Page 14 of Artemis’ Bow (Halfling Academy #5)

“ I diots,” Raven bellows as we make our way through the courtyard.

She has one of her brothers by the collar in a second and shoves him so hard he flies back into the fountain, splashing water all around and soaking several people.

“Raven, what the fuck?” Jake rounds on her.

“You want another cracked rib, dumbass? Shut up. What you’re doing is stupid and mean. Grow the fuck up.” Raven squares her shoulders, ready to take him on again if needed.

“They started this,” Jake says.

“Really? That’s where you’re going with it? Now you sound like a toddler.” Raven shakes her head.

“Seriously?” I throw my hands up. “This is the army we have against half of the pantheon? We’re totally fucked.”

“What happened?” I ask Olly because he’s probably the most levelheaded of them all.

“Some of my siblings and the others are tired of being bullied so they retaliated.” He sighs, rolling his eyes.

I can’t help but agree with the sentiment. This is getting ridiculous.

“What did they do?” I ask.

“They played a prank on the Ares floor with the help of a couple of Hermes students who shall remain nameless.” Olly scrubs a hand down his face. “I tried to stop them, but they weren’t having it.”

“So, they played a prank on you and you’re throwing a tantrum. Knock it off, Jake. We’re on the same side,” I growl.

“Look at my sword,” Jake roars, pulling his sword which immediately goes limp like a wet noodle.

Laughter explodes from my throat as I bend at the waist, cackling at the connotations of having a limp sword. Jake’s anger spikes as Raven, Jayden, and Thad all crack up as well. Olly barely cracks a smile but the mirth in his eyes is obvious.

“Limp sword for a limp dick,” Raven sputters. “Oh my gods, that’s the funniest prank I’ve ever seen.”

We’re both wiping tears from our eyes as we take deep breaths, trying to calm down. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time.

Jake roars his anger again, but Jayden wraps his shadow chains around him just as he’s about to charge the Apollo students. “What are you going to do to them with that sword, Jake? Let it go. They got you back for being a massive dickhead. It’s over.”

“This is nowhere near over.” Jake struggles against the chains. “Let me go.”

“My shadow chains have held down indestructible monsters. Do you really think you can get out of them?” Jayden scoffs. “Not likely. Now you’re going to calm down in time-out like the child you’re behaving like.”

“Is it permanent?” I ask Olly. “We really need all the weapons we can get.”

“No. When my siblings and the others brought the idea to me, I made two stipulations. No permanent damage and don’t mess with Raven.”

Dax sighs. “You could have left me out of it, man. I’m not like my brothers. I have been trying to help.”

“Apologies. That was an oversight on my part. It should only last a couple days or if you have to leave the academy for some reason.” Olly inclines his head.

“I appreciate that and if they decide to do anything like this in the future, I would like to be added to the nice Ares list. I can’t let my girl see me walking around with a limp sword.” Dax chuckles.

“What? Dax. Seriously? You’re siding with them?” Jake continues to struggle in Jayden’s grip.

“I’m on Beth’s side, bro. She’s the one who constantly puts her life on the line for all of us and she’s the one who will lead us into battle. You think our father would appreciate direct disobedience to his general? Fuck no. Get over yourself.”

“Look, can this just be done and us all work together? I have more important things to do than babysit you idiots all the time. Like, I don’t know, find Artemis before the world fucking ends because there’s no moon in the fucking sky.” I point to the once again sunny, cloudless sky.

Apollo is mocking us with the way the sun shines over us constantly. It’s fucking ridiculous. It’s been days since any of us have seen the moon or the stars and it’s driving me to distraction. That’s what I should be focusing on, not temper tantrums from grown-ass adults.

“Uh, fuck, Beth,” Thad says, sounding strained. “What’s going on?”

Adrian is slumped into Thad, his eyes turned white, and Thad’s arms are under his armpits, barely holding him up. Shit. This could be a good thing or a terrible thing all at the same time.

“Lay him in the grass. He’s having a vision. It’s best to keep him comfortable until he comes out of it.” I rush to Thad’s side to help.

“Okay,” Raven shouts. “All of the idiots who aren’t in time-out, get out of here. We have more important shit to deal with than hurt feelings and bruised egos. Take your limp swords with you.”

“Did you really have to throw in that parting shot?” Dax glares at his sister.

“If they want to be assholes, I can be an even bigger, meaner one. Get over it.” Raven shrugs.

Dax turns to Jayden. “I’ll take the asshole back to the Ares dorm and make sure he doesn’t do anything reckless.”

