“Traitor,” I yell. “I used the elixir, I’m fine. Can we please focus on the task at hand?”
“Hades, you’re going to kill me, love. What’s the task at hand?” Jayden hangs his head.
“We’re sending some big fucking reinforcements. They are golden automatons created by Hephaestus. They will only listen to you. When they show up, tell them who you are and you need to be specific in your orders so they don’t mistake our people for the enemy and slaughter them. When the battle starts, I would just order them to only kill monsters.”
“How did you get them to stop attacking you?” Jayden asks, dread clear in his tone.
“That’s why I’m depleted. I fried them all with lightning and Kira reprogrammed them.” I shrug.
Jayden squeezes his eyes shut and stares at the ceiling for a beat, blowing out a breath. “Hades, Beth. What are you doing to my nerves?”
“Sorry? We needed to end the fight, and I had been stabbed. It was a split-second decision.”
“Okay, have you sent them my way yet?” he asks.
“We are doing that now. They should hopefully be there around the same time as Tristan in the morning. They’re coming from north of Flagstaff.”
“Okay, I’ll let the Apollo students know. They are standing sentry just inside the wards out of sight, watching for the queen’s attack.”
“Perfect. I have to go. We found an issue that made this a bit more of a time crunch than we expected,” I say. “Love you.”
“Love you too and please for the love of the gods, try not to die. I need you to come back to me, baby.” Jayden sighs.
“I’m not planning on dying anytime soon, Jayden. I promise. Talk soon.” I wave a hand and the mist clears, but my chest constricts.
I take a cleansing breath, holding back the tears that want to fall, and turn to my friends. “We need to move.”
“Please,” the Kourai woman says. “Take some food with you and these.”
She hands me and Kira each a small charm. “What’s this?”
“As I said, we are skilled in many things. These charms will allow you to call us for assistance in a time of great need.” She bows her head.
“Thank you,” I say, bowing to her as well. “We appreciate the kindness.”
My stomach growls and the women step back, startled, staring at my stomach in horror. “What was that?”
“My stomach. I’m depleted and it gets snarly. The food will help. Thank you again.” I wave at them and turn back to the SUV.
“That was some poetic timing.” Raven chuckles.
“I’m just glad it didn’t do that while Jayden was present.” I yank open the back door to the SUV.
Raven hands me a crude wooden bowl with cured meats and cheeses in it and my stomach rumbles again. I glance at the bowl, then my hands and grimace.
“I need to wash the blood off me before we leave.” I set the bowl on the seat and round the vehicle.
I open the gallon jug of water we keep for washing blood off us and dump it over my head. It will have to do so my friends don’t get infected further. Especially Greyson as we don’t know what kind of damage it may cause a shifter who’s been dosed twice.
Once the blood is gone, I hop into the vehicle and pop a piece of cured meat into my mouth.
“If we drive through southern Utah, we can get to Grand Junction in a few hours,” Raven says, staring at the map.
“Let’s do it, as quick as possible. You heard the Kourai. The cars could start failing if we don’t hurry. We may lose our only option to get the hammer and get back for the final battle.”
“Agreed. But Jayden made you promise to stop in Grand Junction for the night.” Raven glares over her shoulder at me.
“I know and we will stay the night. I just want to get there as fast as possible. Especially since we have to stop for the night.” I pop a chunk of cheese in my mouth.
