Page 46 of Poseidon's Trident
The nereid gave me the conch shell to communicate with anyone as long as I say their name into it. It helped us to communicate with Adrian on the first mission to find the lightning bolt.
“I will tell my sister that her gift has helped you all the way you helped her.” The nereid nods.
“The sirens were a problem for us as well.” I shrug.
Raven takes a step forward. “Those bitches deserved to be ash. They tried to eat my mate.”
Artemis giggles and the sound is out of place in the conversation. “Beth, I see you have a new friend. I hope he’s more helpful than the last one.”
“He’s actually more of a friend than Draven will ever be. This is Thad, the son of Poseidon. He’s come to help us.”
“Good. Old Poseidon needs a good demigod to get him out of the mess he’s in. The gods on Olympus aren’t happy, Beth. They are blaming Poseidon now for everything that’s happened in the last several months.”
“What?” I shriek and then glance around.
“This wouldn’t be the first time Poseidon tried to overthrow Zeus and with the way the storms are raging and volcanoes activating all over the world, the finger is pointed firmly in his direction.” Artemis shrugs.
“But you know it’s not him, right?” Thad asks.
“I do, but my sister isn’t as trusting as me.” Artemis shakes her head.
“Which sister?” I fold my arms over my chest.
“Athena.”
“I have had zero interactions with the goddess of war and wisdom. Ares has been far more helpful.” I bump my shoulder into Raven’s.
“Same. Dad and Athena don’t really see eye to eye on much.” Raven shrugs.
“Yeah, well, Ares has always been a brawn over brains kind of guy.” Artemis nods.
“What is Athena saying? Why is Poseidon being targeted when his child was a target at the academy only a few months ago? Surely my father doesn’t think he was working with Hecate to drain Cross of his life force. Even a god wouldn’t weaken himself in such a way to throw suspicion off themselves, right?”
“I’m not sure. Athena may have her own agenda in mind. She does hold a grudge against Poseidon since he took her favorite priestess away from her.”
Medusa. Right. Athena really gave a fuck about her when she turned her into a gorgon because of what Poseidon did.
The gods can be vengeful assholes when they feel like they are slighted.
“That’s a long time to hold a grudge.” Raven whistles.
“Gods are timeless along with their memories.” Artemis shrugs. “The point is that there could be a war against the sea god if you all don’t find the trident.”
Thad glares at the goddess and the most surprising thing is that Artemis doesn’t seem fazed by his death stare. She takes it in stride.
“My dad isn’t behind this. I know him as much as a half human can know their godly parent and he wouldn’t have sent me to Halfling Academy if he was trying to take over Olympus. Especially not now right when I’m needed to help find his item of power.”
“Look, son of Poseidon. You don’t have to convince me. I know these kids and I know they wouldn’t be helping a traitor to Olympus. Beth gets mad every time I show up because she thinks I’m going to ask her to zap something and cause chaos.” Artemis chuckles.
“To be fair, our first meeting was you asking me to take out the electricity at the Oklahoma Zoo to release some big cats when you could have taken them on your own without all the chaos afterward,” I say.
“What would have been the fun in that? Plus, you met my little niece and made sure she and her mom are safe.” Artemis grins.
“You and your rhyming brother are diabolical,” I yell before glancing around again.
There’s no one else paying us any attention in the little aquarium, yet I can’t help but wonder who could be lurking around. Are any of these random people actually gods in disguise waiting to pounce on us? Or monsters that could be waiting until the goddess is gone. Are they just human and thinking we are freaks?
Shit. We are probably causing a scene with the humans. That’s not fucking good. I peer at the people around me, but no one seems to be paying us any attention.