“If I have to chain him up like this again, I’m taking him directly to Chiron,” Jayden warns. “Beth is right. We have enough on our plates already. We don’t need this bullshit too.”

“I know, man. I’ll handle him. You guys do what you do.” He claps Jayden on the back and shoves his brother to get him moving.

“Hades, this shit is getting old,” I grumble as I flop on the ground next to Adrian.

“I know, baby. Hopefully it will stop once the sun isn’t wreaking havoc on everyone.” He tugs at his collar.

“It started before that, but yeah, I think the heat is escalating things.” I rub my forehead to relieve the tension.

“We won’t have to deal with it soon if that vision gives us any kind of clues.” Jayden sits down next to me and pulls me close to his side.

“One can only hope that’s what’s happening and not visions of failure and doom,” I grumble against his chest.

“Oh, I’m sure there will be some dire warnings and doom and gloom in there at some point but hopefully we will get more than that.” Jayden presses his lips to my temple.

“Oh gods,” Adrian groans as his eyelids flutter. “I’m starting to hate this gift.”

“How bad is it?” I ask.

I reach for his hand and help pull him to sitting. Adrian shakes his head to clear it and glances around our group.

“I think I know where we need to go, and we were right. It’s on the gulf coast. Also where Ephesus was located.”

“But?” I ask, because there’s definitely a ‘but’ coming.

There’s always a but coming with Adrian’s visions.

“I can’t tell if Artemis is there or not. Something powerful is blocking her from my vision and the world is going to collapse if we don’t get to her soon.” Adrian rubs his face.

“So just another Tuesday?” I ask. “Wait, is today even Tuesday?”

“I don’t even know what month we’re in at this point. If the sun never sets, do the days or months even pass as normal?” Adrian asks. “The phases of the moon are gone, so how do we know anything?”

“We need to stop the existential crisis and start planning,” Jayden says.

“We need to talk to Chiron. He’s in charge of the wards now. He keeps us safe, so he needs to know what’s happening.”

“Agreed, plus he’ll want to know that his favorite sparring partner is gone,” Jayden teases.

“Whatever. Are we going to see him?” I grumble.

Jayden jumps to his feet and holds out a hand for me to take. I grip his hand and allow him to pull me against his body as he helps me up.

“Don’t be mad, I was only teasing.” He presses his lips to my forehead.

Forehead kisses are the best kisses, so I beam up at him as we all head toward the admin building. My hands sweat and nerves rack my body as I worry my lip about what we could be facing this time. Will we all make it out of this alive?

Adrian said something powerful is blocking him from seeing Artemis. This could be a trap set by Apollo, but we don’t have a choice but to follow the lead. If we don’t, the world could have a catastrophic end and then the queen wins, and the rest of the gods will be destroyed.

No, we have to do this. Our very survival depends on this one way or the other.

“What else do you know?” I ask Adrian.

“Obviously, it has to be us to go to the temple.” He shrugs.

“There’s a powerful force keeping the goddess hidden and we are going close to New Orleans.

That’s the only impressions I got other than doom and gloom if we fail.

More catastrophic weather events and old allies will help us at some point but those are just impressions. ”

“Shit, that’s actually a lot more than the visions have given us in the past,” I say.

“Which is why I think we should be overly cautious,” Jayden says. “It could be Apollo giving us a false trail or false sense of hope.”

“Jayden isn’t wrong, but I don’t think this vision came from my father. It felt different.” Adrian shakes his head.

“Different how?” I ask.

“It felt like it came from someone or a group of ancients far older than my father. Though something was blocking even the ancient force, so that’s not good at all.” Adrian glanced at me warily.

Raven pipes in. “Could it be from the crazy old ladies?”

“Fuck, Raven, don’t call the fates that,” I snap at her. “What if they take offense and royally screw the world over?”

“They won’t do that. They like you. Why else would they keep showing up in Barstow and beating the crap out of idiots with their canes every time we’re there if they didn’t?”

“Hey,” Jayden says.

“You were being an idiot when she faced the Minotaur.” Raven raises a brow at him.

Jayden sighs and nods, making me giggle. My bestie is no nonsense and has no problem putting the guys in the academy in their place and it’s hilarious when they simply accept that she’s a badass. Even Jayden accepts it.

“Fine, that’s fair, but do you think the fates would really intervene?” Jayden asks.

“It’s possible,” Adrian mumbles, eyes widening. “She never beat me with her cane.”

“That’s because you’re not an idiot,” I say with a beaming smile.

“Hey.” Jayden pulls me close and nips my ear in retaliation. “Brat.”

“You love it,” I sing, teasing him with my grin.