Page 4 of Artemis’ Bow (Halfling Academy #5)

“That was when we found out that the main landmarks from Ancient Greece had somehow been planted in the US and we have been mapping out possible locations for the items of power in relation to where they were.” I pull the ancient map closer to me, searching for Ephesus.

“I’m sorry I missed that. It sounds like it was a blast.” Thad chuckles.

“It was an experience.” Raven grins.

“Found it,” I say, pointing to a spot on the other side of the Aegean Sea.

“That isn’t even in Greece.” Thad frowns.

“Ancient Greece was different. I think in modern times that’s Turkey,” I say.

“This is a good start at narrowing down the location of the temple. We can rule out the West Coast and the East Coast. I’m gonna guess somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico.” Adrian motions to the southern coast.

“That’s still a huge coastline to look at.” My shoulders slump.

“I don’t think so. It’s north of Crete so it won’t be the panhandle. That rules out Florida and Texas.” Raven points to them.

I lean back against Jayden’s shoulder, not sure about anything. Even though we have narrowed it down, there are still hundreds of miles of coast and if we aren’t absolutely certain, we could ruin everything. I glance at the window. Daylight pours inside, making me frown.

“Guys, wasn’t it nearly night when we came in here?” I ask.

“Yeah, and it’s been a couple hours. We should call it.” Raven set the map on the table.

“That’s not why I was asking.” I jump to my feet and open the curtains.

“What the fuck?” Raven gasps. “How is this happening?”

“Why is the sun still out? It has to be after nine at night. Something isn’t right.” Jayden leans closer to the window as if that will answer his question.

“C’mon, I need to make sure.” I race to the door and we run down the twelve flights of stairs.

Other curious students wander out of their rooms on the lower floors, as confused as we are. Dax and Kira catch up to us when we’re nearly on the bottom floor.

“What happened?” Kira asks. “Why is the sun still out?”

“I don’t know, but it can’t be anything good.” I yank open the door to the dorms, bracing myself for what I already know.

“Is this your dad’s doing?” someone snarls from behind me.

Turning, I track down the speaker and sigh with resignation as I spot one of Raven’s brothers looming over the blond Apollo boy from the assembly.

“I don’t know. I’ve never actually met him, so I have no idea what he’s capable of,” the boy responds.

“Raven, which brother is that?” I ask, pointing to the altercation.

“Zeke, what the fuck. You heard Chiron leave him alone.” Raven storms over to her brother and shoves him away.

“Apollo is the sun god. It only makes sense that he’s behind this. We should have kicked all of his descendants out the second we found out where the lines were drawn,” Zeke snarls.

“We’re not blaming the child for the sins of the father,” I say. “That’s what Hera is trying to do to me. Adrian is a son of Apollo, and he’s helped us save all of your asses on multiple occasions. Have you?”

“You were mind-controlled and who helped us save you, ass?” Raven shoves him again.

“This is what they want. They want to divide us and have us at each other’s throats. I don’t care who your parents are. As long as you don’t betray me or bully my people, we are good.” I turn around and storm to the courtyard.

“You know he’s right.” Adrian steps next to me. “Not about kicking us all out but Apollo is to blame for this, I’m sure.”

“But how? The sun can’t overpower the moon. Holy fuck… that’s it.”

“What?” Adrian asks.

“The moon. They can’t overpower each other because they are twins. Apollo is the sun and the moon is Artemis.”

“Maybe it’s just a fluke. A onetime thing where the moon didn’t rise,” Adrian says, hopeful.

I raise a skeptical brow. “What in our history would ever make you think that this is a onetime thing?”

“I am trying to be optimistic because the alternative is fucking dire.” Adrian shakes his head.

“What has Adrian so worked up he’s swearing?” Raven asks as she jogs over.

Glancing around, there’s no sign of Zeke so she must have handled him. Good. I don’t have time or the patience to deal with meatheads with a god complex.

“I don’t think Apollo is totally to blame for that.” I point up at the blazing sun.

“What do you mean?” Raven asks.

“I mean, we were right about whose item of power is missing, but if that is any indication, it’s so much worse than that.”

Jayden grabs my hand, squeezing it gently. “What happens if there’s no moon?”

“Chaos,” Thad says. “The tides are going to be a mess. My father is going to be pissed. He just calmed down from the last catastrophe.”

“It could be so much worse than that, though. Even the humans understand the impacts the moon has on the world,” I say.

“If we don’t find out what’s happening with Artemis, we could end up in another catastrophic weather event the likes of which humans have never seen before,” Adrian mumbles.

“Like the earthquakes and tsunamis when Poseidon was weakened?” Jayden asks.

“Worse,” Adrian says. “We could find ourselves in the middle of a new ice age.”

“Nothing and no one will survive.”