Page 19 of Artemis

“Take a look around, little snake. This will be the last taste of freedom for you for a long time.”

He was greeted outside the police station by a cop who tied a chain around the snake’s neck, forcing him to change back into a human.

After a long debrief at the police station, Finley returned to Maddie’s daycare, to be greeted with a hug.

“Thank you,” Maddie said tearfully. “Sorry, pregnancy hormones. We’ll be extra careful from now on.”

“You would’ve done the same thing if you’d been here.”

“Neither of us can change into a dragon,” Hestia said definitively.

Finley grinned. “You’re right.He’slucky I was here.”

CHAPTER5

“That’s it!I’ve had enough!” bellowed a voice through her noise-canceling office door.

Artemis looked up from Charon’s revised proposal, a headache developing behind her right temple, and blinked in surprise at the time on the wall clock opposite her.

Is that really the time?

She pressed a button on the messenger system between her office and Luna’s desk just outside it. “Luna, I’ve got to go or I’ll be late to pick up Alexander. I’ll finish this up tomorrow morning.” She stuck a sticky note where she’d stopped reading and stacked the papers neatly back into their folder.

The door burst open and Artemis didn’t even look up from arranging her desk when she said, “Thank you, Luna. If you could put that away in the safe, please, I’d be very grateful.”

Twin thumps on her desk made her head fly up, meeting the angry gaze of Mercury. “You!” he spat. “I’ve had enough of your deflection. Tell me what you plan to do with this ‘expansion’ of yours!”

Artemis regarded him coolly. He looked particularly disheveled today; no tie, shirt completely untucked, hair in disarray. His fists were propped on her desk, his face was getting redder and redder the longer she didn’t answer him.

She ignored him and looked out her door in concern at Luna, who was standing and staring at nothing. “Remove your thrall from my assistant,” she said in a low voice, one she usually only reserved for Alexander when he was especially naughty or the board members when they were being particularly difficult. Alexander rarely heard that tone from her. The board members couldn’t say the same.

“Or what?” Mercury sneered.

“You don’t want to know.Now.”

“I could put you in my thrall and you would tell me everything I want to know,” Mercury threatened, playing with a silver chain that hung out of his open shirt collar.

“I’d like to see you try.” Artemis smirked, crossing her arms.

Mercury made some gestures and pushed a force toward her.

Artemis shook off the compulsion as if it were a spiderweb. “That was fun. Release my assistant and maybe we can talk like civilized people.”

The redness of rage had shifted into embarrassment, and Mercury turned away from her, apparently shaken. Seconds later, Luna came running into the office.

“I’m sorry, Miss Chase, I couldn’t stop him!” Luna cried, wringing her hands apologetically.

“Nothing to worry about. Please take this file and put it in the safe for me.” Artemis handed her the Charon file. “I won’t be long with Mercury.”

Once Luna had left the office with the confidential file, Artemis turned the full force of her piercing silver eyes on the hapless God. “Whatever reason you might have had barging into my office and enthralling my assistant, it’s not good enough. I don’t care if I bulldozed yourhouseto the ground, this little display of a temper tantrum was not worth it for you. Mysonbehaves better than you do when he doesn’t get his way, and he’s not even three years old.”

Mercury flushed even more. “I’ll cut to the chase.” Artemis shot him a dirty look for the pun. “I heard you were looking into getting into the shipping business, horning in on my turf.”

“Are you serious?” Artemis rolled her eyes. “Not only was that a ridiculous reason, but that rumor doesn’t even have a single grain of truth to it.”

“But youarelooking into expanding your business?” Mercury asked shrewdly.

“I plan on remaining inbanking,” Artemis emphasized clearly. “Whoever your source is needs to get their facts straight. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m late to pick up my son because of this little charade.” Her words were polite, but her tone allowed no room for argument.

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