Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
“What are we even fighting for when so many act like Brady?” I sigh.
My shoulders slump and my vision is blurry around the edges with the emotional exhaustion from dealing with a bunch of college students who act like toddlers and can’t seem to remember we all used to be on the same side, and as far as I’m concerned, we still are.
The only ones not on our side have already left or been named traitors. Period. Innocent until proven guilty.
“Don’t give up, baby. Progress is slow sometimes but with the right motivation it can be made.” Jayden kisses my temple.
“Sometimes I wonder if Nereus wasn’t right to be afraid that they would push me too far and I would throw my hands up and say fuck it. Because the demigods in this school are definitely pushing it.” I shake my head.
Raven raises a brow at me. “We all know you’re not going to do that. You’re just disappointed because we moved one step forward and two steps back.”
“Did we, though?” Dax tilts his head to the side. “Not a single one of my brothers took Brady’s side. They stayed the fuck out of it, not saying a word about his punishment. I call that a win with those opinionated bastards.”
“Dax isn’t wrong. They may be fucking blockheads, but they understand what’s at stake here.
” Raven nods. “They’re going to take Jackson’s cues because they know we’re all in a position of power and for some reason in their teeny little minds it means we don’t count. Like we have to be a certain way.”
“That’s just dumb,” Dax grumbles.
“Yup, but that’s the way they think. We are authority so we have to tell them no bullying even if we don’t want the others here. They’re all idiots.”
“We are the authority but that’s not why I keep getting all over their cases.” I shake my head.
“I think we should call it a day and get some dinner before making preparations for tomorrow.” Jayden squeezes me to his chest.
“We should get in touch with Hades too. I want to find out how Hermes is doing and ask him to keep that line of communication open with Grant,” I say and yawn.
“That’s a good plan. Maybe they have some insights on what’s going on. Human news radio is an okay source but too often humans try to reason away anything that could possibly be supernatural.” Jayden nods.
My stomach growls. “Food first, I guess.”
My appetite is becoming a menace. My stomach is constantly empty or making itself known. It’s a fucking problem. I glare at Jayden when he chuckles and wraps an arm around my middle, tugging me back to the main campus and away from the grunts and groans of training.
They still have at least an hour and I’m not sorry they are working so late. They’ve had it easy. It’s time for them to step up and actually work for it. If they’re exhausted, they can’t be assholes, or so I hope.
We’re all silent through dinner as Raven and I put away twice as much food as anyone else. I grimace thinking about it. I haven’t even used that much magic since we got back from saving Artemis, so why am I so hungry?
“I find it strange that we haven’t heard back from Artemis,” I mumble.
“Her lost love is back from the stars,” Raven says. “I’m not sure I would be visiting an academy for a bunch of asshole demigods either.”
“That’s fair but I hope it’s more because she’s organizing her hunters for war.” I stab a piece of steak on my plate.
“She’s probably doing that too. She’s a goddess who values chastity, don’t forget. It’s not like she will be jumping Orion’s bones anytime soon. If she does, good for her. I think she deserves that after being celibate for millennia.” Raven shudders.
I can’t help but agree with Raven’s assessment. I would not be able to be celibate for eons and never know about the thing that Jayden does with his tongue. My cheeks heat and Jayden winks as he grabs our empty plates.
“Time to call it a day, baby.” He kisses the top of my head.
“Don’t forget we have to call Hades first,” I warn him.
“I haven’t forgotten, love. We have much to discuss with my father.” Jayden dumps our plates.
I follow him to the dorms, my shoulders slumped as I trudge along. We can’t go to bed yet. We still have preparations and to check on Hermes. Jayden sweeps me up into his arms as we make our way into the dorm building.
“I can walk, Jayden.”
“Yeah, I know.” He kisses my forehead but doesn’t stop as he walks up the stairs.
“You’re not going to put me down?” I ask, rolling my eyes.
“Nope.”
“Caveman,” I grumble.
“I had to be away from you far too much today against every instinct to keep you pinned to my side. Don’t fight me on this, please?” Jayden whispers.
“Okay,” I say. “You can carry me up the stairs or you can shadow walk us to my floor to make it faster.”
