Chapter 6
Chapter Six
“Where’s Greyson?” I ask Raven nervously.
“At his cabin in the faculty only area of campus, why… What the fuck is that on your neck?” Raven shrieks.
Forgetting her own strength, she yanks me into her so hard that I stumble. Raven turns my head forcefully and stares down at the mark Jayden gave me.
“That’s why I need to talk to Greyson,” I whisper, not wanting anyone else to hear the conversation.
“What’s going on, B?” Raven asks.
“Jayden and me. I think we mated last night. We definitely left marks on each other.” I glance away.
“You’re not shifters, though,” Raven says. “How did that happen?”
“I don’t know. We just had this sudden urge to bite each other. I kind of wanted to find out what Greyson knows about fated mates. And whether they can hear each other in their heads.” I glance away.
“No way, you really did become mates. How is this possible? Gods don’t have fated mates,” Raven gasps.
“You do,” I say with a raised brow.
“Well, yeah, but my mate is an actual shifter, not another demigod. He’s pretty and told me I was his mate so I just went with it.” She giggles.
“That’s a lie and we both know it.” I shake my head.
“In all seriousness. I’m happy for you guys. Our lives are too stressful all the time. I’m glad you fully have each other now. No one can deny what’s between you now or ever.”
“I really love the thought of that,” I say with a nod. “I just wish I knew whether this is a because I’m a freak thing or if it’s normal to have someone else’s voice in your head once mated.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s a mate thing. Greyson has made comments about he can’t wait until we’re mated and he can hear me always. It’s a protection thing.” Raven shrugs.
“Okay then, that makes sense. Let’s get to the war room so we can make plans for this mission. Hopefully Kira has the radio working.” I turn to the rest of the academy on the training field all going through their paces.
“They are actually listening and taking this seriously,” Raven comments. “The threat of being kicked out I think was the clencher. No one wants to put their human families at risk.”
“I can see that. If my mom was still around, I would be the same way.” I turn and take off into the forest.
Raven jogs to keep up with me, dodging branches as phantom giggles meet my ears. They are at least keeping Raven on her toes. Raven growls under her breath as she ducks another tree branch.
“Fucking dryads,” Raven snarls.
“They only do it because it bothers you so much and, well, you are kind of mean to them.” I laugh.
“They are so temperamental. They have been assholes.” Raven throws her hands up and then deftly ducks another branch.
We finally make it to the armory and walk inside to the war room where everyone is already waiting for us. Kira bounces over and hands me a small handheld radio.
“Pour your magic and intentions into it,” she chirps.
I take the box from her and call my power to me, telling it I need a magical radio that gives me national news broadcasts without technology. The radio crackles to life and a woman’s voice sounds.
“Another family went missing two nights ago while on a road trip to the beach. The police are looking into the disappearance but what’s strange is their vehicle’s GPS has reportedly malfunctioned.”
“How did it malfunction?” her co-anchor asks.
“The GPS has not recorded anything since the last known location. Police thought they would be able to find them easily with that information, but there’s no sign of the vehicle or that anyone had been there.”
“So, what? The car just vanished into thin air with the family inside?” the man asks.
“That’s impossible, right?” she asks. “But then again, I thought it was impossible for the moon to just vanish from the sky, so I don’t know what to think. There are a bunch of similar disappearances all over the world, though.”
“I don’t think anything is impossible anymore. I just wish I knew what was happening so I can prepare for the worst if I need to.”
I set the radio in the middle of the table. “This is perfect, Kira. Thank you for getting it done quickly. This will help to know how far into the deep end we’ve sunk.”
Dax pulls Kira down into his lap and kisses her temple. Draven rests his hand on her thigh. I smile at how cute they all are together. Jayden’s solid chest presses against my back.
“Morning, baby.” He kisses my neck where his mark is and it tingles down my spine.
“Morning,” I groan, leaning back.
“C’mon, I saved you a seat.” Jayden tugs me over to the table and sits before pulling me down in his lap.
“This isn’t exactly saving me a seat.” I roll my eyes.
“Sure it is. That’s always your seat as far as I’m concerned.”
“Are you getting even more possessive? That could be a problem.” I tilt my head to the side.
His usually bright-blue eyes have black swirling in them and it reminds me of the few times he’s nearly lost control of his shadows.
“Hey, are you okay? You look like you’re about to lose it.” I turn his face to look at me.
