I can’t bloody wait to see what happens when Artemis won’t choose him as her only man, because I’m damn sure Artemis spoke the truth about creating her own harem.
Artemis drops her hand and tips her head to where the others stand on the river bank. “Let’s hurry before the rain comes.”
She skips the last meters and Thor watches her pass. He doesn’t speak to me as I crunch along the pebbles toward where the other three stand. Artemis joins Triton in a discussion over the map and directions, while Dion arches a brow at me.
“What?”
He inclines his head and I follow him to a spot at the river’s edge. “So, what was that?”
I pull a confused face, even though I know exactly what he means. He jabs me in the chest.
“You and Artemis. What did you say to her? I saw her kiss you!”
“On the cheek, Dion. Friendly. And we were talking about the weather.”
He snorts. “Sure you were.”
I kick at the pebbles and can’t help the smug feeling.
“Well, I bet I can get her to kiss me properly, and soon,” says Dion, looking over to her.
“It’s not a competition.”
“I know, because you’re no competition.” I straighten, eyes hardening. “Kidding, Loki. You take things too literally.” Dion claps me on the back. “I’m just saying, I have a way with girls, whereas you have a way of pissing everyone off.”
Gods, what is with my friends and their egos? At least Triton, as close to Artemis as I was, isn’t nonplussed by her.
“Artemis thinks when we cross the river, we should head west.” Triton tucks the map into his pack. “We walk along the river until we find a safe place to cross.”
The river runs slowly, a tributary that grows larger as it passes toward the nearby town and the ocean. The school is close to the ocean and the trickling river isn’t a good omen. We chose the wrong path and we’re far from our home now.
“I’m hungry.” Thor interrupts.
“I’m not stopping to eat,” Triton retorts. “The clouds are thickening.”
Thor pulls a chunk of bread from his bag. “You don’t need to,” he says through the mouthful he stuffs in as he walks.
“Always thinking about your belly,” I say and chuckle as we head onward.
He doesn’t reply to me.
THOR
I’m lost in thought over Artemis and Loki as I traipse after them all, kicking at dirt as we do. I never expected to see her and Loki behave like that today. Proves she’s weird. I scowl at the pair laughing and joking together; I wouldn’t be surprised if they planned on us getting lost.
I shake the thought from my head. What is wrong with me?
You know damn well. Jealousy.
“Here,” I say, pointing to where a large, fallen tree trunk spreads most of the way across the river.
Triton stops and wrinkles his nose. “I’m not sure. It could be slippery.”
“And we could walk another mile to find a way to cross!” calls out Dion from where he walks with Artemis. “This is the first option for an age.”
“Dion’s right,” says Loki. Before waiting for further discussion, he hops onto the edge of the trunk and steadies his footing. “Come on.”
“Yeah.” I swing my pack so I have both arms through the straps and follow him. Triton’s correct. Slippery.
I focus on the way across and calculate that the gap between the trunk and river bank opposite is small enough to jump. My sure-footed brother makes it across in minutes and stands smirking on the opposite bank. Water trickles over the trunk close to the river’s edge, and the jump across is larger than I expected.
Artemis nimbly reaches me as I hesitate. “Come on, mountain god. Jump.”
With a sigh, I do, and just make the edge, my foot slipping as I land. Dion joins us and I look back at an uncertain Triton, who has stopped mid-journey.
“What’s wrong?” calls Dion.
“Nothing.”
“Hurry up, then!” He looks up and squints at the sky. A splotch of rain lands on my face too. Great.
“Okay, give me a second.”
“Surely, you’re not afraid of the water,” says Loki.
“No, but I don’t want to fall in.”
“Don’t be such a girl!” shouts Dion, and is rewarded by Artemis stomping on his foot.
Triton straightens and I can’t help laughing as the large guy continues his precarious trip across, as if walking a tightrope. He clutches his pack, eyes focused on his feet.
Loki fails to hide his laughter as he reaches the branch edge, and Triton scowls up at him. “What’s so fucking funny? This is your fault.”
“Oh. Here we go,” snaps back Loki. “What do you think I did?”
“You tell me. You seem to find the situation amusing.” Heavier drops hit Triton’s face.
“If it’s anybody’s fault, it’s Dion’s,” Loki retorts.
“Huh? How? So I struggled to decipher some numbers at the second waypoint, but that doesn’t make getting off track my fault!”
“Yeah. True. You and your dumb parties,” Triton replies. “I’m sick of being tarred by your party boy brush, just because we’re friends. Now look where it’s got me.” He gestures around himself.
“Gods, Triton, stop making out like you’re some superior being,” snaps back Dion. “I’ve seen you sneaking out at night. What’s that all about?”
I look at Loki. Yes, we’re all aware of his strange nocturnal activities, and I don’t want to voice my suspicion it could have something to do with Apollo.
Triton loses his footing and rights himself. “You mean like you three sneak into the village sometimes?”
“Is that where you go?” I ask. “Secret nerdy lover? I’m sure you’re not visiting the families you teach; not in the middle of the night.”
Triton doesn’t reply and instead switches his focus to the gap between the branch and bank. I shuffle from foot to foot, impatient as the rain becomes heavier.
“Dude!” calls Dion. “Just jump!”
He does.
Well, kind of.
As Triton steps on a rock, his foot slips and his leg disappears beneath the water and he lands knee-height in the river.
“Fuck!” he shouts. “This is your fault for distracting me.”
Artemis steps forward. “Are you okay? Should we help you?”
Triton grits his teeth and wades the last meter. “No. Thanks.” As he steps onto the bank, he bends and studies his leg. A rip in Triton’s pants reveals a large gash.
“Oh!” Artemis crouches down and looks at the wound. “What happened?”
“Don’t know. Tree branch, maybe.” Triton doesn’t push her away, but the speed at which he straightens and sidesteps her isn’t nice. Artemis wants to help him. Is this his pride, or still the opinion a girl shouldn’t join our makeshift team?
I blink as the raindrops run from my hair into my face, the rain moving from a drizzle to a downpour. “Fucking great.”
“We should find shelter,” announces Artemis, and she walks in the westerly direction we agreed, towards a thick copse of trees.
“Yeah, I was about to say that.” I rub water from my face and hurry to catch up.
Three disgruntled gods walk silently behind me.
I guess we need to work on our team-building skills.
21
LOKI
Artemis steps into the small cottage and drops her pack on the floor. She rests her bow against the wall and pushes damp hair from her face. Dion steps past her and fumbles around the room until he finds a lamp to light.
An orange glow flickers across the room, illuminating two sofas and a table, with a rug in front of an empty fireplace. Basic. Sparse.
Thor pushes open a door opposite where stairs lead upward. I listen as his footsteps go up, pause, and then thud back down again. “At least we have somewhere to sleep tonight. Three bedrooms up there, two sofas here.”
Triton huffs and sinks onto the sofa. “I’m not sleeping on a sofa. Too small.”
“Can we eat first?” complains Dion. “I’m starving after you led us around in circles, Triton.”
“I told you, I think somebody sabotaged our waypoints.”
“We should’ve been back at the Academy by now,” I grumble. “If I’d known someone was going to trick us, I would’ve counter-attacked them. They’ll be fucking sorry when I find out who did this.”