Page 90 of Artemis' Bow
“Duh, why else would I be mad right now? Are you going to get up?”
“No, I think I live here now. Transporting all over like that tired me out for real.”
“It was badass though. The way you kept them guessing, and was your whip glowing white instead of blue? That was sick.” Raven holds her hand out to help me up.
“Not yet, mom. Five more minutes.” I bat her hand away.
Jayden crouches next to me and lifts me bridal style. A squeak escapes me as I glare at him. He just grins at me.
“I think Cerberus deserves a treat, don’t you?” Jayden asks with a wink.
“I think I have some jerky in my bag.” I tap him to put me down, but he doesn’t; he just keeps walking over to our packs.
“I can walk,” I grumble.
“You just flopped on the ground and declared you lived there now. Not a good idea, baby. I’m helping, so let me take care of you.”
The dryad races over to us with a beaming smile. “Thank you so much for saving my forest. You were amazing and how do you have Cerberus?”
“This is Hades’ son. The god of the underworld let us borrow him for help on our mission.” I point to Jayden still carrying me.
“That is fantastic.” The dryad bounces on her toes. “Can I meet him so I can thank him for his help too?”
“We were just grabbing him a snack. Then we will let him out to play for a while before we have to get back on the road.” I nod.
“Hey, Beth?” Adrian furrows his brow. “How are you bleeding?”
“I don’t know.” I glance down at the tear in my shirtsleeve and the small trickle of blood leaking from it. “Maybe a tree branch got me by accident?”
As I stare down at the small wound, it closes before my eyes. “That’s badass.”
“It healed that quick?” Jayden asks.
“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever healed that quick before.”
“That’s a good thing. You’re in less danger of dying on me.” Jayden kisses my temple.
“I wonder if you’re the same. Can you heal as fast?”
That would be an absolute game changer for us in this war against the queen.
“Let’s not count on that too much. The hole in your shoulder didn’t heal that fast,” Jayden says.
“We definitely don’t know what’s in store for us going forward or what will happen to the three of us who got hit with that stuff twice. It could end up being a death sentence.”
22
“Shit.” I roll away from the huge paws that nearly just took me out and hop to my feet.
“You’re playing too rough, Cerberus. We were just in a battle.” Jayden chides the giant puppy.
The middle head whimpers at his tone and bends down, licking my face. I could really live without the hellhound drool covering the whole left side of my head. I scratch Cerberus behind the ears anyway. He’s apologizing for nearly flattening me, after all. I don’t want him to think I don’t accept his apology.
“It’s okay, boy. I know you’re just excited to stretch and play,” I say.
“We probably should get back on the road soon,” Adrian says.
“I know but he’s been cooped up and needs to stretch before we bottle him back up in that tiny thing.” I frown.