Jayden’s eyes widen as his shadows wrap around us, darkening the stairwell and transporting us to my floor directly in front of my door. I hold my hand out and press it against the door. It swings open and Jayden rushes inside, depositing me on the bed.
Jayden leans down and devours my lips in a heated kiss, pressing his tongue to my lips to deepen it. I open my mouth to remind him we have things to do before any kind of sexy times can happen, but he takes it as an invitation to deepen the kiss.
“Jayden.” I smack his chest, giggling at him. “We still have things to do.”
“I need to be close to you. My instincts are riding me hard after seeing you be a badass at the training fields.”
I push at his chest. “All I did was boss people around at the training field today. Hardly badass.”
“I almost want you to boss me around like that. It’s fucking hot. If I bullied someone, would you treat me that way?” Jayden whispers.
“No, because you would never bully someone. We need to talk to Hades, my love. We can explore your submissive side after our chat.” I lean up and kiss his lips.
“Fine, but we’re snuggling up on the couch for this chat.” He scoops me up in his arms and settles on the couch with me in his lap.
I grab my bag from the table and pull out the communication shell. “Hades, God of the Underworld.”
The mist clears and Hades’ smile widens as he sees who’s calling him. “Children, so good to see you.”
“Lord Hades,” I say, bowing my head slightly.
“None of that,” Hades chuckles. “You’re our savior, young one. You don’t have to bow to me. Plus, you’re with my son. You’re family.”
“Thank you, Hades,” I say, cheeks heating.
I attempt to wiggle off Jayden’s lap but his arm is banded around my middle in a grip like steel. He’s not letting me go anytime soon so I slump back into his hard chest. Hades chuckles at my obvious embarrassment.
“You two are so refreshing together,” Hades says with a sigh. “But I’m guessing this isn’t a social call.”
“No, it’s not.” Jayden shakes his head.
“Thank you for getting the message to Greyson about the rogues from his brother. We were hoping we could keep that line of communication open.”
“Of course. I believe Orpheus communicated to the alpha that he could contact you through that line of communication anytime he had a need to communicate with you at the academy.” Hades nods.
“Good, we have reason to believe that the rogues are connected to us. One of the wolves in Arizona was infected with ichor and is in the wind.”
“That does present a problem. I do not believe that will be your battle to face, though. Things are changing in the realms, but I think your trials are almost complete, though others will have to step up to claim their place in this new world.”
“I don’t like this. It’s because of us that the shifter world is having this issue. We should help fix it.” I slump against Jayden.
“How about you focus on one war at a time.” Hades chuckles.
“I’ve been telling her that,” Jayden says.
I shoot him a glare over my shoulder. Jayden shrugs and squeezes me tighter. He’s not wrong. I just don’t feel right about leaving a mess we inadvertently caused to someone else.
“We also wanted to check on Hermes. We hope to leave tomorrow to go find his caduceus,” I say.
“Hermes is struggling. I think this may be harder for him than any of us so far. He hears the prayers of the travelers who have been lost. It’s taking a toll on him.” Hades glances over his shoulder and waves over someone I can’t see.
Hermes steps into view and a gasp explodes out of me. He has dark circles around his eyes and his face is gaunt like a human who hasn’t eaten in a while. What is going on? He shouldn’t have physical reactions to this. None of the others did.
“Hermes, what? How?” I splutter.
“I don’t know. I think I’m ceasing to be because I can’t fulfill my roles in the world.” Hermes sighs.
No, we can’t let that happen. Hermes has been one of our greatest allies from the beginning. We need him.
“We’ll fix this. Once you have your caduceus back, everything will fix itself,” I swear.
“There are so many lost travelers the standing stones aren’t powerful enough to put them back on course. They haven’t been powered up by sacrifices or prayers in millennia. I don’t know what to do. They’re crying out to be saved all the time and I can’t take much more.”
“There was an incident with Adrian or we would already be on our way to stop this. Hold on for as long as you can, please.” Tears well behind my eyes.
“I’ll try, but remember what I told you. There is a high probability, especially now that it’s escalated, that you will get lost somewhere. It will be difficult to come back from. Be on your guard,” Hermes warns.
“We will be on our guard.” I nod.
“Take care of your girl, Jayden,” Hermes says. “We’re not the only ones who need her. The world needs her most of all.”