“I was having trouble being away from you this morning. I woke up early and didn’t want to look like a creepy weirdo watching you sleep. I don’t know what’s happening to me.” He shakes his head and tightens his arms around me. “This is better.”
Greyson walks in the door and a grin immediately spreads across his face. “How the hell did this happen?”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, blushing.
“You two have a completed mate bond.” Greyson sits in the seat next to Raven.
“How do you know that?” I ask.
Of course Greyson would just blurt it out in front of everyone. Raven elbows him in the gut. I nod to her in thanks. She understands privacy better than most.
“So, um, this is going to sound weird to you but since leaving my pack behind, my wolf kind of sees you guys as pack and can tell the difference between the two of you. My question is how the fuck did you leave bite marks on each other when you’re not wolves?”
“Seriously, Greyson?” Raven scoffs. “You just gonna keep blurting out the elephant in the room?”
Dax coughs and his face pinkens as everyone else glances around the room at anyone but us.
“Can we focus on the task at hand, please?” I bury my face in Jayden’s shoulder.
“So, people are going missing, their vehicles literally just disappearing into thin air. That sounds like what Hermes warned us about other realms, right?” Raven asks, taking pity on me.
I shoot her a grateful smile. “Yeah, it sounds exactly like what he warned us about. The question is, how do we stop this same thing from happening to us when we go after the caduceus?”
“I don’t think we can stop it.” Adrian sits forward. “From what the people on the radio said, it sounds like it’s almost instant. Like they are there one second and vanish the next.”
“Well, if we think it’s inevitable, then maybe we plan for it and see if there’s a way to bring back the travelers that have already disappeared?” I ask.
“Do we have time for that? Who’s to say they won’t just get lost again?” Jayden asks.
“So you’re saying if we end up in the same place as the other humans, we shouldn’t try to bring them back?”
“I’m just saying that maybe we should focus on getting Hermes’ item of power back first and then let him deal with the lost humans.
He’s the god of travelers. He may already know where they all are and just can’t get to them because he’s weak without the caduceus. ” Jayden tightens his arms around me.
“I don’t like it,” I grumble.
“We probably won’t end up in a position to help the humans anyway.” Draven shrugs.
I raise a brow at him. “I know you’re relatively new here, but you remember all the times when we went to get the shield where we ended up exactly where we were needed? That’s pretty much the standard with these missions.”
“Yup, so if people are in trouble, we somehow end up wherever they are to help. It’s pretty inconvenient.” Raven nods.
“So, if we end up in a position to help, we do, but we don’t go out of our way to find them because Hermes will fix it once he has his power back?” I ask the group.
“I think that’s for the best.” Jayden nods against my shoulder.
“Agreed,” Raven says.
“Okay, so what do we know about Hermes from myth?” I ask.
“He had a lot of kids. I guess that hasn’t changed much.” Draven chuckles.
“Like father like son,” I grumble.
“There is an eerie lack of actual monsters in the myths about him. The most he ever did to smite someone was to turn them into a tortoise,” Adrian says.
“Why a tortoise? That seems oddly specific.” I lean forward.
“She was a nymph he invited to the wedding between Zeus and Hera but she snubbed the invitation. When she was asked why, she basically said she would rather stay home. So Zeus decreed that she would carry her home with her wherever she goes and Hermes transformed her into a tortoise.”
“Okay, that one is actually kind of funny.” I giggle. “She never had another good excuse for declining an invitation like that.”
“At least he didn’t turn her into something evil with big beastly claws,” Kira whispers. “That never made sense to me. A mortal offends the gods so they turn them into a monster. Seems like they gave them all the tools they needed to go on a rampage.”
“It is kind of backward, but I think it was more about making them grotesque. The punishment was loneliness and eventually death in a horrific way.” Raven taps on her armrest.
“Here’s something, but I don’t know if we’ll face it since we have defeated her once already.” Adrian flips the book around so I can see it.
“How many people had a hand in that damn story?” I say sighing..
“Hermes was more indirectly involved. He gave Perseus the tools he needed to defeat Medusa. He didn’t actually have direct involvement with the gorgon.” Adrian taps a picture of Hermes in the background.
“So she’s a possible threat.” I sigh. “That’s just great. I doubt she’ll fall for our tricks twice.”
“Yeah, I’m guessing if the queen goes there, she won’t be easy to beat a second time.” Raven nods.