Page 45 of Artemis’ Bow (Halfling Academy #5)

“ W hat difference does any of this make?” Greyson asks.

“Indifference is almost worse than what the queen is doing. He doesn’t care one way or the other and that’s dangerous for both sides,” I say.

“He could be giving minimal help to their side and then wait for the dust to settle to pick an actual side or wait for the damage to be done and try to take over for himself. The latter is what I’m afraid of,” Raven says, ever the strategist.

“Exactly. That’s what’s worrying me too. We could have more than one war on our hands if we don’t figure out what he’s up to,” I say.

“Those are valid concerns for sure, but let’s look at all possibilities,” Adrian says. “He is the god of prophecy. He may know what’s going to happen already. What if he’s being strategic himself?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“I know a little about seeing all the paths of fate. He could be doing this because it’s the only way to get the desired outcome.” Adrian steeples his fingers.

“But which outcome does the god of prophecy desire?” I ask. “That’s still the biggest question when it comes to him. Either way, we can’t trust him or anything to do with him other than you guys.” I glance between Adrian and Olly. “You both have proved loyal, especially you, Adrian.”

“I don’t think I’ve trusted Apollo since the fountain incident,” Raven grumbles.

“Same, and that’s valid.” I nod.

“So, what do we do now?” Draven asks.

“You guys need to go back to the academy. It’s too dangerous.” I hold up a hand when they begin to protest. “There are way too many demigods in one place outside the academy.”

“We can’t go back until this is done,” Olly says. “The vision didn’t just show the battle with the phoenix, It showed me what happens if we leave before this is done. Everything ends terribly.”

Jayden pulls me in his lap, and I slump against him. We don’t have a choice but to take them with us. They could be the difference between winning and losing.

“Fine. New Orleans is only a few hours away. I say we leave now and then take turns watching the temple and crashing at a hotel once we get there so we can all rest a bit.” I lean my head back against Jayden’s shoulder.

“That sounds like a plan.” Raven nods. “Now that the beast has been fed, we should be good to go.”

I glare at her but she’s not wrong. My stomach did sound like a rabid beast earlier. I stick my tongue out at her for good measure. Jayden pinches my side.

“Keep that tongue to yourself,” he whispers against the shell of my ear, and I shiver.

“I thought you liked my tongue.”

Greyson chokes on his drink across the room. Damn shifter hearing. He never misses anything. Raven slaps him on the back with a giggle.

“You shouldn’t have been listening, babe. You know how sickeningly sweet they can be,” Raven scolds.

“That was not sweet.” He coughs.

“It’s even worse that you were listening, then,” she says.

“Let’s get moving. I want this done and over with as soon as possible.” I push off Jayden’s lap.

Raven tosses me my bag and I thread my arms through the straps. I turn to the others who are packing up whatever is left over from our meal and getting ready to head out. We make our way down to the parking lot.

I glance at Dax over my shoulder. “Follow us to New Orleans. We have the route already mapped out.”

“Sure thing.” Dax nods.

“Keep the idiots in line, Kira,” I call out to her.

“I always do.” Kira chuckles.

She squeals when Dax throws her over his shoulder and races to their car.

“It’s good to see Dax finally happy with someone.” Raven grins.

“Yeah, I’m happy for them,” I agree. “Though, did you see the way Draven and Olly were watching her too?”

“She’s a badass. I’m not surprised.” Raven shrugs.

“That could be trouble,” I say, worried.

“Who knows for sure?” Raven opens the back passenger door. “Dax isn’t possessive like Jayden and Greyson. Maybe they will all work out together.”

“What?” I hop in the SUV and turn to gape at her.

Greyson pipes in. “Poly relationships aren’t as uncommon as you might think. There are several mate groups in my old pack.”

“That’s not something that occurred to me.” I shake my head.

“I could see Dax working together with those two for Kira. He’s almost as sickeningly sweet with her as you two are and if she wants them too, I don’t think he’ll have an issue with it,” Raven says.

“I think he might have an issue with Draven being a part of that,” Jayden says.

“Yeah, that would be an adjustment for him.” Greyson chuckles.

“Huh, that reminds me of the pups in Arizona that you helped,” I say.

“What about them?” Jayden asks.

“You didn’t notice?” Raven giggles. “They surrounded her and the glances of adoration they gave her were obvious.”

“They were adorable; puppy love at its finest.” I grin.