Hermes backs away from Hades and out of view before I can say anything else. This revelation makes the tick of the clock in my head more ominous than before. I hate seeing him suffer when he’s been so kind to me in the past.
If I surrender to Hera, will it save him and everyone else?
I glance at Jayden but what I see when he glares at me burns in my blood.
Determination. He already knows where my mind has spiraled.
Determination. His body language says it all, the way he wraps himself around me and the corded muscles of his arms flexing as he pins me to his chest.
“Thank you for the call, Dad, but I need to have a chat with my mate on why sacrificing herself to Hera is a bad idea,” Jayden says, growling.
“What?” Hades gasps. “What are you talking about, son?”
“The queen wants Beth to surrender herself for execution or she will destroy the caduceus. After seeing the effect this is having on the messenger god, she’s second-guessing her decision not to do that.”
Hades frowns as he stares at me in abject horror. Was that the part he was confused about or the part where Jayden called me mate? Jayden clearly thinks it’s the former.
“You must not give in to the queen’s demands.
The reason she even expressed the demand shows how scared she is of losing this war,” Hades says.
“If she thought she had a shot of winning and crushing you, she wouldn’t give you an out to stop this.
What she did was to save face with Zeus once she inevitably loses again. ”
“But Hermes. What if we don’t make it in time?” I shake my head. I can’t be the reason why Hermes ceases to exist or the queen wins this war.
“Dad, we need to go. Thank you for your confidence but Beth won’t listen to reason when it comes to protecting her friends.” Jayden waves a hand and the mist clears.
“That was rude, Jayden,” I say.
Jayden grips my ass and stands from the couch as soon as his father is gone. His anger is obvious in the glare he shoots me.
“To my dad or my mate who wants to leave me?” he growls.
“You were rude to your dad when you cleared the mist, and seriously, if me dying can save everyone from pain and death, shouldn’t I do that?” I whisper.
“No. You shouldn’t do that because my dad is right. The queen would never offer such a thing if she thought she could beat you. She’s playing to your humanity. She has none. Don’t do it.” He grips my ass tighter.
“What happens when people die, Jayden? What happens if our friends get hurt or die and I could have done something to stop it?” I bury my face in the crook of his neck as I finally allow the hot tears to fall.
“You can’t, though. She’s trying to take you out of the equation so she will win the war.” Jayden kisses my forehead. “Do you realize how badly the academy will fall apart without you? We will lose when she goes against her deal with you.”
I glance up and tears form in his eyes. As the first tear falls, he turns his head away from me so I can’t see the pain in his eyes.
“Don’t hide from me,” I choke out.
“I’m not hiding from you, my love. I just can’t bear to see you cry like this. I hate seeing you with this insurmountable weight on your shoulders. You take the responsibility of all our lives on yourself and it’s not your responsibility to save us from everything.”
“Isn’t it, though? From the beginning it’s been my responsibility to stop what’s happening. Nereus made it perfectly clear that this is my fate and no one else’s.”
“We will get through this and come out stronger on the other side.” Jayden stands, lifting me cradled in his arms. “Let me take care of you.”
I lay my head on his shoulder, breathing in the scent of pine and ozone that is Jayden. His arms tighten around me as he sits back on the bed, refusing to let me go. Soft warm lips press to my forehead and a burning tear streaks his cheek.
“I can’t do this without you, love. Don’t you see how it will destroy us all if you give in to the queen’s demands?”
“The weight is so heavy, Jayden, and it’s simply my burden to bear. It’s my failure if we lose anyone. Hermes thinks he’s literally being erased. What happens to the world if he’s gone?”
“We’re not going to let that happen, love. We will do what we always do. We will fight, together. Always and forever.” Jayden presses his lips to my head again.
Jayden’s hands tighten on my waist as he finds the hem of my shirt and inches his hands up under the thin material. The skin-to-skin contact sends an electric thrill through my nerve endings and my back arches as he moves them higher.
“Jayden,” I whimper.
“Shhh, I’ve got you, love.” He slowly pulls my shirt over my head and tosses it to the floor.
Jayden presses his lips to my shoulder and trails up my neck. Nothing is settled and the weight is more crushing than ever, but in this moment, I just want oblivion with my mate and to forget the impending doom.