Page 26 of Zeus' Spark
“Sir, you don’t understand,” I say. “There was another attack this morning, and the wards were broken. The students going missing—”
Mr. Cross interrupts me. “I don’t want to hear any excuses, Beth. You two should not be in here unless you are called here. End of story.”
“Yes, sir,” I grumble.
This is getting even worse. It’s looking more and more like an inside job.
We get outside, and Cross slams the door on us without a word.
“That was rude.”
“It was very rude.” Raven scrunches her brow as she walks down the stone steps to the quad. “So, what’s the plan now? What were those creepy voices saying?”
“No idea. It was like listening through water. Was it some kind of magic?” I scratch my forehead, sitting in the grass under the old oak tree.
Raven flops down on the grass next to me. “Were you able to get close enough to them to see who it was?”
“No, if Cross had been like ten seconds later, I would have been able to see. He totally outed us too. We really need to be vigilant. They sounded familiar, and if they sound familiar to me, then my voice is probably familiar to them.”
“Well, shit. I think we need to tell Jayden since the headmistress is MIA.” Raven picks at a blade of grass.
“Why the hell would we need to tellhimanything?” I ask, pulling a disgusted face, and Raven giggles.
“He has to go with us on this mission to save the academy. He is kind of on a need-to-know basis.”
She’s not wrong, but is it too much to ask to enjoy my time where he’s not smothering me?
“My shadow isn’t here, and I’m in no rush to change that.”
“C’mon, B. We need to go tell Jayden,” Raven prods me again.
I don’t want to talk to the overbearing asshole, but I know she’s right.
“Can I have just a few more minutes of peace, please?” I ask, opening the jar of burn cream and rubbing it on my leg.
It’s already starting to look better. There is pink new skin showing in places where the charred skin has flaked off. It’s gross, but at least I’m healing.
Raven rolls her eyes, plucking a piece of grass from the ground by her feet. “Fine, but I still think you’re too hard on him. He obviously likes you.”
“He has a funny way of showing it,” I grumble, wishing we could go five fucking minutes without discussing Jayden or the missing students.
Like, come on. We’re in college. We shouldn’t be having these kinds of problems.
“How’s Greyson?” I ask, and she raises a brow at the subject change.
Well, fuck off. If she can discuss my lack of a love life, I can discuss her boyfriend.
“I know what you’re doing, but okay, I’ll allow it.” She smirks, tearing the blade of grass up in her hands. “He’s amazing and thoughtful, but he’s also impatient. He wants me to mate with him, and I just don’t know how to feel about that. We’re both still in college. Isn’t it too soon?”
“Do you love him?” I ask, closing the jar of burn cream and putting it back in my bag.
“Well, yeah. He’s amazing, but we have only been together a couple months, and we haven’t exactly had a lot of time together. He still thinks it’s weird I don’t have a phone or social media.”
Cell phones and other electronics are like beacons for the monsters that hunt demigods. I was so mad when Jayden threw my phone out his window when we were on our way to the academy.
He didn’t explain it very well then and was being an asshole at the time, subjecting me to horrible noise that I refuse to call music.
“Yeah, that rule kind of sucks balls,” I grumble, pissed at myself that I thought about Jayden when I’m trying not to think about that asshole.
