Page 36 of Artemis’ Bow (Halfling Academy #5)

M y knee bounces and I fidget in my chair the whole twelve-hour drive from Tuscan to San Antonio.

No matter how many times I’ve asked him, Adrian won’t tell me anything about his vision, just that we’re running out of time. We need to be at this place in the morning so at least we will have some time to rest.

“Beth, you need to calm down.” Jayden pats my knee.

I glance down at the offending appendage and grimace. We’re running out of time, and he seriously thinks that telling me to calm down is going to help matters. He has met me before, right?

Raven sits forward between the front seats. “Jayden, my friend, you do realize telling a woman to calm down is the quickest way to get kicked in the balls, yes?”

“Haha, Raven. I’m trying to soothe her. Shut up.” Jayden shakes his head.

“Being told to calm down isn’t soothing,” I mumble.

“See? You’re just making things worse for yourself, buddy.” Raven grins but I can’t muster one in return.

The prickle on the back of my neck intensifies and I glare up at the bird circling the vehicle. It’s constantly watching, waiting… for what, I don’t know. Is it friend or foe? I have no clue and that’s the only reason I haven’t zapped it out of the sky.

“Holy shit, that came out of nowhere,” Raven gasps.

She points her finger to the left window and about a half mile away across what appears to be a cornfield is a huge tornado.

I clench my hands into fists so I don’t reach for my charm.

That is not a normal reaction to seeing a tornado, but when you’ve met Typhoon and heard reports that Tartarus has been breached, you tend not to react naturally to a tornado.

“It’s just a tornado, baby,” Jayden says.

“I can’t help reacting to weather.” I glance at him, then the sky.

Everything having to do with random patterns, I’ve found that out in the last several months. I can’t trust the weather. Which sounds odd but the gods control the weather and a good many of them aren’t to be trusted.

“Are you sure it’s not Typhon?” Adrian asks.

His gaze is narrowed on the huge tornado. It’s not uncommon for Texas as far as I’ve learned but we can never be too careful.

“Typhon is in the underworld. He’s not getting out now.” Jayden nods.

“We just have to have faith that Hades will be able to contain those trying to escape back into our world.” I shake my head at the absurdity of it all.

I was just thinking I can’t trust the gods, now I’m urging them to have faith in one of the gods most feared by mortals. My life has become a ridiculous comedy of errors.

“Let’s just keep going,” Greyson says. “It looks like it’s moving pretty slow for how big it is.”

“That’s part of what makes me nervous,” I admit. “If it was just a natural occurrence, would it be moving so slowly?”

“I’m not a meteorologist so I wouldn’t know.” Greyson shrugs.

“You would think the bigger it is, the slower it would be, because it would have picked up more debris,” Thad says, but shrugs. “I don’t have a clue, though.”

“It’s probably nothing serious then, just another weird weather occurrence in a world where anything is now possible,” I mumble.

The sky darkens but sadly it’s not because it’s nighttime. A storm is brewing. Lightning flashes in the cloudy sky and sheets of rain pelt the SUV as we continue on our journey.

My foot bounces again as we fall silent. Jayden presses down on my knee, pushing my foot to the floorboard. How are the rest of them not fidgeting and panicking in the same way that I am? I’m close to either biting my nails or tugging on my ponytail.

I bring my thumb to my lips, about to bite my thumbnail, as my anxiety increases with the heaviness of the storm. It seems like the lightning itself is warning me of the horrors to come.

“Don’t do that.” Raven smacks my hand away from my mouth.

“Do what?” I ask innocently.

“Bite your nails. You’re going to ruin them.”

“Have you seen my nails lately? It might be an improvement,” I scoff.

“You know we always do a mani pedi night after the mission to fix that. Don’t make it worse,” Raven says.

“Okay, mom.” I roll my eyes.

She’s not wrong. If I don’t school this rising anxiety, I’m going to butcher my nails and annoy every person in the car.

“You feel it too?” Thad asks from the back.

“Feel what? It’s just overwhelming anxiety.” I shrug.

“It’s not. I was fine before the storm and now it’s like an ominous feeling that is making me twitchy. I think it’s the storm.” Thad glares at the dark clouds.

Another streak of lightning brightens the sky before a crack of thunder follows in its wake. “Well, fuck.”

The anxiety ratchets up as the lightning strikes the cornfield not far from us.

“Why don’t the rest of us feel it?” Raven asks.

“Because your dad isn’t a storm god coming to warn you.” I shake my head and glance pointedly at the clouds. “You could use your words, you know.”

