Page 24 of Artemis’ Bow (Halfling Academy #5)

“ A death sentence?” I gasp. “Some of them are just children, right?”

Grant’s nod is solemn. “If they are like this more than a month, I fear we will have to put them down to keep the pack safe and not alert the humans that there are really paranormal creatures in the world.”

“Okay, no pressure. Right. Just the lives of a bunch of puppies on the line as well as the world. It shouldn’t take another three weeks. If we don’t succeed, the world will end before you have to put anyone down,” I say.

It’s not a great consolation but at least he won’t have to kill kids to protect everyone. I don’t intend to fail or take that long to deal with this.

“Hang in there another ten days max. I don’t think I can keep my sanity much longer than that with the constant sun.” Greyson pats Grant on the shoulder.

“I don’t anticipate being able to hang on that long either. We need to move.” I scan the parking lot of the strip club.

“I really do appreciate you stepping up every time there’s a catastrophic event.” Grant bows his head.

“You don’t even know the half of it,” I grumble.

“Well, if you ever need us, you just call me with that weird shell thingy.” Grant laughs.

“War is coming, so you might not want to offer help in that regard,” I say.

“You’re protecting us all. The least we can do is stand at your back when the time comes.” Grant reaches out, clasping my forearm with his in a warrior’s handshake.

“I appreciate that. Wolf shifters of several different packs have become friends of Halfling Academy.” I bow my head in deference to the alpha.

“Noah is still passed out. You might want to get him out of here before he wakes up and runs his damn mouth again,” Greyson grumbles.

Grant snaps his fingers and two of his enforcers lift Noah off the ground. He groans as they walk away. Taking a cleansing breath, I turn to the strip club with a growl. I do not like this place and all the tacky mirrors and bullshit.

“Maybe they’re closed because it’s the middle of the day?” Raven suggests hopefully.

“It looks like daytime all the time. I doubt it has to be dark for them to be open.” My hands are loose at my sides, ready for anything to jump out and try to eat me the way the demons attacked the humans before, but nothing happens.

“Let’s just get it over with so we can get to Phoenix before it’s too late and we are all exhausted,” Jayden says.

He wraps an arm around my waist as we walk into the rebuilt building that just a few months ago had been little more than rubble. The stages in the room are empty. Thank the gods for that. I relax marginally as we walk cautiously through the empty space.

“Finally,” a gruff voice calls from the back. “I had to close down the entire club for the day until you lot got here.”

“So sorry to inconvenience you but this isn’t my first choice of destination either, so I think we’re even,” I snarl at him.

We round the corner to the back, and I spot the immortal idiot standing close to the door to the portal. It’s open. Wide fucking open. Is he insane?

“Why wouldn’t this be your first choice?” he asks, offended.

“You’re seriously asking me that when you’re standing next to the wide-open portal? Are you stupid? Close the door before something escapes,” I shout.

I touch the lightning bolt charm, and my whip unfurls in my hand, crackling with my magic already as I scan the room. Nothing appears out of place and there are no demons lurking in the shadows as far as I can tell.

“Relax, nothing is getting out of the portal unless I allow it. Hades is back in control and the demons are safely locked away in the underworld.” Orpheus shakes his head.

“Why in Hades would you want to let something out of the portal?” I shout.

Jayden yanks me against him and plants his chin on my shoulder. “Remember what Hermes said? What he has to give us can only be sent through the portal.”

“Sorry. I have had verbal whiplash from all the bullshit and posturing that’s happened just since we left the academy maybe an hour ago.” My shoulders slump.

“Right,” Jayden mumbles.

He is included in that statement. He knows as well as I do that he is partially to blame for the idiots.

“What is this gift from Hades?” I ask, changing the subject.

Jayden and I can have a chat later about his caveman behavior when there are less eyes on us. Orpheus works for his father and I don’t want anything getting back to Hades or Persephone. Hades would probably congratulate him on staking his claim.

Again, men are idiots, no matter the species.

Orpheus tosses a small object at us and before I can react, Jayden snatches it from the air with a tendril of shadow.

“You’re getting better at controlling those.” Orpheus grins. “Good job.”

“That’s what you shut down the entire club for?” I ask.

The small cylinder is black with something edged on the side. It looks like an ancient Greek symbol.

“Of course not. That’s just a handy carrying case.” Orpheus chuckles.

“You’re completely out of your mind, you know that, right?” I eye the immortal.

