Page 79 of Artemis' Bow
“Y’all are barbaric,” I say.
“This coming from the girl who flew like a ninja up onto the back of a giant boar and skewered its brain.” Greyson chuckles.
“I’m not defending that choice again. I did what I did and I’m owning up to it. The thing was on a rampage and that’s not the first time I have jumped on the back of a beast to kill it.” I cross my arms.
“No, but it is the first time you were shot with an arrow by a friend,” Jayden says.
“That was a small miscalculation.” I shake my head.
“One you’re going to pay for later,” Jayden whispers close to my ear.
I shiver at the promise in his tone. He’s not happy with my life choices. Well, I’m not either but there’s nothing we can do about them now.
Adrian gasps and springs up into a sitting position. “We have to go. We are needed in San Antonio.”
“That’s a twelve-hour drive on a good day,” Dominic says.
“Yeah, I know, but we need to be there tomorrow. Something big is going down tomorrow and if we don’t go, whatever creature is in the area is going to fully out the paranormal world to the humans.”
“Fuck!” I shout.
“We can’t let that happen,” Greyson says. “It could be catastrophic for all of us. What did you see?”
Adrian’s face pales. “Widespread destruction of San Antonio and then literal witch hunts after the videos leak to the human press.”
“Why does everything keep piling up over and over? More shit is just dumped on our shoulders and now we have to stop some asshole monster from outing the gods and other paranormals to the humans who will no doubt try to destroy us. This is so fucked.”
“I know, baby, but what choice do we have? We are the only ones who can stop it.” Jayden squeezes my hip.
“I know, it’s just so messed up and nothing is ever easy.” I shake my head.
I’m fully aware that I’m throwing myself a pity party right now, but I was shot with an arrow just an hour ago and I’m fucking tired. Just once I would like to not be tested by the gods and have my task be easy. The queen will never allow that, though. She wants me dead and to take my father down. I can’t let that happen.
“We need to get moving. Dominic, you find your brother and contain him. The messenger god, Hermes, will come to collect him once you catch him.” I reach my hand in my pocket.
“Um, if you guys want to shower and change before you head out, I can offer the bathrooms in the pack house.” Dominic grimaces.
I glance down at myself and nearly gag. I’m still covered in dirt, blood, sweat, and ichor. It’s not pretty at all. Plus, it’s dangerous for the ichor to get on the seats of the SUV. I don’t want anyone else getting infected with god blood. It fundamentally changed my DNA and made Greyson some kind of super shifter.
“Yeah, I think a shower is a good idea. I just remembered how gross I am.” I shudder. “Let me up, Jayden.”
“No,” he says.
“What do you mean, no?” I ask with a growl.
“I know your shoulder is still hurting you. I’m not letting you cause yourself more pain. I’ll help you shower.”
“That is a supremely bad idea,” I grumble.
“No funny stuff, I promise. We have a long drive ahead of us and we need to get moving.” Jayden winks at me.
“Fine. Dominic, will you show us to the bathroom?”
Raven hands me my pack from the SUV and I let Jayden carry me behind Dominic up the stairs to a large bathroom.
“I can walk, you know. I was shot in the shoulder, not my leg,” I grumble.
“I know you can walk but I like you being close,” he whispers, kissing me on the forehead.
