Page 56 of Artemis' Bow
Greyson leans forward. “You do realize that if she is one of the fates, she’s probably going to meet us at some random gas station at some point on this trip and talking about her like this is probably only going to fuel her agitation at you guys, right?”
“He has a point,” Adrian mumbles. “If they are behind strengthening my seer gift, then we should be thanking them and not being mean.”
“The fates are awesome, and we will tell them that the next time we stop at a gas station.” I scan the SUV for any complaints that I’m tabling this, but there are none.
We drive for a few hours in near silence, everyone hypervigilant about anything and everything around us. I glance up at the cloudless sky a few times just to make sure there’s no demon pigeons attacking us.
Something in my peripheral catches my attention on the side of the highway. “Fuck, Jayden, you need to take the next exit.”
“What? We aren’t anywhere near Arizona, Beth. We still have about four hours to go.”
“Yeah, but I saw something that can’t be possible right off the highway.” I shake my head.
“What is it?” Raven asks.
“You won’t believe it until you see it.”
Jayden pulls off at the next exit and backtracks down an old dirt road. As we bump along the road, I squint in the distance atthe familiar structure ahead. Jayden’s gaze snaps to mine as he realizes what’s up ahead.
“That’s not possible,” he says.
“It shouldn’t be possible, no. How is a whole-ass building here that was on the other side of the country a few months ago?” I ask.
“What are you talking about?” Raven leans between the seats. “Holy shit.”
“How? Why?” I ask. “Is it here because of us? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know but there’s a reason it’s here and we need to find out what that reason is,” I say.
The closer we get to the store, the more familiar it is to me. How in the world did this place end up here after being in the mountains in Virginia? The Satyr that ran this place outfitted us with survival gear to brave the mountains and help save the Hermes students from the enemy.
“Are we going in there?” Adrian asks, trepidation in his tone.
“It’s not anything to worry about, just an impossibility we hadn’t considered.” I shrug.
Adrian wasn’t with us for that first mission, so he’s never met the Satyr and his Naiad wife who run the little survival store called The Wilds.
“This was the least dangerous of the situations we were in on that first mission,” Greyson says.
“Let’s go,” I say as Jayden parks.
“What are the odds this is a coincidence?” Jayden asks.
“Is anything in our lives ever a coincidence?” I ask with an unladylike snort as I step out of the vehicle.
“There’s no such thing as coincidence. There is always a reason for everything,” Thad agrees. “Especially the impossible. There is always a reason for things that shouldn’t be possible.”
“Okay, let’s go see what the god of the wilds wants.” I sigh.
We make our way to the wooden door and the bell jingles merrily over our heads. The store looks just as disorganized and disheveled as the last time we were in here. Pan told us that his wife knew where everything was and he couldn’t do it without her.
Thad and Adrian hang back, glancing at all the equipment and random odds and ends. They are on guard in case an enemy pops out at them, which is fair, but they don’t need to worry about the wild god. I wouldn’t say that he’s harmless because he’s a god, but he’s helped us in the past.
“Relax, you guys, it’s fine. We just need to find the Satyr in the crazy of the shop. Don’t split up. We may never find you again,” I say seriously.
“Hahaha, daughter of Zeus,” a reed-thin voice intones behind Thad. “I would never let your friends be lost in my shop. My wife would pluck them up and set them in front of you the second they went missing.”
“Lord Pan.” I bow my head to the god.
