Page 20 of Art of the Hunt
The two guys whipped around. “Bathroom’s closed, lady,” one of them said.
Artemis thrust her thumb over her left shoulder. “Yeah, that’s what that guy out there said too. So what’s going on here?”
“We’re fixin’ the toilet,” Guy Number Two said.
Artemis gave the stalls a pointed look. The three of them were standing near the sinks, as far away from the toilets as one could get in this small space.
“It’s done,” the other guy said. “We’re just leaving.” He reached for the woman, who shied away from his hand.
“Why doesn’t she want you to touch her?” Artemis asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Mind your own business, lady.”
“Generally speaking, this sort of situation tends to be my business.”
Both guys blinked owlishly.
Artemis stabbed her thumb over her shoulder. “Scary-looking dude keeping watch outside, distressed woman in here, along with two guys acting shady.”
They glanced at each other, like one might be able to explain to the other what Artemis was trying to say.
“This is usually where I swoop in and save the day,” she supplied helpfully.
Guy Number Two finally shook his head. “We don’t need your—”
“Do you want to be here?” she interrupted, speaking to the woman.
The young lady swallowed, her gaze darting from man to man, before she slowly shook her head.
“Bitch,” Dumbass Guy Number One snapped, lifting his hand like he was about to slap the girl.
Artemis’s hand shot out and grabbed his, and she squeezed until she had his undivided attention. “Tell me what is happening in here,” she demanded.
He tried to pull his hand free while blinking away tears. He was making a valiant effort at not expressing his pain in front of his buddy.
“They’re trying to force me to sell pills to the customers in the bar,” the young woman finally blurted. “But I don’t want to.”
Artemis rolled her eyes. “If she doesn’t want to, why are you pushing her to do it?”
The guy who couldn’t wiggle his way out of her grip said, “Because she’s hot. They’ll be more likely to buy from her than from either of us.”
Artemis shook her head and released the guy’s hand. He shook it several times before cradling it against his chest.
These types of situations were why Zeus had decided he was done with saving humanity. Because they just kept doing dumb shit like this to each other.
The thing he couldn’t seem to wrap his head around was, they weren’talllike that. This frightened girl standing behind these two guys wasn’t.
Which meant she was worth saving.
Artemis held out her palm. “Give me the pills.”
The two guys exchanged glances before one of them said, “Fuck no.” And then they faced her as a unit, feet planted, brows low over their eyes, lips curled into sneers.
“Okay, boys, this is how you want to do it?” Artemis asked, summoning her bow. She called out to the woman behind them, “Will you call the police, please? I’ll take care of these two, but I don’t want to do all the paperwork afterward.”
Chapter Seven
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