Page 11 of Ares' Shield
The dryad glances between the three of us warily before seeming to come to a decision.
“Wait here,” she says with a sigh.
She disappears into the trees and we stand in the middle of the path and wait.
“They really take their guard duty seriously.” I rub at my arms.
My white uniform shirt has thin scratches and tears in it. My shoulder has a small bead of blood trickling down it.
Evil dryads.
“They take a pound of flesh when you intrude,” Jayden says and prods my shoulder gently.
I hiss at the sting. It isn’t the worst pain I’ve been in, but it still sucks.
Raven groans, “Damn evil trees.”
A branch snaps back and nearly smacks her in the face, but she ducks before it hits her.
“Fuckers,” Raven yells.
“You’re really asking for them to come after you, Raven.” I shift on my feet and eye the trees around us.
Who knows how many dryads live in this part of the forest? She just called them all out. Fuck. Sometimes being best friends with a hotheaded daughter of Ares is hazardous to my health.
“You three,” Rebecca says with a sigh as she storms up the path toward us with the dryad following closely on her heels.
“I need to talk to you. Something crazy happened.” I cross my arms over my chest.
Another branch swings back, smacking Raven in the back of her head, and she spins, calling her sword to her.
Jayden grabs Raven’s sword arm and shakes his head. “Preferably in your office before Raven angers every dryad in the forest.”
“Hey, I didn’t do anything,” she protests as another branch comes swinging out at her.
“Can we go now?” I ask.
“Yes, get out,” the dryad screeches and lunges for Raven.
Rebecca steps in front of Raven and shakes her head at the dryad who sticks her lip out in a pout.
“That’s enough. Thank you for guarding our homes,” Rebecca says with a bow of her head.
She turns to us and ushers us back down the path. The trees thankfully stop taking swipes at me, but they continue after Raven until we round the cafeteria and make our way back to the admin building.
Raven and Jayden are on either side of me as we rush down the hall to Rebecca’s office. I shiver with unease as I follow her.
What will her reaction be to another student going missing? Have others left under similar circumstances and she’s keeping it quiet?
Rebecca waves a hand over the doorknob, and it clicks open on its own. We all file into the room. Jayden takes a seat in one of the chairs as I sit in the middle of the couch and narrow my eyes at him. Raven plops down next to me.
Fucking tables have turned and now he’s treating me like a lepper. Seriously, he was just touching me and now he refuses to sit next to me?
I fucking hate boys.
“What did you find, Beth?” Rebecca snags my attention from Jayden.
“It’s bad, Headmistress. It’s real bad. If we don’t do something, then no one is going to be safe.”
