Page 37 of Artemis' Bow
“You shut your stupid hole, Dax,” Raven snaps.
“Maybe for you,” Greyson grumbles. “The others were complete assholes.”
I push open the cafeteria doors and storm inside with Jayden at my side. “Do we need to involve the headmaster because people are not adhering to the zero tolerance policy on bullying?”
I grab Jake’s ear, pulling him up from the Ares table and giving him no choice but to stumble after me.
“Beth, what are you doing? Let go of me,” Jake whines.
“Is this one of the assholes?” I ask.
The glare Greyson shoots the son of Ares is confirmation enough, no words needed. I twist his ear between my fingers, and he cries out in pain.
“Listen to me, Jake. I didn’t even know your name until I noticed you bullying people, and then I find out you have been bullying one of my closest friends? What the fuck is wrong with you? You’re lucky you’re going on a mission, or I would punch you until I broke something. If I catch you bullying my people again, I will make sure you’re expelled. You got it?” I shove him away.
Jake stumbles and drops to his knees.
“Look,” Jayden yells. “This is going to end. You’re telling me that the students here whose parents are on the wrong side deserve to be treated like the enemy because of their parents’ choices? Every single one of our godly parents has done something terrible at one point or another.”
Jake shifts uncomfortably from one foot to another.
“My father is guilty of trying to overthrow Zeus. Am I the enemy?” Jayden asks, spreading his arms out.
Raven steps next to Jayden. “My dad tried to help his overthrow Zeus. Am I the enemy? You, Jake, are your own worst enemy.”
“My dad was arguably one of the worst. He raped Medusa and allowed Athena to turn her to a Gorgon while pregnant with his children,” Thad yells. “Am I to blame for my father’s misdeeds?”
Adrian steps forward next. “All of our godly parents have done things that are unforgivable, some more than others. That wasn’t us. And it’s not us now. Anyone who stayed at the academy understands what these selfish gods tried to do to us multiple times and are fighting back. Stop bullying them because their parent took the wrong side. They chose right. Period.”
The cafeteria is silent for a long moment, and I turn, stalking to the buffet to grab my lunch. I scan the room for the other two teams so we can give them their supply bags and tell them when to meet with Chiron to go over the plan for them to leave.
Once my tray is piled high, I make my way back to my table with a huff and plop down next to Jayden. “Were you able to get an idea of the route we should take?”
“For the most part, yeah. We’ll be going through Arizona again, probably get to Phoenix by tomorrow night.” Adrian nods.
“At least we aren’t going back through Winslow.” I shudder.
“The giant snake and the fountain were destroyed. At least we don’t have to worry about that again.” Jayden squeezes my shoulder.
“Let’s just hurry and eat so we can meet with the other teams and get ourselves ready for the start of our trek tomorrow.” I sigh.
We all fall silent as we eat and it’s nice not hearing everyone on campus screaming bullshit at each other for a change. Maybe the bullies will finally listen and stop being idiots. We are all on the same side.
When I’m finished eating, I take my tray to the bins and leave it to be washed and go in search of Dax and Jake. I find them both at the Ares table, talking loudly to their brothers.
“Here, your supply packs have first aid kits, water, protein bars, and the credit cards we use for provisions when we go on missions. Report to Chiron. Your teams will be leaving at different times from different gates today to limit the possible risk of drawing attention to what we’re doing.”
“You okay, Beth? You look exhausted,” Dax says.
“Thanks, Dax. I always love hearing I look like shit. If I wasn’t constantly breaking up your brother’s fights, I wouldn’t be so tired.” I shoot Jake an irritated glare.
“You know I didn’t mean it like that. You should rest before you guys leave.” Dax shakes his head.
“No rest for the wicked. I have to rescue Artemis and save the world, again.” I turn on my heel and leave.
“You know he’s your friend and just worried about you,” Jayden says.
“You’re sticking up for Dax now?” I raise a brow at him.
