Page 84 of Zeus' Spark
The conch shell bursts with energy.
“Beth.” Adrian shimmers into existence when I touch the shell.
I jump, not expecting it. “How the hell did you do that?”
“Not important. I had a vision. You have a box that you haven’t looked at. It’s from the Hesperides, right?”
I blink at him. But I don’t even ask how he knows that because he’s an oracle of sorts and gets visions regularly.
I have come to terms with all the things that he knows.
“Yeah, I haven’t looked at it. Thia told me to wait until we were out of town to look, and I got distracted by getting attacked by damn birds.” I reach into the bag and pull out the small box.
It’s buzzing with energy, and I nearly drop it.
“You’re going to need that. Go to the zoo in Oklahoma City. There’s someone there that you need to see,” he says cryptically.
“You want us to stop at the zoo? Because there’s someone there we need to see?” I repeat back to him slowly.
“You will never save the students if you don’t go to the zoo,” Adrian says and then cuts out.
I shake my head, slumping back into my chair. “What the actual fuck? I guess we’re going to look at some caged animals. Humans are weird.”
“Who do you think we need to talk to?” Raven asks.
I shrug. “He didn’t say, but you know Adrian. He’s always cryptic.”
Jayden sighs. “I’m just wondering if this is someone who’s going to help us, or if we will end up destroying the zoo in the process of getting out.”
“Both are entirely possible, but I have a feeling it will be the latter,” I grumble.
“But we have to go,” Greyson says. “Adrian clearly said that we will not find the Hermes students if we don’t take a trip to the zoo. Have any of you ever been to the zoo? Just gonna warn you, the animals are going to react strangely to me.”
Right. Because he’s a wolf shifter, they’ll sense the predator in him.
“So, what you’re saying is we may not be running from monsters but escaped zoo animals?” I turn in my seat and raise a brow at him.
“That is a real possibility, but monsters seem to find you everywhere so…” Greyson trails off meaningfully.
I stick my tongue out at him and turn back around while he chuckles at my immature reaction.
Jayden’s spine straightens as we head into the city, already on high alert. “We don’t have much choice, so let’s just go and stay away from any open enclosures or animals that could be problematic.”
I don’t know why being in the city would make him go on high alert. Monsters have had no issue with attacking us in the middle of nowhere.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” I grumble.
We follow the signs to the zoo and turn into the parking lot.
Raven leans up between the seats, chewing her lip. “Well, at least the parking lot looks kind of empty, so maybe there won’t be a whole lot of humans around?”
“It’s now or never, I guess,” Greyson says with an expression of absolute dread on his face.
I push open my door and get out, grabbing my bag as we head to the ticket counter. There’s no line which is also a good sign.
We each grab a map after using our cards to buy tickets and enter the zoo. The afternoon sun beats down on me as we move through the small crowds.
“Shit,” Greyson groans. “Do you see all the animals? They’re mostly cats and predators.”
