Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
“We don’t have a route,” Greyson says as we race through the forest.
“We don’t but we know a general direction,” I say. “It’s as good as we’re gonna get.”
“Isn’t that especially dangerous given the circumstances?” Raven dodges a pine cone that hurtles toward her head. “Damn dryads.”
“It is dangerous but we don’t have a choice. Hermes thinks he’s being erased because he can’t fulfill his roles.” I jump over a creeping vine.
Damn dryads is right. I’m not a part of their hatred and I keep getting hit in the crossfire. It’s annoying.
“He’s being erased?” Greyson asks with a furrowed brow.
“Exactly. Think of the consequences for the Earth if that happens,” I say.
“Ares already told us the consequences,” Jayden says. “Full scale nuclear war the likes of which no one has ever seen.”
“We can’t let that happen,” Kira whispers.
“We’re not letting that happen. That’s the reason for the urgency and lack of preparation. It’s ill-advised given the current climate, but we’re running out of time to save everything.”
We break through the tree line into the training fields with sighs of relief. Well, at least from me and Raven. Not being in the forest means we’re no longer under attack.
“Story of our lives,” Raven grumbles. “We’re always running out of time.”
I scan the training fields and so far, I’m not seeing any more problems. People are training in hand-to-hand combat and no weapons are being pulled. That’s always a good sign.
I nod to Sara and Jackson as we pass them on our way to the academic building. The building looms ahead and I take a deep breath as Jayden yanks open the door for me. I flash him a grateful smile as I pass him. So thoughtful.
“Adrian should be easy to find. He’s probably arguing with the healers about leaving,” I say with a chuckle.
“As a new healer, he probably thinks he’s fine and wants to leave.” Raven nods.
“He’s going to get his wish. That’s for sure. We need him on this journey because he has to tell us not to make stupid choices that will get us killed,” Jayden says.
He opens the door to the healers’ office and instantly, Adrian’s angry voice can be heard through the room.
“You can’t keep me here. I am fine. I had a really intense vision that left me disoriented. I have to help my friends on their mission. There will be dire consequences if I’m not there with them.”
“When they come to get you, we’ll release you. You shouldn’t be alone after the episode you had yesterday,” the healer says.
I glance at my friends and step into the room with them. “Hey, buddy, how are you?”
“I’m fine but the healers won’t let me leave.” He crosses his arms, glaring at the healer.
“He just said that when we got here you were free to go. We need to get moving. Things are more dire than I ever thought.” I shake my head.
“I know.” He sighs. “I’ve seen it all.”
“I’m sorry. I know this took a lot out of you, but we need you.” I sit next to him on the cot.
“Yes, you do. It’s so much bigger than this. There are forces at work. Fate has been meddling and the world is changing but it can’t change without war. For every race there will be a champion and you’re ours,” Adrian says.
“The fuck does that mean?” Jayden steps forward.
“I told you I thought we were changing. That’s why my visions have gotten stronger and even more intense than ever before. Everything that’s happened was carefully plotted and planned by my father and the fates. I think Nereus was in on it too.”
“They set us up?” I ask. “For what purpose?”
“To usher in a new reality for demigods and humans.” Adrian shakes his head. “The fates have watched over demigods for millennia and saw their cruelty. They watched the newer races of supernaturals and realized there was something they had that shaped them differently than us. Mates.”
“This is absolute insanity. They have been playing us the whole time so they can right their wrong? They are the literal fates. Couldn’t they just entwine some threads together and call it a day instead of orchestrating this absolute madness?” I throw my hands up.
“There’s nothing we can do about it now, love. Whatever motives they had are theirs we just have to endure.” Jayden squeezes my shoulder.
“I’m so tired of being forced to endure based on someone else’s whims.” I lean into Jayden’s side.
“We’re almost to the end. We must see it through,” Adrian says, cryptic as always.
Taking a deep breath, I nod and stand up. “Let’s do this. We don’t have time for the meltdown I am clearly about to have if we talk about this one more second.”
The healer hands me the medical bag we always take. It has everything we need for the trip. I glance inside and find what I’m looking for, pulling it out and raising a brow at the healer.
“Just in case he has another episode and you don’t want to stick your fingers in his mouth,” the healer says with a twinkle in his eyes.
“I was going to request one, thank you.” I drop it back in the bag.
