This cave?"

"No, silly," Nevaeh giggled, "This leads to my home."

"Oh," I said again.

"Follow me!" For about the gazillionth time that night, I put all my trust into this girl I just met and began to follow her down an incredibly dark and suspiciously creepy tunnel. It couldn't have been good news, but it was the only thing I had right now.

Plus, she had somehow cured the scary wolf bite I got. Almost like magic. Not to mention the whole idea of being led to a home was so, so appealing. It was the only thing I wanted right now. More and desperately than anything in the entire world. A home.

We began to break into a run and I hurried after Nevaeh, who was surprisingly fast. Suddenly, we stopped. So abruptly that I ran straight into her. "Oof!" I said.

"Sorry," She apologized quickly.

I stood up to see that we had reached a dead end. At least that's what I thought. Nevaeh stepped up to the rocky wall of the dead end, beginning to trace stuff onto the wall. I had seen something like that before. They were symbols, ancient runes.

I didn't recognize what it said exactly, but the images glowed with a deep, whisky blue as she traced them onto the wall. She began to mutter something under her breath, an ancient, ugly sounding language.

I let out a small gasp as the wall suddenly began to slide open, Nevaeh taking a step backwards. I don't know why I was so surprised, I had seen a tree magically open up too just ten minutes ago.

We only made it a foot inside of the tunnel that it led to, when black smoke began to fill it. My eyes widened in fear, a chill going down my spine as I stumbled backwards. With a flash of black light, a figure appeared before us.

A horrifying figure.

Towering above us was a woman made of looming shadows and radiated nothing but pure fear and darkness, causing me to quiver in fear. Nevaeh hardly looked fazed though, just promptly bowed. Something told me I should do the same.

"Nevaeh Windsor," The horrifying woman boomed, "Who is this pathetic weakling that you've dragged with you?"

"Her name is Embry," Nevaeh explained, "She's really nice, Nyx!"

"Nice?" The woman, Nyx, scoffed. "That is relevant to absolutely nothing. The only thing that matters is power, and this puny human is nothing but a default."

Default?

"Come on," Nevaeh pleaded, "She's a demigod! I can sense it! I know you can too! She has so much potential!"

"There's no 'potential' in that shriveled weakling. Just failure," Nyx said. She then added thoughtfully, "But she is a demigod. Brethren to Hypnos."

Who was Hypnos? It's a pretty goofy name...

"Hypnos!" Nevaeh said excitedly. "She's your granddaughter! Like me and Aria and Phoenix and Armani! We're all your descendants! The Fates have brought her here, Lady Nyx! This is destiny!"

"I'm still not convinced. I should incinerate this human here on the spot," Nyx said, "Family is pointless, it means nothing." Incinerate?!

"I'm begging you. Pardon her, like you graciously did to all of us. We can train her. She's not just nice, she's super smart too! I can sense her power too, she has so much of it! Give her a chance," Nevaeh said.

I stared at Nyx, waiting to see what the terrifying being would do, would say.

Finally she responded. "Fine," She groaned, "We may train her. But this weakling fails to impress me... well, I'll make sure to give her a long and painful death. Understand?"

"Yes!" Nevaeh and I quickly said in unison.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, relieved I wasn't being incinerated. Would this mean I would get a... home? A real, actua home?

Nyx began to fade away into the shadows, but not before I heard her say, "This will prove to be a mistake, just like you."

-

I shook my head, staring up at the black crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling of my chamber. I was sitting on my lush, black, silk bed, the skirt of my dress fanned around me.

After the... incident with Leo, it felt like time had frozen. Everyone just stood there, staring at me in shock, Leo looking the most surprised of all. Nyx looked less shocked though and more... disapproving.

Nyx and Armani quickly whispered amongst each other, me not able to do anything but watch, my adrenaline and anxiety going completely through the roof.

After what felt like hours, Armani turned around and gave me a small smile, saying he'll walk me back to my chambers and I could have some alone time to 'think.' He wasn't wrong, I really needed to think, but I felt so gods dang awful about it.

And now here I was. Sitting on my bed 'thinking.'

I suddenly heard the door open, and I snapped up, quickly turning around to face whoever it was. Armani. "Hey," He said, doing his best to smile, though it looked pretty forced. I couldn't blame him, what just happened with Leo was awful.

"Hi," I said softly, finding myself incapable of making eye contact.

"Uh, I talked with Nyx. She's willing to give you a second chance, you just have to 'prove yourself,' heh. All you need to do is whip Leo, simple as that," Armani grinned, his smile beginning to look more genuine, though it seemed as if he was... hiding something.

Gods, I'm going crazy.

"I-"

"Let's go," Armani said quickly. He walked over to me and grabbed my hand, but I flinched, pulling away. Armani frowned, staring at my hand in confusion. "Babe?"

"I- um, sorry. I'll do it, really, I don't know what happened before. I just... I need some time to think. Some fresh air. I'll be back soon just... just give me some more time to think," I said. I didn't let Armani respond, just rushed past him out the door.

What was wrong with me?