Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
“Wait.” I smack my forehead. “How are we getting to Arcadia from Georgia? Our SUV is stuck useless in the fae realm.”
“I’ve taken care of it,” Hades says. “Now go before the portal closes.”
I nod my thanks to Hades as Raven and I step through the portal arm in arm. The men fall in step behind us. A brand-new shiny black SUV sits on the street in the middle of the farmland.
“I can’t believe how close he got us. It’s going to take a week off our mission.” I lean against the SUV while we wait for the others.
“Yeah, can you even imagine getting to Arcadia and not being completely exhausted from a weeklong mission?” Raven asks.
“I guess we’re going to find out.” I grin.
“Getting stuck in the fae realm may have been a blessing after all. Even if they are a bunch of assholes.”
“They are definitely assholes and if they didn’t have ichor running through their veins, I’d teach them a lesson with the pointy end of my sword,” Raven grumbles.
“Who are we stabbing, babe?” Greyson asks.
“No one. We were talking about how lucky we are and it somewhat devolved to violence.” I shrug.
“Doesn’t it always with the two of you?” Jayden teases.
“No,” we say in unison, then burst into a fit of giggles.
It’s fun, light, and it’s absolutely needed. Jayden raises a skeptical brow as Greyson scoffs.
“I don’t think they even hear their own words half the time.” Greyson shakes his head.
“Whatever.” Raven sticks her tongue out at him.
Greyson lunges for her and grabs her hips, pulling her into his chest. He whispers something too low for me to hear and Raven’s cheeks turn pink.
“Raven, are you blushing?” I gasp. “Is the sky falling?”
“Shut up,” Raven growls.
“I’ve never seen you blush before. It must have been good to turn my warrior friend pink like that.” I giggle.
Greyson opens his mouth to say something, but Raven clamps her hand over it to keep him quiet. “Do not repeat that out loud, babe.”
“Yes, babe.” His words come out muffled due to her hand.
There’s a twinkle of mischief in his eyes as he throws Raven over his shoulder and rounds the SUV.
“Should we remind him there are windows and we can still see everything?” I ask.
“I’m sure he’s well aware of it,” Jayden says. “It’s not him that’s uncomfortable with PDA.”
Jayden wraps his arm around my waist, pulling my back against his chest. His lips meet my neck where he marked me in a featherlight touch and a shudder runs through me.
Not fair, I say into our mind link.
When have I ever played fair, baby?
You’re not wrong on that one, I guess, I tease him.
Jayden nips my neck playfully, but it has the opposite effect and tingles erupt over my skin.
“They’re doing it again,” Kira says with a laugh.
“What?” I step out of the circle of Jayden’s arms.
“Your weird mind voodoo thing,” she says.
“Whatever. Just wait until it’s your turn to have the weird mind voodoo thing.”
“Where are Raven and Greyson?” Dax asks.
“Making out on the other side of the SUV,” I say and laugh when Dax grimaces.
“Sorry I asked.”
“Yeah, that was an oversight on your part. You probably shouldn’t ask where your sister and her mate disappear to.” I roll my eyes.
“Yeah, because I get images in my head that I can never unsee. Anyone have brain bleach?”
“All right, let’s get on the road. See how fast we can get to Southern Florida.” I pull open the passenger door.
Jayden glares at the door like it has personally offended him. “That’s my job.”
“You can close it if it’s that big of a deal.” I kiss his cheek before hopping in the seat.
“That’s already my job too.” He presses his lips to mine in a too short kiss.
He’s being all adorable and mushy and I love it a little too much. I glance over my shoulder as Raven opens the door. Her hair is mussed and lips are swollen. I can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of me.
“Might want to fix your hair, bestie,” I say.
Raven flips me the bird but does as I suggest and smooths her hair down at the same time Dax opens the other door. He gags but Kira pushes him to get him moving and glares at his back.
“I’m going to let all my brothers give you shit all the time if you don’t stop being an asshole,” Kira says.
“It’s my sister. I don’t want to see her like that,” Dax grumbles.
“My brothers don’t particularly like seeing me like that either and I shut down their bullshit every time. Stop being a dick.” She shoves him again. “And I swear to the gods if you make a crack about your dick right now…”
“I wasn’t going to make a crack about my dick,” he mumbles. “My sister is in the car.”
“Thank the gods for small mercies,” Raven says.
“All right, let’s get out of here.” I point to the paved road.
“I’ve never been so glad to see a paved road,” Jayden says.
I nod thoughtfully. “Me too. It’s the little things about home you don’t miss until they’re gone or you get dropped into an archaic realm.”