Jayden grabs the bag from my hand and swings it over his shoulder. I glance over at Kira with a raised brow. She’s not looking at me. She’s frowning, searching for Draven.
“Where’s Draven?” she asks Adrian.
“He was going to the cafeteria to pick us up some breakfast maybe a half hour ago.” Adrian stands but sways slightly.
Jayden catches him before he topples over. He won’t be fighting anytime soon. Let’s just hope we have a couple of days’ travel before we have any real battles to face as a group.
“Thad,” Jayden calls. “Help me get him out of here.”
“Sure thing.” Thad walks over and loops Adrian’s arm around his neck and they practically carry the dizzy man from the healers’ office.
“I don’t like this,” I say. “He’s not in great shape. Maybe he should stay behind.”
“You heard what he told the healer, B. There will be dire consequences if he doesn’t go.” Raven shakes her head.
“What if something happens and he’s not at his best. He could get himself killed. I don’t want anyone’s death on my conscience, especially not one of my closest friends.”
“We’ll keep him out of the fighting unless absolutely necessary.” Raven squeezes my arm.
We push open the doors to the academic building, letting the warm sun beat down on us. I don’t think I’ll ever appreciate the warmth of the sun the way I did before Artemis was taken. Draven walks up from the cafeteria to us with several bags in his hands and a raised brow.
“You shouldn’t be out of bed, bro.” Draven eyes Adrian like he’s about to fall over.
“We need to leave sooner rather than later,” I say. “Adrian has to come with us.”
“Okay, I’m ready. Do we have a plan?” Draven glances around the group.
“Nope,” I say, popping the P at the end.
“Do we have a route?” he asks.
“That would be a negative.”
“What do we have?”
“We have a direction and destination, very little knowledge of what we are facing, and the possibility of getting lost in an alternate universe.” I shrug.
“Meh,” Raven says. “We’ve beaten worse odds.”
“Right, we have. We’ve got this.” I nod, clapping her on the back.
“You guys are very strange.” Draven glances between me and Raven.
“When you’ve been through what we have in the last several months, then you learn to adapt and cope. If you don’t you go running away screaming like your hair is on fire,” I say.
“That’s still a very viable option,” Raven points out.
“Maybe another time. Hermes is ceasing to exist and if we don’t get moving, the world is ending,” I say. “But let’s table that idea for now.”
“Best keep all your options open.” She points to me with a grin.
“No one else thinks this is weird?” Draven asks, waving in our general direction.
“You get used to it.” Jayden shrugs. “The blasé attitude about danger is an act they put on to cope with everything. It’s much better than the alternative.”
Jayden shoots me a pointed glare. It’s obvious he’s thinking about the queen’s deal. But like I told Raven, it’s best to keep all the options open. It just may come to that. They will forgive me one day if that’s the case.
“All right, enough talking trash about our sparkling personalities. Let’s go.”
We head to the academy parking lot, my hands shaking with nerves for the journey ahead. We put on brave fronts but inside I’m a mess. How long before we run into our first hurdle? We may not make it out of California before a monster or giant attacks.
We can’t let Adrian get out of the SUV should we get attacked. I can’t let his death be on my conscience. I’ll never survive that.
We get to the SUV and Jayden opens the door for me, placing my bags on the floorboard.
I roll my shoulders back and straighten my spine as I hop in the front passenger seat.
There’s no fanfare or anyone coming to see us off.
Chiron is overseeing the training along with Sara and Jackson, so we hit the road quickly.
“What can you tell us about your vision, Adrian?” I ask, turning in my seat.
“I’ve already told you everything I’m able to tell you. The world is changing, ushering in a new dawn, and the fates are behind it all.” Adrian stares out the window.
“They knew,” I whisper.
“What?” Jayden asks.
“Remember when you were getting the shit beat out of you by one of the fates at the gas station on the mission to save Artemis?” I ask.
“Very, very clearly.” He shudders. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“We were watching from inside the store and a second fate showed up and asked me and Raven if we were just going to let Aggie beat the shit out of our mates.” I glance over at Raven.
“Oh yeah, I remember that. We were both confused because we didn’t think we had mates.”
“Why were you getting the shit beat out of you by one of the fates?” Dax asks.
“She hates us,” Greyson mumbles.
“She doesn’t like me either.” Draven rubs the back of his head.
I burst into a fit of giggles. I can’t help it. I think the only ones she hasn’t beat up are me, Raven, and Adrian. Raven joins me in my laughter.