Page 58 of Artemis' Bow
“The goddess had many suitors interested in her strength and beauty over the millennia. It could have been several of them,” Pan muses.
“I would bet that none of them are Orion. The hunter is a constellation because of Apollo.” I cross my arms.
“Wait? Why would that stop them?” Thad asks softly. “We have already fought the giant crab constellations; are we sure they aren’t all released from the sky because it’s never-ending day?”
“Holy shit,” I whisper. “How did we not think of that possibility?”
“Orion was the only person the goddess ever wavered in her devotion to her virtue for. I don’t think he would have taken her,” Pan says. “But there are others obsessed who would stop at nothing to have her as their own and that is dangerous for her.”
“We need to ask the hounds if they recognized the one who took her,” I say.
“If they have been with her from the beginning, they should be able to recognize the assailant,” Jayden agrees.
“Not necessarily. Animals’ minds are different from ours. It’s more impressions and instincts rather than recognizing features,” Greyson says. “They would probably recognize the smell of the assailant but not a name or be able to describe them past that.”
“It’s worth a shot, though, right? Right now, we only have the location of the bow and an idea that she might be in the same place.” I rub the back of my neck.
“Maybe. They have been around for millennia, so who knows.” Greyson shrugs.
“We have a lead. We need to at least ask them,” I say.
“If they decide to show up,” Pan reminds me.
“Yes, if they decide to show up, but if they are as worried for Artemis as we are, they will show. I just know it instinctively.”
“Let’s go see them.” Pan nods to the back of the store.
We weave our way between aisles to the back of the building that has no right to be this big on the inside considering the outside appears no bigger than a corner store or a gas station. He opens a door into a wall of tall pine trees.
“Um, what?” I ask, stepping out the door. “There is no forest like this in California.”
“You weren’t listening, young one. The wilds are all connected.” Pan pats my shoulder.
“So, you can just open the door and be anywhere in the world?” I ask.
I stare up at the ancient pine trees, amazed that we could just open a door into a different place. I snap my gaze to the right as a howl sounds in the distance.
Jayden grabs my hand. “Beth, are we sure we want to do this? We were only around her hounds a couple times, and they don’t exactly like men.”
“We have to try. Plus, if I’m correct, she made the lion I saved from the zoo one of her hounds and he likes me.”
Another howl pierces the air. A rustling in the bushes catches my attention just as a tail swishes in the underbrush. The lion pounces and I transport myself out of the way the next second. The lion blinks and spins in a circle before his gaze lands on me.
“Hello there, beautiful boy.” I smile as the lion stalks over and rubs against me like a house cat. “Where’s your huntress, huh?”
I brush my fingers through his thick mane. The lion lets out a soft purr. He nuzzles my hand and the others stand there, mouths gaping, as they watch me scratch a full-grown lion behind the ears.
“This one is not connected to me as the others are because I didn’t gift him to Artemis,” Pan says, bewildered.
“No, we helped her save him from a zoo in Oklahoma,” I agree. “The others aren’t far, though. I heard them howling.”
“Yes, I sense them close as well.” Pan nods.
“These are dominant predators, Beth,” Greyson says. “You need to be careful. They aren’t pets.”
The lion turns his gaze on Greyson and hisses. It reminds me of how all the animals in the zoo reacted to the wolf shifter in the zoo. Greyson growls back at the lion. I glare at him.
“Don’t be mean,” I say.
