Page 32 of Zeus' Spark
Jayden’s arm brushes mine, and I take a step to the side. He sighs.
I cross my arms over my chest as I continue behind Rebecca.
Why does Jayden even think I want his touch after what he put me through?
It’s only been the last two days that he has been pushing Mia away. It’s not good enough to fix all the months of hurt he’s caused.
We make our way quickly through the quad to the admin building, and the conversation I heard earlier comes back to me.
Who was that, and why were their voices distorted and their words garbled? It doesn’t look good for the faculty at this school. It could have been nothing, but I don’t believe in coincidences.
Rebecca unlocks the door to her office and ushers the three of us in before closing the door behind us and muttering under her breath.
“What was that?” I ask, cocking my head to the side.
Does Rebecca know how to do the same spell they were using in the conference room?
She can’t be responsible for what’s happening, can she? She’s in charge of the school and our safety, so she wouldn’t jeopardize everything this way, right?
“A spell to make sure this conversation is private.” She glances at me with a frown. “Why?”
“Raven and I heard a weird, garbled conversation in one of the conference rooms. I tried to see who it was, but Cross came up on us and made us leave.”
“Eavesdropping is not polite, Beth.” She glares at me but motions for us to sit.
I take the same seat I did last time and shrug. “The door was cracked open. We couldn’t understand anything, but the voices sounded familiar.”
It’s not like we were spying on purpose. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Jayden steeples his fingers by his mouth with his elbows on his knees. “Can we get back on track? Students keep going missing, and the wards are failing. What are you going to do with three of your best out trying to track down the Hermes kids?”
“There are Ares students adept at helping here,” Rebecca says.
Raven rolls her eyes, leaning back in her chair and drumming her fingers on her knee. “Yeah, where have they been the last few days when the three of us single-handedly destroy one monster after another?”
She’s not wrong. Dax was running toward us too late.
Rebecca sits behind her desk regally, glancing at each of us in turn. “We will set up a rotation so one or two of them are patrolling at all times. No more of the Hermes students will be allowed to go to the wards without at least two escorts from another house. We will keep everyone safe as much as we possibly can.”
“It won’t be enough.” I scrub a hand over my face, trying to think. “Including Raven, there are only eight Ares kids. If we take too long on our journey, then they’ll be burnt out quickly.”
“You three are toeing a dangerous line here. This is my school. I know what needs to be done.” Rebecca sits forward. “What do you suggest?”
There are several other war gods or gods who are adept with weaponry. Who else could we get to help there?
“The Apollo and Athena students should probably help in that rotation too. This academy is too important to not keep protected,” I say.
“Agreed.” Rebecca nods, and for the first time ever, the woman slumps in her chair. “I don’t like sending you out like this. If the academy didn’t need me here to keep order, then I would go myself.”
“The Oracle was clear. It has to be us,” Raven says sitting forward now too.
“We are good for this,” I tell the headmistress. “Just make sure you keep the school safe.”
“I spoke to the Oracle again, and he gave me a direction, at least. The Southeast United States,” Rebecca tells us, and I groan.
I eye both Jayden and Raven. “That’s a lot of ground to cover.”
“Yes, he also said that Greyson should be with you for this. I’m not sure what this means, but he thinks this person will be familiar to you three.”