“When you live as long as I have, you find entertainment where you can.” He shrugs. “If you find an immortal being as old as I am that doesn’t have at least a few screws loose, then I want to meet them.”

That’s fair. I think most of the gods have at least a couple loose screws, but they may have been created that way for all I know.

“How is something that Hermes said was too big for him to carry going to fit in this tiny thing?” Jayden asks.

“Magic, of course,” Orpheus says.

“Of course,” I scoff.

“How do I open it?” Jayden asks, examining the markings.

“Do not open that here,” Orpheus warns, pointing at Jayden. “Follow me to the courtyard.”

“We really need to get moving,” I say. “Saving the world again, remember?”

“The world will still be in peril in an hour. I don’t think it likes being cooped up in that cylinder, but Hades ordered it.” Orpheus waves dismissively.

Another reason I can’t stand this place. Orpheus is an asshole and acts like we’re annoying children who don’t know anything or worry over nothing. I would zap him but I’m afraid I would fry more of his brain and do permanent damage.

We walk through winding halls in every direction, and I keep to the very middle of the hall so I don’t touch anything. I don’t know when this place was last disinfected or what kind of strip club this is. Anything could be on the walls.

We come to the end of the hall where floor-to-ceiling windows greet us. The view reveals a garden with flowering plants along with tall oak trees that provide just enough shade to be able to sit and relax in the calm serenity of the garden.

“It’s beautiful,” I breathe.

“It’s tranquil.” Orpheus sighs. “It’s the only thing that’s kept me from losing my mind entirely and going on a killing rampage.”

“Yeah, let’s not kid about things like that when you literally can’t die because Hades kicked you out for eternity. I have a feeling they would send me after you and that would suck for my relationship.”

“I’m glad that’s where your head is at and not my life,” Orpheus snarks back at me.

“It’s no secret that I don’t like you very much. So, yeah, my only concern would be for Jayden’s feelings in this completely hypothetical situation.” I cross my arms over my chest.

The damn immortal bastard just laughs and nods his head as if he understands my point. Good, at least we’re on the same page.

“Baby, he’s helping us, so maybe try to play nice,” Jayden says close to my ear.

“He’s only helping us because Hades told him to. I haven’t forgotten that he was an obstacle set up by the god of the underworld to see if we were strong enough to help him stop the collapse of the underworld.” I raise an eyebrow.

“Well, then you’re going to be positively ecstatic about what he’s sent to help you.” His eyes glitter with laughter.

If I stabbed him in the eye, would it just grow back or would he lose it forever? He would still have one good eye. I wouldn’t blind him completely.

“No plotting murder, B.” Raven nudges my side.

“I wasn’t plotting murder,” I say.

“Right. You had the look you get when you want to castrate someone,” Raven says.

“Castration may actually be a better idea than I was thinking,” I say, tapping my chin thoughtfully.

“See? I told you no plotting murder.”

“Not murder, just wondering if I stabbed him in the eye if the eye would just grow back or would he be blind in one eye for the rest of eternity?”

Jayden grabs my hand with his and kisses the back of it. “No plotting dismemberment either, love.”

“You guys are no fun.” I pout.

“I can actually answer that question for you without involving any pointy objects,” Orpheus says. “I have lost an eye in the past and though it hurts like a bitch and is very disorienting for a while, it does grow back eventually.”

“Damn, okay, no stabbing you in the eye because it will just grow back and it’s not worth the effort.” I sigh.

“I said eventually. It took like a decade and caused some problems with the mortals.”

“Is he trying to get you to stab him in the eye now?” Raven asks in a whisper. “What is even happening here?”

“Weird, right?” I say.

Orpheus turns and hits a panel, and the glass slides open to allow us out. Jayden’s grip on my hand tightens as he nods for me to hang back a second.

“You okay? You’re acting a bit more murderous than usual.”

“I don’t know. I’m all over the place. I don’t know if it’s all just compounding and I’m done or if it’s like what Grant said and I’m off-balance because there’s no moon in the sky.” I lean into him.

“It could be a bit of both. The balance in nature is definitely off. It would make sense that it affects us in the same way. I can help balance you if you need me to, but maybe try to keep your expression blank when thinking about dismembering people in the future.” He chuckles.

“I’ll try to remember that. My facial expressions don’t always use their inside voice,” I say.

“You guys coming?” Orpheus shouts. “I thought you were in a rush.”