Page 95 of Poseidon's Trident
“Adrian? Is that my pack over your shoulder?” I ask.
I’d totally forgotten I didn’t have it with me during the fight and hadn’t noticed Adrian carrying it until just now.
“Yeah, I grabbed it from the villa before we left. I knew we would need it.” Adrian shrugs.
“How in hades did you manage to keep it intact during the battle and the trip through the sea?” Jayden asks.
Adrian hands Jayden the pack and he throws it over his shoulder.
“It wasn’t easy.” He shakes his head.
“Good thinking because the rest of our stuff is gone. Probably washed away with a tidal wave.” Jayden adjusts the pack with one hand, gripping his sword with the other.
“I hadn’t even thought of that. Just all the poor humans that were lost.” I hang my head.
The diner flits through my memory. All the normal happy families just sitting around the table without a care in the world. My heart aches for them. Are they safe or did they all die when the waves crashed on their homes? The captain said the place was flooded. Did everyone drown?
“Natural disasters happen a lot, Beth. It’s a way of life. There are certain risks anywhere someone might live.” Jayden squeezes me closer to him.
“I know. It’s just… we are taking too long and the longer we take, the more likely more people will die.” I step over a palm frond.
“There’s nothing we can do to move faster, baby. Nereus said we had to complete every trial to get to the trident. So, every place the fates send us, we need to be ready for a trial.” Jayden kisses my head.
The palm trees sway overhead in the slight ocean breeze and the sand turns to dirt and rock the farther we go inland. The mountain looms over our heads. The terrain is vastly different with tall pines on the mountainside.
“Where do you think it’s going to be?” I ask.
“Our luck, in a cave on that damn mountain,” Jayden grumbles.
“Aren’t we supposed to be fighting sea monsters?” I ask.
“Some sea monsters go on land. The hydra is technically of the sea,” Jayden says.
“I already killed the hydra,” I growl.
“That doesn’t mean they couldn’t bring it back,” Raven reminds me.
“At least I will know how to kill it if they do.” I shake my head.
The sky darkens as we move through the forest. The temperature drops and I rub at the goosebumps on my arms. A yawn escapes me as I realize how tired I really am.
“I think we should make camp,” Thad says. “We have been on our feet for what feels like days.”
“We need to set up a watch schedule. Just in case.” I glance over to Jayden.
“I’ll take first watch,” Jayden says.
“I’ll watch with you.” I wrap my hand around his.
“You’re exhausted. You should sleep.” Jayden squeezes my hand.
“I’ll sleep when someone takes second watch,” I say.
“Fine. There’s no arguing with you anyway.” Jayden pulls me over to a palm tree and sits down with his back to it.
“Hand me my pack, please?” I reach for it.
Jayden hands me the pack and I pull out the granola bars I always keep stashed in there and hand them out.
