Page 142 of Ares' Shield
I’m really petting a wild animal. Still not the weirdest thing I’ve done this week.
“Hello,” I purr.
He really is a sweet animal. I’m glad I got him out of the zoo.
“Beth.” Jayden nudges my arm. “We have to go.”
“We don’t even know where we’re going, Jayden.” I sigh.
“I can help with that.” Artemis grins.
“You knew where we were going all along, didn’t you?” I ask.
I cross my arms over my chest, frustrated the goddess used us again to complete her tasks without telling us anything.
“If I had told you where to go from the beginning, you would have taken an alternate route. My brother foresaw you. I needed your help with the bulls and the mares.” She waves a hand dismissively.
“Okay, where do we go?” Jayden asks.
He pulls me into his arms, probably well aware by the expression on my face that I may just throttle the goddess of the hunt and that would be all kinds of bad.
“The shield is in Michigan, but you should head through to Chicago first,” Artemis says.
Adrian jogs up with the others behind. “There is a Sparta in Michigan. It makes sense.”
“There can’t be that many routes between California and Michigan,” I grumble.
I hate it when the gods use me for their own purposes, but the bulls and mares did need to be stopped.
“Where in Chicago are we going?” Jayden asks, skillfully changing the subject again.
“Yeah, that’s a huge city and I’m not exactly sure I want to stop there.” I chew my lip.
“There is an abandoned factory near the docks. You will want to go to,” Artemis says as cryptic as ever. “You’ll know the place when you see it.”
“Okay.”
We trudge back through the field to the ranch house without a backward glance and say goodbye to Artemis before jumping into the SUV.
“Oh, and Beth?” Artemis calls.
I turn to face her and she grimaces at my appearance.
“You really should stop getting blood all over you.” She waves a hand and cool magic washes over me, cleaning and repairing my clothes.
“That is easier said than done.” I chuckle.
Jayden turns the ignition and we head to Chicago. What new fresh hell is waiting for us there?
“I think this one time we should drive all night and take turns if anyone gets too tired.” Jayden breaks the silence of the SUV.
“I have to agree on that,” I say. “I almost fought one of Artemis’ hunters. The war shit is starting to affect us too.”
Draven scoffs from the back. “It’s an eight-hour drive to Chicago. Why can’t we just stop and rest for the night and start fresh in the morning?”
“Because we might be too late to stop a human war. A war that’s complete with damn nuclear weapons that will decimate the world.” I throw up my hands.
Why does he have to bitch and complain about everything? He’s getting on my last nerve.
