Page 127 of Hades' Shadow
“No,” Jayden says and grabs my arm to pull me away from the trees.
Did I move? I don’t think so. Why is he so worried about the fruit? There doesn’t seem to be anything nefarious about it.
“Jayden,” I whine.
My stomach growls on cue and pain slices through my gut. I double over in agony.
“C’mon, Beth. You can do it. Just get through the orchard and we will be at the river of fire.”
There’s a reason we want to get to that river, but I can’t fully remember what that reason is. The only thing I can think about is how good that fruit would taste.
Jayden lets go of me suddenly and I stumble into Raven. He races forward and grabs Adrian by the collar.
“Adrian, stop. Can’t you see that this is a bad idea?” Jayden asks angrily.
“I know, but I’m so hungry, I don’t care. Let me go,” Adrian growls back and thrashes.
“Why is Jayden being such an asshole? It hurts being this hungry.” I lean my head on Raven’s shoulder and reach out to pick a piece of fruit from the tree.
Jayden walks back over, dragging Adrian, and smacks the fruit from my hand. “No, you need to move.”
“Jayden, we are starving,” Raven complains.
“I know but maybe I can get some help. Nobody move until I say so.” Jayden points at us in warning.
I salute him mockingly as he grabs my shell from his pack. “Hey, that’s mine.”
“Do you want food?” he asks angrily.
I nod at his admonishment and stare longingly at the fruit hanging from the trees.
“Not that food.” He grips my chin and stares into my eyes.
His shadows pulse around me angrily and I widen my eyes. “Shit, I was fucking delirious.”
“Are you good now? I’m gonna call Hermes. Can you keep them from eating anything until I’m done?” Jayden asks.
“What is Hermes going to do for us?” I ask with a frown.
“He’s the messenger of the gods, he may be able to get us some human food so we can continue,” Jayden says as he grabs Adrian by the collar of his shirt again.
He pulls Adrian back to me and Raven, and Raven loops her arm around his shoulders.
“Jayden says he’s going to save us,” Raven hisses before she breaks out into a fit of giggles.
“Raven, snap out of it,” I bark.
“What?” she asks with a frown.
“You’re delirious,” I say as I shake a bit more of the fog from my brain.
We need cool heads walking into Tartarus and none of us can really think straight.
Jayden glances between the three of us before putting the shell to his mouth. “Hermes.”
The messenger god appears in the mist of the shell and his eyes widen.
“How were you able to contact me, Jayden? I haven’t heard a word from any of my children.”
