Page 46 of Hades' Shadow
“I don’t doubt that you will, Beth. You are the strongest of us all. If anyone can do it, it’s you.” Cross pats my shoulder before turning to the cabinet and placing the book back inside.
“I appreciate your confidence in me, Mr. Cross.” I nod and stand.
“We should probably go find Adrian and Raven.” Jayden places his hand on my lower back and I shiver.
“Thank you for taking such good care of the book,” Cross says as we leave.
We walk down the hall and out into the chilly midmorning air. At least it’s not raining. We walk with the flow of students but break off, heading for the cafeteria. They were grabbing food for the trip, but surely it’s not taking that long.
We walk into the cafeteria and hear a shrieking from the back and loud banging from the kitchen. I rush to the kitchen just as Raven and Adrian stumble out.
“What the fuck happened to you two?” I ask.
Their clothes are ripped in places and Raven looks like she stuck her finger in a light socket.
“Fucking harpies,” Raven groans.
“What did you do to them?” Jayden chuckles.
“Nothing.” Raven throws up her hands. “They wouldn’t let us get any food and freaked out about us being in their space.”
“They are underworld creatures,” Jayden says with a smirk. “Give me one second.”
He strolls confidently into the kitchen and I brace for the shrieking and banging again but it doesn’t come.
I peek in the kitchen, seeing the bird-women for the first time since I have been at the academy. They are absolutely terrifying. They have razor-sharp beaks and talons for fingers. One sees me and starts shrieking.
“Hey,” Jayden yells. “She’s a friend. We are going to save the underworld and need food.”
The woman’s head tilts to the side in thought before she nods, and I motion to Raven and Adrian to hand me their bags. When I move into the kitchen, the harpies are all in motion, grabbing things for Jayden.
“Ow,” I grumble, moving beside Jayden so another wing doesn’t smack me in the face again.
“You have to be vigilant around them. They don’t really understand personal space when on a mission,” Jayden says, reaching for Adrian’s bag.
“I can see that.” I hand him the bag and rub the spot on my face where I am sure I have a red mark.
We fill the bags quickly. Raven and Adrian don’t attempt to come back into the kitchen, probably traumatized from the harpies’ attack on them.
“Thank you.” Jayden bows his head to the harpies as we leave.
His hand brushes my lower back again. He needs to stop that. It’s driving my body crazy.
“They just gave you food?” Raven yells, planting her hands on her hips.
“They practically bowed to the prince of the underworld,” I deadpan.
“Whatever, princess of the gods.” Jayden grins.
I scowl at him. I am no princess. We all know there are goddesses that are actually Zeus’ children. I’m the bastard daughter of a human he was infatuated with once upon a time.
“Princess, my ass,” I growl.
He snickers as we walk out of the cafeteria.
“So, you just walked in and told them why you needed food and they got it for you?” Adrian has shock in his tone too.
“You guys should probably go clean up,” I say, poking Raven in the shoulder where her shirt is ripped, the skin is showing.
