Page 35 of Artemis’ Bow (Halfling Academy #5)

“ S hit, is she okay?” The voice sounds as if it’s underwater.

“She will be fine,” Jayden says.

His lips press to my temple, and I groan. The echo of pain still lingers in my shoulder. I blink my eyes open and glance around. Jayden’s arms tighten around me as he cradles me in his lap.

“Never do that again,” I mumble.

“Never be a dumbass and jump on a creature’s back in front of your friend who is shooting arrows at it,” Raven snarks.

“It was your brilliant idea to hack at it.” I roll my eyes.

“I was going to stab it with my feet firmly on the ground, not go ninja and get shot with an arrow,” Raven says.

“Whatever.” I shift to get up, but Jayden’s arms tighten like a vise around me. “I’m okay, Jayden.”

“You scared the fuck out of me, baby.” He presses his forehead to my uninjured shoulder and breathes deeply.

“I’m so sorry, Beth,” Adrian whispers.

“Not your fault and look, it’s already healed.” I smile at him.

Dominic steps in front of me. “You jumped on the back of the giant boar and stabbed it in the head, getting shot by your own team in the process?”

“Pretty much, yeah. It was wreaking havoc and that was the only thing I could think to do. The arrows were only pissing it off.” I shrug and wince.

There’s still minor pain but nothing too serious. I’ve felt worse. Pulling the arrow out was probably right there with me electrocuting myself. I glance around the yard, searching as it occurs to me I plunged my sword into the creature and didn’t keep hold of it as I slid off its back.

“Where is my sword?” I ask.

Thad runs a hand on the back of his neck. “It’s covered in ichor. Raven and Jayden were busy helping you, so we left it where it was in the yard.”

“We are all going to be in so much trouble. Hermes warned us that we don’t know what will happen.” I shake my head.

“That’s what I don’t get,” Jayden muses. “How did they kill these things the first time without getting ichor all over them?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t really make any sense.”

Adrian slumps to the ground, his eyes turning that eerie shade of milky white, and I curse. That isn’t good at all. What the fuck do the fates have in store for us this time? No good comes from his damn visions, that’s for sure.

“What’s happening to him?” Dominic asks, eyeing Adrian warily.

“He’s having a vision. He’s a seer.”

“As in he can see the future?” Dominic asks.

“Yeah, but the visions are rarely a good thing for us.” I sigh.

“It would be nice if he could have a vision that was good for us,” Raven grumbles.

“Yeah, but he never tells us the good things anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

My eyes widen as I remember the coin in my pocket. They have a rogue gods touched shifter on the loose. What the hell is Dominic doing here without his brother? Jayden must see the concern on my face because his arms subtly tighten around me.

“What are you doing here, Dominic? Shouldn’t you be tracking Derek?” Jayden asks.

“My men are out searching for him, but my wolf hearing caught a scream and followed the sound to help out. Little did I know, I was coming back to the pack house to watch a damn arrow being ripped out of your shoulder.” Dominic shakes his head.

“Yeah, I’m sure that wasn’t my finest moment,” I joke but it falls flat.

“What’s the status on Derek? Did you find him yet?” I ask.

“No. It’s weird. He’s just disappeared. I thought I would find him back here since the creature was here, but I haven’t been able to track him at all.” Dominic rubs a hand down his face. “It’s like he’s just vanished.”

“Do you have any idea where he might have gone?” I ask.

“The only place I can think of is back to Phoenix to where Tristan is, but I can’t think of one good reason why he would travel on foot through the insane weather to go there.”

“You said he has a chip on his shoulder?” Greyson cuts in.

“Yeah, he wasn’t exactly happy with the alpha’s decisions on who his betas would be. I know Tristan likes to bluster and throw his weight around, but he’s a good man. He uses his resources not just for his pack but for humans in need too. He wanted betas who would do the same in his absence.”

“Yeah, he said something about helping the humans when we were in Phoenix. He said it so matter of fact that it didn’t register at first.” I nod.

“Yeah, he does that. He picked his betas based on that same quality. Derek thought he would be the beta in Tuscan because of strength alone. We’ve known Tristan our whole lives and he didn’t realize the man wouldn’t rule over the pack with an iron fist.”

“So he got mad because he’s perceived to be the strongest but Tristan didn’t pick him to lead this territory?” Greyson asks.

“Exactly. I knew you would get it. You were the alpha of California for a while, right?” Dominic asks.

