Page 51 of Artemis

Artemis sucked in a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She could see the moon rising early, the sun still high in the sky. It wouldn’t be as powerful a statement as it would have been at night, but she would make do.

Weaving the moonbeam into a rope, she looped the length of it in one hand, the other holding the noose she had made with it. She centered herself in the opening and shouted, “Jormund! You have betrayed me for the last time. Stop this at once!” She threw the noose at Jormund’s head, guided by the moonbeams, and it settled around his jaw, snapping his mouth shut.

She wrenched his head around, pulling on the rope she still held, until he was facing her directly. The flash of recognition in his eyes was almost amusing to see. “Call off your men,” Artemis growled.

Jormund shifted slowly back into his human form, the noose shrinking with him and settling around his neck, not too tight. “Xavier, Maksim, stop,” he said weakly. “It’s over.”

“Damn right it’s over,” Artemis snapped. “What on Earth, on Purgatory, were you thinking? Kidnapping? For ransom?” She seethed for a moment. “Your own son, whom you haven’t seen...ever?”

“Come on, baby—” Jormund started.

Artemis cut him off, eyes blazing with light as well as anger. “You don’t have the right to call me that. You lost it a long time ago, when you ran away,” she hissed, tightening the noose. “Howdareyou kidnap my son!”

“I had to, if I wanted to see him,” Jormund whined.

“Bullshit!” Artemis growled. “You had an invite to his birthday party, just as you have every year. You could have arranged to see him any time you wanted. But this isn’t about him. This is aboutmoney.” She spat the word in his face and he flinched. “Or did you forget that you asked for a ransom?”

“Ihadto,” Jormund begged. “I owe a lot of people a lot of money.”

“Now,thatis not my problem.” The sound of sirens in the distance filled the air. “And it won’t be yours for much longer either.”

Jormund’s face turned pale.

“I hope I never lay eyes on you again.” Artemis turned away from him as he fell to his knees amidst the rubble. Finley had shifted back into his human form, not looking much worse for having been in an all-out brawl with the snake god. She sighed, relieved.

When Chloe arrived, Artemis unraveled her rope once Jormund was taken into custody.

And even though he begged her to help him, she didn’t acknowledge his existence or even look away from Finley.

Jormund didn’t deserve a single second of her attention. Not anymore.

She threw herself at Finley, hugging him for all she was worth. “I was so worried for you,” she whispered. “I didn’t think you’d win that fight.”

Finley made a disgruntled noise in his throat. “I probably wouldn’t have without help,” he admitted.

Jaden and Augustine flew them both back to Maddie’s. Finley was too sore to fly back. He said his wings had been torn. Artemis wasn’t sure if that manifested anywhere on his human form, but it sounded painful no matter what.

Alexander greeted them with a running hug, launching himself into her arms.

“You were so brave,” Artemis murmured to him. “I’m so proud of you!”

“Mom?”

“Yes, my darling?”

“Can we go home?”

“Of course.” Artemis stood and held her hand out to him.

“Can Lee come too?”

Artemis and Finley exchanged shy glances.

“I would like that,” Artemis said quietly.

“Then I will join you,” Finley agreed readily.

They spent the rest of the day playing games in Artemis’s backyard before making dinner.

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