Page 49 of Artemis’ Bow (Halfling Academy #5)

“ H ow did they get this many monsters in one place without humans noticing?” Raven sits forward between the seats.

“I think we should retreat and regroup. We need to figure out how to do this without losing anyone.” I chew my lip.

“All right, let’s head out but not too far away because we need to keep an eye on them. This just got a whole lot more complicated.” Jayden squeezes my thigh.

We meet the others in a parking lot about a mile away from the secluded temple. The place is deserted, which suits our purposes perfectly. I lean against Jayden, exhausted but too terrified by the sight of that many ancient monsters in one place to think about sleep.

“You guys are dead on your feet.” Draven points at me.

“Yeah, it’s been an exhausting few days. You have no idea how many monsters we’ve fought and now there’s a horde of them outside the temple.” I press my forehead to Jayden’s shoulder.

“You guys should go get some rest,” Kira says. “We are a lot better rested than you, and if we just watch, then there won’t be any trouble, I’m sure.”

“No, we can’t leave you guys here and go rest when all that is going down.” I wave a hand vaguely in the direction of the temple.

I straighten my shoulders and glance between the four of them. They helped in the battles as much as they were able. They have to be exhausted too. We can’t just go sleep while they stay up and do recon for us. It isn’t right.

“I’m not asking,” Kira says, determined. “You can barely stand, let alone fight if needed.”

“This is my mission, Kira. I can’t expect you guys to put yourselves in danger while we sleep,” I argue.

“You can and you will,” Dax says, arms crossed. “You’re a liability like this and you know it.”

“They’re right, B. We have a huge fight ahead of us that we can’t possibly win with you like this.” Raven shakes her head.

“Fine. I’ll go back and rest, but I’ll need to call you with the shell to let you know where the hotel is we end up booking. That way you can find us and we can regroup if needed,” I say. “Who’s coming with us?”

“Your entire team needs rest,” Kira says.

“Actually,” Thad cuts in. “I haven’t really done much of anything. I’m good for recon.”

Adrian nods. “Me too, I have had a couple visions but nothing too taxing. I’m good.”

“All right,” Dax says, and Kira shoots him a glare. “You two stay with us and the four of you find a hotel. We’ll meet back up in a few hours. Hopefully with intel.”

“Fine,” I say, giving in. “You’re not giving us much of a choice in the matter anyway.”

We pile into the car Dax and the others brought, opting to leave them the SUV since there are a lot more of them than us, and Jayden drives us into New Orleans.

“We need to try to find a place not too far from the temple if we can,” I say. “That way we can be there quickly if there’s a problem.”

“We might have trouble finding a hotel on the outskirts of the city because most people want to stay close to the French Quarter.” Greyson stares down at the map.

We drive around for a while, searching for a hotel but can’t find anything close. “I guess we’ll have to find something in the French Quarter then since there’s nothing out here.”

“It’s not ideal but the others will be okay.” Jayden squeezes my knee.

“I didn’t want to leave them behind in the first place. Now we are going farther than I wanted just to sleep. Maybe we should go back and end this now instead of sleeping.” I glance out the window.

“No. They were right about us not being at our best right now. We take on every fight on our own. The four of us are the strongest and we overexert ourselves over and over. We need sleep or this fight is over before it’s even begun.” Jayden shakes his head.

“It will be okay, B. We will get a hotel, sleep for a few hours, and then go kick some ass.” Raven sits forward between the seats.

“We’re up against a damn obsessed god and a horde of ancient monsters,” I say. “What if this is too much? What if we can’t win this fight?”

Fear courses through me and tears threaten to fall, burning the back of my eyes.

Could we have come all this way and fought countless battles just to lose this one now?

There were hundreds of monsters outside the temple.

We have to get through them to get to Artemis, but I have no fucking clue how we’re going to do that.

“We can and we will, love. There is no other option.” Jayden glances at me. “We will fight this together as we always do.”

“There is no other option,” I whisper. “You’re right. We’re the cornered animals here and there’s nothing worse than a cornered animal in a fight because they have nothing left to lose.”

“The world is already fucked from this,” Raven says, cheerful. “Yeah, it will probably be worse if we don’t fix it, but you’re right. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We’ve got this, B.”

“I get that in theory but in practice… my brain just won’t shut off.” I rub at my temples.