“Yeah, before I became gods touched and couldn’t really be around shifters for a while.” Greyson’s shoulders slump.

“What’s going to happen to Derek?” Dominic asks, concern heavy in his tone.

I sigh. “We don’t know, to be honest. Greyson didn’t have a chip on his shoulder. He wasn’t fueled by rage at the injustice of life so his case is different than Derek’s will be.”

“We have to find him.” Dominic runs a frustrated hand down his face.

“Yes, you do have to find him. He can’t be left running free. I fear he’ll try to challenge Tristan,” Greyson says.

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“There are only a few ways an alpha comes into power. Either the old alpha dies, they step down and appoint a successor, or a challenge. A challenge is a fight to the death for the spot as the alpha of the pack.”

“Y’all are barbaric,” I say.

“This coming from the girl who flew like a ninja up onto the back of a giant boar and skewered its brain.” Greyson chuckles.

“I’m not defending that choice again. I did what I did and I’m owning up to it. The thing was on a rampage and that’s not the first time I have jumped on the back of a beast to kill it.” I cross my arms.

“No, but it is the first time you were shot with an arrow by a friend,” Jayden says.

“That was a small miscalculation.” I shake my head.

“One you’re going to pay for later,” Jayden whispers close to my ear.

I shiver at the promise in his tone. He’s not happy with my life choices. Well, I’m not either but there’s nothing we can do about them now.

Adrian gasps and springs up into a sitting position. “We have to go. We are needed in San Antonio.”

“That’s a twelve-hour drive on a good day,” Dominic says.

“Yeah, I know, but we need to be there tomorrow. Something big is going down tomorrow and if we don’t go, whatever creature is in the area is going to fully out the paranormal world to the humans.”

“Fuck!” I shout.

“We can’t let that happen,” Greyson says. “It could be catastrophic for all of us. What did you see?”

Adrian’s face pales. “Widespread destruction of San Antonio and then literal witch hunts after the videos leak to the human press.”

“Why does everything keep piling up over and over? More shit is just dumped on our shoulders and now we have to stop some asshole monster from outing the gods and other paranormals to the humans who will no doubt try to destroy us. This is so fucked.”

“I know, baby, but what choice do we have? We are the only ones who can stop it.” Jayden squeezes my hip.

“I know, it’s just so messed up and nothing is ever easy.” I shake my head.

I’m fully aware that I’m throwing myself a pity party right now, but I was shot with an arrow just an hour ago and I’m fucking tired.

Just once I would like to not be tested by the gods and have my task be easy.

The queen will never allow that, though.

She wants me dead and to take my father down. I can’t let that happen.

“We need to get moving. Dominic, you find your brother and contain him. The messenger god, Hermes, will come to collect him once you catch him.” I reach my hand in my pocket.

“Um, if you guys want to shower and change before you head out, I can offer the bathrooms in the pack house.” Dominic grimaces.

I glance down at myself and nearly gag. I’m still covered in dirt, blood, sweat, and ichor.

It’s not pretty at all. Plus, it’s dangerous for the ichor to get on the seats of the SUV.

I don’t want anyone else getting infected with god blood.

It fundamentally changed my DNA and made Greyson some kind of super shifter.

“Yeah, I think a shower is a good idea. I just remembered how gross I am.” I shudder. “Let me up, Jayden.”

“No,” he says.

“What do you mean, no?” I ask with a growl.

“I know your shoulder is still hurting you. I’m not letting you cause yourself more pain. I’ll help you shower.”

“That is a supremely bad idea,” I grumble.

“No funny stuff, I promise. We have a long drive ahead of us and we need to get moving.” Jayden winks at me.

“Fine. Dominic, will you show us to the bathroom?”

Raven hands me my pack from the SUV and I let Jayden carry me behind Dominic up the stairs to a large bathroom.

“I can walk, you know. I was shot in the shoulder, not my leg,” I grumble.

“I know you can walk but I like you being close,” he whispers, kissing me on the forehead.

Dominic leaves, closing the door behind him. Jayden sets me down on the vanity and takes a step back, an expression of concern etched on his features. After a second he steps forward, grabs the collar of my shirt, and rips it down the middle.

“Jayden, what in Hades?” I gasp.

“Can you raise your arms without hurting your shoulder?” Jayden asks.

I tilt my head to the side, thinking carefully, then shake my head. “No, I can’t, but it honestly doesn’t hurt that bad. I can handle it.”

