Page 69 of Ares' Shield
They all groan except for Rebecca whose brows are still pinched down, her expression stern.
“You will not leave campus without the rest of your team.” Rebecca points a finger at me.
“Understood, Headmistress.” I salute her with my potato wedge.
Rebecca narrows her eyes at the gesture and turns on her heel, storming away.
“I can’t believe you, B. How could you think that was ever gonna fly with us?” Raven shakes her head.
“This mission is more dangerous than all the others.” I take another bite.
Jayden places a hand on my back, rubbing soothing circles there. “Yeah, which is why I’m shocked you would try to go alone. Not only are there monsters and other demigods, but we may have to deal with humans. That would be reckless.”
I turn on him, but he holds up a hand before I can open my mouth to yell at him. “I’m not calling you reckless, Beth. I’m saying that would be reckless.”
I huff out a breath and slump back in my seat. He’s not wrong. It would have been reckless, but protecting the people I care about is always my number one priority.
“Fine, I get it. I told you I’m not going anywhere without you. I don’t even have a car.” I hadn’t really thought that through.
How was I going to get anywhere without permission to leave the wards or a damn car?
“Now that it’s settled, should we go check the maps and try to figure this out?” Jayden asks.
“Do you think we should get the book back from Cross?” I stand and grab my tray.
“I don’t particularly want to bother him after what happened in the admin building.” Jayden runs a hand over the back of his neck.
“Same,” Raven says. “He was a bit over the top in his freakout about us being in the admin building.”
“The oracle gave us enough information that we shouldn’t need the book. We should just be able to find Sparta on the map if it’s really in a place called Sparta.” I stroll to the bins and dump my tray and turn to see the others following.
A groan escapes when I glance up and see Draven following behind us. “What the fuck?”
Jayden turns to him with a snarl but quickly turns back to me and wraps an arm around my waist. “Ignore him, baby. You don’t have to let him come with us if you don’t want him to.”
I let Jayden steer me out the door and into the quad. It’s gotten dark since we were eating and black clouds hang heavy in the sky.
“He’s not allowed in my space. I won’t have it, Jayden.” I place my hand on top of his and he squeezes my hip.
“You are the daughter of Zeus himself. If you don’t want him in your room or even on your floor, that’s your right,” Jayden says.
“I know but I’m so tired of fighting today. I just want to find Sparta and rest for the damn mission. We need to move and it feels slower than ever.” I sigh.
“I think I have an idea,” Jayden says, turning to Adrian.
“What are you thinking?” Adrian asks as he falls into step beside us.
“Apollo is the god of truth and revelations, right?” Jayden asks him.
My eyes widen and a grin spreads on my lips. “That’s genius if it will work.”
“Care to share?” Raven snarks.
“If Adrian can reveal the knowledge of where Sparta is on the map, we could spend less time researching.” Jayden squeezes me to him.
“I’m not sure if I can,” Adrian huffs.
“Your power has grown since the underworld,” I remind him.