“Did you just yell at a lightning storm like it was a person?” Raven snickers.

“It’s no ordinary storm. Zeus and Poseidon are working together to warn us, but all it’s doing is making me dread San Antonio worse than before.”

“Same,” Thad mutters. “They are literally warning us of the storm that is coming. Real subtle, Dad.”

“They got jokes. Seriously, they could have picked up a conch shell or something or sent Hermes instead. They think they’re funny.” I cross my arms over my chest.

“That is kind of funny,” Greyson mumbles, then gasps.

I turn to grin at Raven who holds up her hand for a high five. “We’re the only girls; I’ve always got your back.”

“Thanks, bestie.” I turn back in my chair. “Okay, okay, message received. Be cautious. Got it.”

That’s the only message I’m understanding from a lightning storm; however, it really doesn’t curb my anxiety knowing my father is watching out for us.

“I think we’re getting close.” Greyson points out the windshield.

Between the sheets of hail and sleeting rain, lights glimmer in the distance. Too many to be a small town.

“Thank the gods. I am so tired of being in this damn SUV. Twelve hours is too long to do in one shot. Artemis better let us hitch a ride with her when we rescue her. I don’t want to sit in a car for a long while after this.” Raven leans back in her seat.

“We made excellent time,” Adrian says. “We should be able to get a few hours’ sleep before we have to go into the forest.”

“Good, I’m exhausted. I don’t think I could fight a pillow right now and win that fight. Let alone whatever fresh Hades we’re in for.” I roll my neck.

“Turn here,” Greyson says, excited. “I saw a sign for a hotel a few miles back.”

“What kind of hotel? We don’t really have a great track record with picking the best spots. They usually end up with goddesses or monsters trying to kill us.”

“Hesperia wasn’t so bad until we left, and I have great memories of the hotel in New Mexico.” Jayden winks.

I flinch. I can’t help it. Anytime I remember Hecate’s hotel, I think of the island of the lotus eaters and no good comes from remembering that.

“Sorry,” Jayden whispers. “I didn’t think that through.”

“It’s fine. The connection between those two incidents is just too much.” I glance out the window.

The skyline of San Antonio grows bigger as we turn down one street after another. Finally, we pull up to a nice hotel that looks blessedly normal and I breathe a sigh of relief. Please don’t let looks be deceiving. I don’t think I can handle one more thing without sleep.

“We will go see if they have rooms available.” I grab Jayden and pull him along with me to the reception desk.

“You okay?” he asks.

“No, but let’s just get some rooms and rest. Hopefully it will be better after a few hours of sleep,” I say.

“How’s your shoulder?” he asks.

“I barely notice there was a hole in it twelve hours ago.” I shrug.

A tired-looking receptionist walks over, blinking rapidly. “Can I help you?”

“We need three rooms at least, one of them with two beds,” I say.

I attempt a smile, but it’s forced and the woman grimaces. “Sorry. Since the moon fell, I haven’t been sleeping well.”

“Is that what people are saying?” Jayden asks curiously.

“That’s what they’re saying around here. You kids aren’t from around here,” she says.

“No, we are just passing through.” I shrug.

“It’s dangerous out there,” she says. “The looting and riots have only gotten worse.”

“That’s happening here?” I ask. “Is that normal?”

“No, not normal at all. Not even during the freak winter storms we had a couple years ago. But with the moon gone, many are screaming Armageddon. They think it’s the end of the world and they are hoarding food and toilet paper for fallout shelters.

It’s complete insanity.” She types something into the computer.

I hand over my ID and the black corporate credit card they give us for essentials on these missions. She takes them and glances at the ID before going back to typing.

“Here are your keys. The rooms are all on the twelfth floor next to each other, so you and your friends will be close. We have been locking up at ten p.m. every night since the riots and looting started, so please don’t worry about anything. Just rest.” She smiles at us.

“Thank you,” I say.

I take the keys from her and turn with Jayden to the elevator that the others are already standing in front of and grimace. I really don’t like elevators.

“We’re on the twelfth floor. We could just take the stairs,” I say, hopeful.

“Not happening, B. I am too tired to walk up all those stairs right now.” She pushes me inside the metal box.

“Not cool, bitch,” I growl.

The ride up is quick, and we find our rooms in no time. As soon as the door shuts behind me and Jayden, his hands are on my shoulders, kneading the muscles.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” he whispers in my ear.

“I can’t help but think we’re going to be too late,” I say. “That woman just told us it’s getting worse. Zeus and Poseidon worked together to warn us. This is all fucked.”