“No,” Jayden growls.

The shadows in his eyes grow and I grip his shirt, pulling him close to me. “Jayden, stay with me. Don’t lose control.”

He shakes his head as if to clear it and his eyes widen. “I think this double dose may be a problem.”

“Are the shadows harder to control?” I ask, concerned.

“There’s a rage inside anytime I think about you being hurt and a possessive need to keep you safe and protected. It was there before but it feels ten times stronger now.” Jayden rubs the back of his neck.

“We’ll figure it out, Jayden. We’re in this together, remember?” I kiss him hard.

“Yeah, together. Always.”

Jayden helps me undress and then removes his own clothes.

I have to keep my gaze averted because all of that tanned skin and lean muscle on display isn’t just distracting, it’s dangerous.

Jayden is methodical in his attention as he washes my hair and runs a loofah over my body. I shiver under his ministrations.

“No funny stuff, remember, baby? Just let me take care of you,” he whispers.

After I have been thoroughly washed, he turns off the water and steps out of the shower, reaching for the folded towels on the vanity, then runs one over my body in sensual movements before wrapping it around me.

Jayden turns me so my back is to him and brings a towel to my head, running it over my hair and drying it the best he can.

“Thank you.” I sigh. “You don’t have to do this, you know. The pain isn’t that bad.”

“Seriously? We’ve already been over this. I want to take care of you. Do you have any idea how terrifying it was watching that arrow hurtling toward you and being able to do nothing about it? That was by far one of the worst moments of my life.”

I turn into Jayden and wrap my arms around him, resting my head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just knew we had to stop it before something terrible happened.”

“I know I can’t ask you not to put yourself in danger like that again with everything we’ve been tasked with. Just maybe shout a warning to us next time so someone doesn’t accidentally hit you with their magic, a sword, or a damn arrow. I can’t lose you.”

“All I can promise is that I’ll try not to get hurt again, but what we’re doing is dangerous. You know this, Jayden. And I don’t have the option to walk away and let someone else handle it. I have to handle it. There is no one else.” I press my forehead to his chest.

“I know, baby. They ask too much of you. Hopefully when all this is over, we can have a damn break.” He rubs his hands up and down my arms in a soothing gesture.

I take a deep breath and square my shoulders. This is okay. It’s going to be okay, and then once we win the war, I can rest and relax. I just have to get through all the bullshit first.

“One step at a time.” I turn to the pile of clothes and grimace. “Those need to be burned.”

“You need the coin Hermes gave you first, and then we can burn them,” Jayden says.

“Yeah, I need to get dressed and go explain this to Dominic.” I move to my clothes.

Jayden gingerly picks up my pants off the floor and reaches in the pocket, pulling the coin out and placing it on the vanity. I dress with minimal twinges of pain when I pull the shirt over my head.

“Should have brought a button-up or something so you didn’t have to raise your arms,” Jayden grumbles.

“It’s fine, it barely hurt. It’s almost completely healed. In a few hours I’m sure it will be pain free.”

I grab the coin from the vanity and glance down at the ruined clothes. My magic flares out and flames engulf the clothes at my feet.

“Shit, what the hell was that?” I ask, staring at my hands.

The flames die out and leave nothing but ash behind where the clothes were only seconds ago.

“Your magic is growing again. We figured something like that might happen.” Jayden shrugs.

“But I didn’t even do it consciously.” I turn my hands around, staring at the palms and then the backs of them as if they are some foreign entity.

“We’ll figure it out. Don’t stress yourself out about it.” Jayden squeezes my shoulder.

Once dressed and the ash cleaned up, we head down the stairs and out to the front patio where the others all sit waiting for us.

“We ready to go?” I ask.

Raven hands me my sword with a grin. “I cleaned the ichor off for you.”

“Thanks, bestie.” I touch the shield charm Ares gave me and my sword disappears into the ether.

“Whoa, that’s a cool trick,” Dominic says.

“It’s the charm. Courtesy of the god of war when we helped him out a while back.” I shrug.

“You probably have a thousand stories I wouldn’t understand but would be fascinating to hear,” Dominic says with a chuckle.

“If only I could tell you,” I say. “Flip this and call for Hermes when you find your brother.”

I hand the coin over to him and turn to the others, waving for them to get moving. We need to get to San Antonio and face whatever new fresh hell awaits us there.