“At least we’re back,” Raven says, leaning between the seats. “And we are hours from our destination instead of days. This is really good.”
“Yeah, but we all know what to expect at this point. The unexpected. Always.” I glance up at the sky.
There have been too many times we’ve been snuck up on from the sky. Death from above is a legit fear in my mind anytime we leave the academy. At this point, trusting anything with wings is going to be a no from me.
“What are you looking for?” Jayden asks.
“Demon pigeons, Phoenix, dragons, who fucking knows. There’s always something weird dropping from the sky. It mocks me.”
“It’s also technically your domain,” Jayden says.
“That’s why it’s so mocking,” I huff.
“That would piss me off too.” Raven pats my shoulder.
“Do you think we’ll encounter them before we get to Arcadia?” Kira asks.
“Anything is possible. Anything.” I glance over my shoulder at her.
“Sorry, my dad is apparently a bit maniacal when it comes to his inventions, and then he just releases some of them into the world.” Kira shrugs.
“All of us have parents who are unhinged,” I say. “It’s not your fault.”
“I honestly think that Hades and Persephone may be the most normal out of all of them.” Dax laughs.
“You’re not wrong,” Raven says.
“He’s done plenty of fucked-up shit in the past,” Jayden says. “He just kind of outgrew it, I guess?”
“Yeah, I think Persephone probably had something to do with that.” I glance at him and then back to the sky.
“Are you just going to watch the sky the whole time?” Raven asks.
“Those bastards came out of nowhere last time. I don’t want them sneaking up on us.”
“They did. Maybe we should rethink the dragon realm. That means bigger things that fly and shoot fire from their huge jaws.” Raven slumps back in her seat.
“They’re dragon shifters so maybe they won’t be psycho like the demon pigeons.” I stare up at the sky with a single-minded focus.
I had been watching the damn Phoenix for days and still it caught me off guard when it attacked us. So, maybe it won’t matter if I actually see it coming or not. Still, I can’t take my gaze from the sky.
“What in Hades is that?” Thad lunges forward between the seats.
I tear my gaze away from the sky to glance at what Thad is pointing at and gasp. “That, my friend, is our first giant.”
Jayden slows down the vehicle. We are still surrounded my farmland so the giant would be visible to any humans passing through.
“Do you think it’s dangerous?” Kira asks.
“We come across very few creatures on these missions that aren’t dangerous,” I say.
“Orion wasn’t dangerous and he’s a giant. Maybe there’s a reason this giant is out here.” She shrugs.
“Something that happens on these missions is the queen brings back beings who have a grudge against the god we are fighting for. Hermes had quite a few run-ins with giants in ancient history. I’m assuming this ugly bastard is one of them.” I frown.
“Look how many eyes he has. I’ll bet money that’s Argos, the queen’s jailer,” Draven says.
“That’s just great,” I grumble.
He does have eyes like everywhere. That’s going to be a huge problem if we have to fight him. He will be able to see us all from every angle.
“How do you fight something with that many eyes?” I ask.
Raven leans forward. “There are more of us than him. Maybe we just distract him?”
Greyson squints at the giant. “Why is there a cow at his feet?”
“You remember when we defeated Medusa and her own myth of her death played out?” I ask. “Well, Argus was the queen’s jailer for Io who Zeus was supposedly in love with. He turned her into a cow to hide her from the queen. The queen demanded Zeus give her the cow and she had Argus guard her.”
“Your history is more whack than shifters,” Greyson says.
“You have no idea.” I clench my fists in my lap.
“So what does this have to do with Hermes?”
“Hermes was asked by Zeus, as the god of thieves, to steal Io back from Hera but because of all the eyes, he couldn’t sneak up on him to steal her.”
“Someone snitched on him,” Raven says.
“Snitches get stitches.” I nod.
“If I remember correctly, this particular snitch got more than stitches,” Raven says with a giggle.
“Seriously, why did you set them off?” Jayden glares at Greyson through the rearview mirror.
“How was I supposed to know that was going to set them off?” Greyson asks, incredulous.
I cackle loudly. “Okay, well, anyway. Hermes couldn’t sneak up on him so he had to stone him and kill him.”
“He was stoned.” Raven giggles quietly and sets me off all over again.
“You two really are children, aren’t you?” Dax asks.
A loud smack rings out from the back of the SUV and Dax grunts in pain.
“I think they are hilarious.” Kira giggles.
“Figures, you, darling, are just as unhinged as they are,” Draven says.
“That’s the best kind of compliment.” I turn to Draven with a grin. “I like being unhinged. It’s way more fun than being normal.”
“Can we focus on the giant, please?” Jayden grips the wheel tighter. “He looks like he’s waiting for something.”