“They will most likely be a mate group when they get older. Shifters don’t recognize their mates until the age of eighteen.” Greyson shrugs.

“That’s fascinating,” I say.

It’s nice to talk about something cute and sweet rather than death and doom all the time. I hope that Kira and Dax do what makes them happy, and if that includes Draven and Olly, then even better. They deserve happiness, especially after saving our asses today.

“I think those pups already figured that out.” Raven grins.

“I would say so.” I nod and turn to the window.

I would probably love to come back to Houston one day to explore. My half-human heart still loves human technology and exploration. I would have loved to visit the NASA space center and walk along the beach.

“So, what do you think we’ll find at the temple?” Thad asks.

“I don’t know. Will we even be able to get inside?” I ask. “There was always someone who was a child of the last four gods. Artemis doesn’t have any children, so how are we going to get in so we can rescue her?”

“Shit, I hadn’t thought of that,” Raven says.

“How did I not think of this sooner?” I ask.

“Well, none of us did so it isn’t crazy that you didn’t,” Jayden says.

“Maybe if I call Chiron to update him on what’s happened with the third team, he will have an idea of how we get into the temple too.” I reach into my bag for the conch shell. “Chiron, headmaster, Halfling Academy.”

Moments go by before the mist appears and the centaur looks down on me with a sword in his hand. “Beth, is this an emergency? I’m training.”

“It is. It’s about the other teams,” I say, dreading this conversation.

“I don’t know anything about how they’re doing. They haven’t checked in and I honestly expected Zeke’s team back already.”

“What? How? They went in the opposite direction from you.” Chiron’s tail swishes back and forth angrily.

“Dax’s team found us and to be honest, they saved our asses. We were done for with three major monsters and a horde of lizard demons and surrounded by phoenix fire. They helped with the major beasts and the lizard demons disappeared because they knew they would lose.”

“How did they know where to find you and when?” Chiron asks.

“That’s not the important part, Chiron,” I say with a sigh.

“What is the important part, then?”

“They were attacked on their way to Chicago and lost their map. It was the other team who attacked them, Chiron. They’re being mind-controlled. Well, all except Mia; she’s just a psycho bitch and a traitor.” I blow out a breath.

“How did this happen?” Chiron rubs his forehead.

“My best guess is that when Mia didn’t get her way, she sent a prohibited Iris message asking for help from our enemies.” I shrug.

“This is terrible news. I greatly miscalculated in sending that girl with a team.” Chiron hangs his head.

“I’m not going to tell you I told you so because this isn’t the point of this conversation.”

“What do you need from me, young one?” Chiron places a fist over his heart.

“Dax and his team are with us. Somehow, Olly had a vision they needed to help us and stick with us until the end. That’s not one of his gifts, but we have no idea where the other team might be.

If they return to the academy, they need to be detained so we can attempt to remove the mind-control from the three affected and I can punch Mia in the face. ”

“That’s not the only reason to detain her, Chiron.” Jayden squeezes my thigh.

“Nope, just a bonus. If she’s helping the enemy, she could be revealing secrets that we want kept hidden, like who doesn’t want to fight and how the enemy can use that against us.”

“That is perfectly reasonable. Well, except the punching her in the face part.” He glares at me.

“Oh no,” Raven interjects from the back seat. “That is more than reasonable. You have no idea how many times over she deserves that.”

“I mean, you don’t lie.” I point at her, then my nose.

Raven giggles as the ancient centaur rolls his eyes at me.

“Enough. I get the picture. Is there something else that you need to speak to me about?” Chiron says, annoyed.

“Yes, actually, we never thought about the fact that none of us are direct descendants of Artemis. How are we supposed to get into her temple?” I ask.

“The closest thing Artemis has to a descendant are her hunters,” Chiron muses. “Have you met them?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” I grumble.

Jayden squeezes my knee, but I ignore him. Those bitches are supposed to be pure, but they all were making eyes at Jayden and Greyson when we came across them on a hunt. I almost stabbed a bitch.

“If there are any that weren’t with Artemis when she was taken, then we will find them, but in theory, Adrian or Olly could potentially get into her temple because they are twins.” Chiron taps his chin.

“I think we’ll leave that as a last resort. I don’t want to potentially risk my friends if I can find another way.” I shake my head.

“I’ll reach out to Hades and see if he knows where Hermes is and ask him to start a search for Artemis’ hunters. But where will I send these hunters should Lord Hermes track them down?”