Page 34 of Artemis’ Bow (Halfling Academy #5)

The warthog screams as the first arrow sinks into its side. We all fan out, but Adrian is scanning the area for something.

“I need higher ground and cover,” he says.

I glance up at the house. There is a large window on the second floor that looks down over the front yard.

“There.” I point to the house.

A tusk comes too close to skewering me, but I blink out a second before it touches my shoulder and reappear behind the boar.

I call my whip and swing it around the hind leg, pulling the boar back.

It’s massive and barely moves but it’s enough for the boar to stumble.

It crashes to the pavement, the impact so jarring we are all blown off our feet.

“Adrian, move your ass,” I scream as I jump back to my feet.

I dust myself off and retract my whip. Jayden’s shadows come out to play, surrounding the animal, but it barely holds him.

“It’s too strong to hold even with my new golden chains,” Jayden says. “It’s already breaking free. Shit. That hurts.”

Jayden doubles over as the chains break one by one and I scream. “Jayden, let it go. We just need to distract until Adrian is in place. Don’t risk yourself. You fucking promised.”

The boar roars a second later as it climbs to its feet, Jayden’s death in its beady black eyes. Jayden’s still breathing heavily, his hands planted firmly on his knees.

“Jayden, move. Now,” I say.

He glances up and grimaces, then shadow walks next to me. “Remind me not to try that again.”

“It’s too big to chain. Even bigger than the other bacon asshole. What is the deal with gigantic fucking boars?” I throw up my hands.

The boar spins in a circle, searching until beady eyes land on Jayden. I glance up at the window and find Adrian and Thad doing their best to open it but it’s not opening.

“Break it,” I shout.

Adrian nods and Thad uses his elbow to shatter the glass, but the boar’s gaze never wavers as it prepares to charge. Adrian fires two arrows back-to-back. They hit the boar between the shoulders and it spins, searching for the culprit. Adrian ducks below the windowsill, preparing another strike.

Raven charges with her sword drawn and I blink out of existence to appear next to her. “No swords. You’ll end up with ichor on you again.”

“I don’t care. It’s either that or let this beast trample over my friends and that’s not happening.”

She’s not wrong, so I prepare for a risky move.

Something I have never tried before and pray that it works how it’s supposed to.

The boar’s head swings toward me, and I leap to avoid the tusk.

At the last second, I blink out of existence with a clear picture in mind of the back of the boar’s neck. I land with a thud on its back.

The boar rears but I use the charm Ares gave me to call the sword that Claud made specifically for me and stab straight down through the boar’s skull.

An arrow pierces my shoulder and I scream in agony.

The boar falls to the ground and ichor sprays over all three of us, though I have already been thoroughly covered in the stuff.

My body vibrates with both power and agony as I slump to the side off the boar’s back. I tumble over the side and straight into Jayden’s arms.

“No,” I mumble. “You’ll get ichor on you.”

“I’m already covered.” Jayden tightens his hold on me.

“It hurts so bad.” I squirm in his arms. “Every time you move, pain sears through me.”

“I’m sorry, baby. We have to get you away from the boar before it’s dust and we exacerbate your shoulder.” Jayden shadow walks and we appear on the patio of the pack house.

Jayden sits me down on a chair, careful not to lay me down and bump the fucking arrow that has run completely through me.

Adrian races out the front door, his hands pulling at his hair as he sees me, and drops to his knees in front of me. “Oh gods, Beth, I’m so sorry. I didn’t expect you to be there. It all happened so fast.”

“It’s… fine,” I wheeze.

“The boar is dust. No one else should be contaminated now.” Greyson races over.

The ichor seeps into my skin as I try to breathe through the pain.

The arrow needs to come out before I heal around it, but everyone is staring at me in horror, stunned.

How did this go so spectacularly wrong? Jayden, Raven, and I all got a second dose of this gods touched ichor and no one knows what that will do to us.

There’s a dosed shifter on the loose and that’s a fucking problem. I was shot in the shoulder by friendly fire and Adrian appears to be seconds away from either puking or passing out. If this is what we have to look forward to on this mission, maybe I should just throw in the towel now.

No. Artemis is depending on us. We can’t fail her or the rest of the world. So what if this is the worst pain I have been through in my life, we have to keep moving forward. One step at a time.

“We need to get the arrow out,” I say through gritted teeth.

Adrian jumps up and moves toward me, but I hold up a hand. His face crumples in defeat like I somehow blame him when it was my own impulsive behavior that caused this.

“Don’t look at me like a kicked puppy. It’s not because I blame you; it’s because I’m covered in ichor and don’t want to dose you,” I rasp.

“Good point,” Raven says. “Adrian, Greyson, and Thad, back up. Me and Jayden are the only ones double-dosed like Beth.”

“Do you have any idea how to remove an arrow from someone?” Jayden asks.

“Well, no,” Raven says. “But I’m guessing we need to cut the arrowhead off and pull the shaft out through her back since she was shot in the back.”

Adrian whimpers at her words and I narrow my eyes at her but keep my mouth shut. If I open it now, I may scream in absolute agony.

“How do we cut the arrowhead off?” Jayden asks.

“I wonder if they have lawn sheers or something similar,” Greyson says.

“That could work,” Raven says with a nod. “That could snap the shaft in half quickly, and then we can pull it out and grab a towel to stop the bleeding.”

“It’s going to be painful. The recoil inside your shoulder is going to be a shock to your system.” Jayden caresses my cheek.

“It has to be done.” I shrug with one shoulder and wince.

Even moving my opposite shoulder sends white-hot pain through me.

Raven takes a step back and turns to Greyson. “Can you find a garden shed or something that might have pruning shears? It would look like something that can cut through branches with a snap.”

“I know what pruning shears are, babe. I have this under control.” Greyson jogs off around the corner of the house.

“It will be just a few minutes, and then we will get that out and get you healed.” Jayden runs a hand soothingly through my hair. “Adrian, go check the house for towels or something to stop the bleeding once the arrow is out.”

Adrian stands there unseeing as Jayden tries to get him to move to help, but I can tell my friend is traumatized and in shock over what he accidentally did.

“Send Thad. Adrian needs a minute,” I whisper.

“I got you. I’ll get towels and gauze and whatever they have to stop the bleeding.” He races into the house.

Greyson returns with the garden shears, grim determination on his chiseled features. Thad rushes out of the house a second later, his arms full of towels and rolls of gauze that he dumps on the little couch beside me.

“Jayden, do you want to hold her still or snap off the arrowhead?” Raven asks.

“I’ll hold her still.” He climbs on the couch and moves me gingerly into his lap, careful not to jostle the arrow still running through me.

Raven takes her position in front of me. “Either look in my eyes or turn your head toward Jayden. Do not look at what’s about to happen.”

I turn my head into Jayden’s shoulder and squeeze my eyes shut.

I wait endless seconds for the snap of the arrow and the excruciating pain but what I expect is nothing compared to the blistering pain that comes with the loud snap.

An agonized scream blasts through the surrounding forest just before everything goes dark.