“You have to figure out a way to shut it off if you’re going to sleep and get the rest you clearly need.” Raven glances out the window.

“I have some ideas to help with that.” Jayden winks at me.

I swat at him. “Of course you do.”

“Men constantly have sex on the brain,” Raven huffs.

“Like you don’t?” Greyson raises a brow at her.

“No, actually, most of the time I’m thinking about battle strategies and weapons training.” She sticks her tongue out at him.

Greyson bares his teeth at her, snapping them. “I’ve told you before, there are better uses for that tongue, babe.”

“There you go proving my point.”

“Just telling you how it is, babe.” Greyson chuckles. “There should be a Marriot up there.”

Greyson points ahead of us and we follow the signs along the side of the building to the parking garage. My hands shake as we allow the valet to take the car and head into the lobby to see if they have any rooms available.

I glance around the elegant space without really seeing anything as the others arrange rooms for our group. Surprisingly, they have rooms available even though they are in the heart of the French Quarter.

I’m silent as we head to the elevator, lost in thoughts of the battle ahead. Is tomorrow guaranteed? What if we’re too late. Sleeping right now could be a terrible idea.

“Are we sure this is a great idea? What if sleeping ruins everything and we’re too late because we needed rest?” I mumble.

“It doesn’t matter now, love. We will cross that bridge if we come to it. Right now, we need rest and to remember what we’re fighting for.” Jayden pulls me into his arms.

The elevator doors open and Jayden drags me down the hall in a fog. “Wait, I need to call the others and let them know where we are.”

“Give me the shell and I’ll call them.” Raven holds her hand out.

I dig around in my bag and pull out the shell, deciding that arguing with her is pointless at this point. She’s right. I need this.

Jayden pulls me to the room we’ve booked and as soon as the door is shut behind me, my back is pressed up against it and Jayden’s lips are on mine, devouring me. His hands grip my hips as he presses against me.

My mouth opens on a moan and Jayden takes that as permission to deepen the kiss. Our tongues slide along each other, exploring and tasting.

“Jayden, what’s going on?” I breathe against his hungry lips.

“What you said before got to me, I think. Tomorrow’s not guaranteed and I want to make the most of the time we do have. Right here, right now. It’s just us, my love.”

“We’re supposed to be resting.” My protest is weak as he kisses my neck, licking and nipping at my collarbone.

“We’ll sleep, love. I need to help you shut your brain off first. Even now I can see the wheels spinning in your mind. Let me take care of you.” Jayden grips my ass so my legs have to wrap around him.

Jayden bends with my arms and legs wrapped around him and picks my bag up from where I must have dropped it when he attacked me the second the door was closed.

‘Where are you taking me?” I rub my body against him.

Despite my protests, I am unbelievably turned on as he carries me across the room with just one hand gripping my ass.

“We’re gonna take a shower.” Jayden kicks open the door to the en suite. “I’m going to wash you and then get you dirty all over again.”

My hips rock against him and Jayden’s steps falter. He growls as he sets me down on the vanity.

“What’s wrong?” I ask innocently.

“You behave so I can take care of you, my love. You spend so much time taking care of everyone else; let me do this for you.” He turns to the large shower and adjusts the taps to warm so it can warm up.

Jayden spins around and kisses me hard. He presses his hands to my stomach under the hem of my shirt. He stares down as he lifts it slowly.

“Arms up, love,” he commands.

I raise my arms and tingles shoot through me as he continues the slow path up my body. Everywhere his fingers brush my skin, a jolt passes between my legs and a groan escapes me.

When my shirt is off, he throws it to the side of the bathroom floor. His lips brush mine too briefly before he moves down my neck. His hands roam over my back until he finds the clasp of my bra and snaps it off.

“Jayden, I’m all dirty. Shower first.”

“How about during?” he asks with a grin.

“You’re impossible,” I say and yelp as he plucks me off the vanity again.

“Stand there and grip the edge of the vanity,” he says.

I do as I’m told and grip the vanity behind my back as Jayden carefully removes my shoes and socks and then brushes his fingers up my calves and over my outer thighs as he reaches for the button of my jeans.

His eyes glitter with a mix of lust and love.

I’ll never get used to seeing that devotion in his eyes.

He peels my jeans slowly down my legs, pressing teasing kisses to my inner thighs and then the back of each knee. They weaken and I nearly topple to the ground as a whimper explodes from my throat.