Page 20 of Zeus' Spark
“Body of a lion, tail is a snake’s head, and an evil-looking goat thing sticking out of its back. Oh yeah, and if that wasn’t bad enough, it breathes fucking fire.” I show him my cream-covered leg, and he winces. “Jayden, I am busy. The wards aren’t working correctly, and we need to get someone to fix them.”
I attempt to dodge him again, but the stubborn asshole won’t let me past him.
“You should be resting your fucking leg, Beth. Not running around trying to save everyone.” He widens his stance as if getting ready for a fight.
“Don’t make me zap you.” Lightning sparks on my fingertips in warning.
Jayden smirks at me.
“Your magic won’t hurt me.” His smug expression just pisses me off more.
“Jay-den,” a whiny voice calls from the cafeteria.
“Shit.” He scans the quad for an escape.
I tilt my head to the side. This is the first time Jayden has looked like he wants to get away from her.
With him distracted, I slip around him and walk up the steps of the cafeteria and through the large double doors, completely ignoring Mia as I pass her.
Scanning the busy cafeteria, I make my way to the Hermes table where Raven stands with her hand on her hip, tapping her foot.
“Bailey, we need someone to help us,” she says.
Bailey doesn’t even get up from her seat or look in Raven’s direction. “The last of my siblings who went out to the wards disappeared. I am not going out there.”
“We will go with you,” I say, “or whoever ends up helping. You don’t understand, Bailey. The wards are down. We were attacked by the Chimera this morning, and more monsters will come. No one is safe.”
A flash of guilt crosses her features so briefly I almost miss it.
“I’ll do it.” Draven, a guy with sandy-blond hair and piercing green eyes, stands. He is a third year and probably stronger than Bailey in his magic. “We help keep the academy safe. Always, Bailey.”
He shakes his head at her in disappointment and walks over to me.
“Thank you,” I breathe out in relief.
We need those wards fixed, like yesterday.
“You aren’t going to protect anyone, Beth. You’re injured.”
I stiffen at Jayden’s voice behind me and spin around, putting my finger in his face.
“You. Are. Not. The. Boss. Of. Me.” I poke him in the chest with every word. “I saw the healer for the burn. All he said was to keep applying cream to it, so stop being an overbearing ass and get out of my way.”
“Everything okay over here, beautiful?” Dax saunters up and crosses his arms over his chest, glaring at Jayden.
I nearly groan. I cannot handle this right now. We are wasting time.
Jayden snarks back at Dax, “None of your concern, Dax. Go away.”
I widen my eyes at Raven, but she’s glaring at Dax and Jayden.
Draven throws his hands up and pushes past Jayden and Dax. “Are we going to go make sure the school is safe, or sit here and snipe at each other all day?”
They continue to bicker as Raven loops her arm through mine and pulls me along with her, completely ignoring the grumbling complaints from Dax and Jayden.
I have no doubt that they are following behind us as we make our way across campus, but I tune them out, done with all the nonsense.
Raven and I take the lead and direct the group to the spot where we fought the Chimera before. The dust from the dead monster still coats the ground by the tree.
