Page 26 of Artemis

“Fair.” Finley lowered his voice and leaned forward between his legs. “Have you seen any guys with a snake tattoo on their wrist? Or know any harpy-like shifters?”

Emerald looked thoughtful. “I see all types at the convenience store. Why do you ask?”

He lowered his voice to barely a whisper. “The snake tried to kidnap a little boy at Maddie’s daycare the other day. You know, Jaden’s mate? And this afternoon, two harpies snatched him out of the backyard.”

“No shit!” Emerald’s eyes widened. “I’ll let you know if I find anything out, and I’ll keep my lips sealed about this.”

“Thank you.”

They finished their stretching in companionable silence.

“Please put your hands together for Finley ‘Finn’ McKellen and Emerald ‘Gem’ Haviston!” the announcer hyped up the crowd.

Finley fist-bumped Emerald and then they walked on stage.

CHAPTER7

Artemis leftwork early for an appointment at ButterNut Bakery. It was well after the lunch rush and not quite time for dinner, so she and Demi and Hera were able to sit down together at one of the little tables with only minor interruptions from customers.

“What’s the theme?” Demi asked, flicking her pen against her notepad.

“Theme?” Artemis repeated. “Birthday?”

“Yes, of course it’s his birthday,” Hera said. “But what sort of theme do you want to tie things together? What does he like?”

“He likes everything,” Artemis replied, feeling a little like she didn’t know her own child. “He likes to help me cook?”

“We could do a Pizza Party theme,” Demi suggested.

“Oooh, and then the kids could make their own little pizzas as a snack!” Hera added.

“The cake could look like a pizza. And the decor could all be pizza shaped.” Demi started scribbling their ideas down. “Okay, that’s a start. Let’s come up with something else to compare.”

Artemis felt a little like her head was spinning from the rapidity of the conversation. When she realized both bakers were looking at her expectantly, she scrambled for another idea. “He likes to do crafts, I guess?”

“Hmm...” Demi said thoughtfully. “Definitely a craft table no matter what. We’ll get Maddie in on that. I’ve always wanted to try making a pencil cake.”

“And the snacks can be decorated to look like craft supplies,” Hera suggested.

“What happens if they try to eat the real craft supplies?” Artemis asked, alarmed. “Maybe that’s not a good idea. How about animals? Alexander adores Elati.”

Demi dragged her pen through the craft idea and wrote the new one down. “I can make the cake look like a meadow, maybe with little animal toys on top? And we can have a pinata, the snacks can look like different animal foods, like dog biscuits that are actually cookies.”

“That’s a great idea,” Artemis said, relieved to have picked a theme that she hadn’t known she needed. “I love it.”

“Leave it with us,” Hera reassured her. “This birthday party is going to be awesome!”

“I have no doubts.”

“Remind me how many people are going to be there,” Demi asked.

“It’s just the daycare kids and their families,” Artemis said, counting on her fingers. “Maddie, Hestia, the three kids and their parents... That’s eleven. Plus Jaden, his brothers, and you two make sixteen.”

“And yourself,” Hera pointed out.

“Right. And Luna. Eighteen. I haven’t heard from Alexander’s father, but I doubt he’ll make an appearance.” Artemis crossed her arms and bit back a “good riddance”. Just because she couldn’t stand the man and what he’d done to her son didn’t mean she had to broadcast it to everyone.

“That’s a good number,” Demi said, distracting her from the dark turn of her thoughts.

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