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 ofit, 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.
