Page 13 of Protected By Artemis

“No, you’re right. And the packs closest to us would have the most to gain. Including Asher’s.”

“So, we’ll have to consider all of them suspects.” Tapping the marker on her chin, Artemis glanced back at the suspect board. “I’m going to need more markers. And a bigger board.”

Xavier spoke up. “Alpha, have you thought about the conference?”

Cade’s dark brows slashed together. “I have.”

“It’s the best opportunity we have.”

“Wait, what conference?” Artemis asked. “And what do you mean by opportunity?”

“To gather evidence from the other alphas,” Xavier said. “All the alphas on the west coast—about thirty of them—are gathering for their annual conference tomorrow in the Turks and Caicos. Since all the alphas and some members of the pack will be there, you might be able to glean some information from them or even find our bomber.”

“Yes, that’s what I was thinking,” Cade said. “Everything’s all set, I’m leaving first thing in the morning. Xavier, I need you to check on all possible leads before then.”

“Of course, Alpha.” With a respectful nod of his head, Xavier stood up. “I’ll get to work right away.”

Once Xavier left, Cade turned to Artemis. “So, as you can see, we don’t really need?—”

“What’s your plan, exactly?” She strode back toward his desk. “What kind of evidence do you need, and how do you plan to get it?”

“Anything solid and factual. A confession, witnesses, something traceable or documented. Something I can document or prove.”

“So,” she began, tapping her fingers on top of his desk. “What you’re saying is, you don’t have an exact plan.”

His scowl deepened, which if Artemis were honest with herself, made him look even more attractive. “The bombing only happened yesterday, so I haven’t exactly had time to come up with something. I’ll talk to the alphas and see if any of them act suspiciously. Use my instinct to narrow down the suspects or maybe even make someone confess.”

She rolled her eyes.

“What? You got a better idea?”

“Of course,” she said matter-of-factly. “For starters, if you need solid evidence, then you’ll need some kind of paper trail or electronic paper trail.” She pointed to the phone sitting on top of his desk. “You conduct most of your business over that and your computer, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too.” Taking her phone out of her pocket, she waved the hot pink device studded with crystals.

“Wait—you have phones? What do gods need phones for?”

“To communicate, get news, scroll social media, what else?” She opened up her Hellenagram app and showed him the latest photo on her profile, which was a selfie of her and Geri from last night’s reception with the caption, “My new sister! #bestSILever”.

“See? And we even get reception on Mount Olympus.”

“How?”

She smiled smugly. “I’m glad you asked because I was going to introduce you to someone who can help us gather your evidence. One sec.” Tapping on the envelope icon on her screen, she scrolled through her contacts before finding the right one and sent off a quick message. “There. That should do it.”

“Whatshould do it?” Cade asked, sounding exasperated.

“Not what. Who. It’s?—”

“And what’s this emergency?” a gruff voice interrupted.

Artemis clapped her hands together as she whirled around to face the newcomer who had materialized behind her. “Kalos ton! I’m glad you’re here.”

“You said it was an emergency, Artemoula,” Hephaestus, the god of fire and forges, said as he approached her. Strapping and imposing with rugged features, messy dark hair, scraggly beard, and piercing coppery eyes, most peoplewould have been struck by his striking figure—except it was difficult to ignore the mechanical grinding and whirring coming from his cybernetic right calf and foot.

Artemis had seen many versions of his prosthetic over the last thousands of years, improving with each iteration, which did not really surprise her. After all, Hephaestus was a genius with technology and was fascinated by everything and anything related to machines and gadgets. If it had cogs, mechanical parts, or a microchip, he could make it do anything he wanted.

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