Page 20 of Wild Hunt
"Did you hear that?" Hades called, loud enough to get the crowd's attention. "Kore thinks she saw a hellhound in the maze," he said, his voice quivering with laughter. Loki covered his mouth beside him and doubled over as the crowd lost it.
My cheeks burned with humiliation and rage. "I'm telling you the truth. I know what I saw."
Dionysus looked mortified on my behalf, which just made it all the worse. I turned back to Artemis, desperate. "I swear, I'm not making it up!"
She gave me a wary look. "Kore, no one has seen a hellhound in thousands of years. They were banished to the Aether along with Ares."
I grimaced at the mention of the man I'd only recently learned to be my father. That name just kept fucking me over. My head was spinning, and the laughter was making it worse. The adrenaline that had rushed through my veins when I thought was going to be ripped apart by some monster that apparently didn't even exist anymore was still coursing.
"Here's an alternate theory," said Hades, casually sauntering over to me. "Little Kore knew she was going to lose and couldn’t handle it, so she made up a scary story."
"What a loser," one girl muttered.
Another boy snorted. "She really is crazy. Guess she couldn’t take being the Rabbit for this long.”
Before I could tell them off, Artemis blew her whistle again. "Enough! It's time to announce the winners," she said, giving me a stern look that screamed "not another word out of you." She walked over to the others, leaving me in dismay. "First place goes to Ingrid," she announced, immediately followed by the cheers of the Valkyries and their fans. "Dionysus placed second, but as I'm sure you all know, first is the only place that matters in the Games."
On that inspiring note, she announced that there would be a recess before the final round of the preliminaries. I gave Hades a filthy look before going over to join my teammates. Even facing them was hard after the scene I’d just inadvertently caused.
"Congratulations," I said, giving Dionysus a tired smile. Second place is amazing."
"You heard Artemis, first is the only one that matters," he said with a heavy sigh.
"That's bullshit," I muttered once I was sure she was out of earshot.
"Are you all right?" he asked, his gaze softening in concern.
"Yeah," said Daphne, looking me over. "That was... something else."
"I'm fine," I lied. "I have no idea what happened, but I know what I saw."
Daphne glanced over and I followed her gaze to the Triad. Fenrir had joined them, even though he was usually scarce at school events. Or in class, for that matter. "I think someone was playing a trick on you."
She was probably right. I could see that now that terror wasn't clouding my thoughts. I still didn’t want to believe it. Maybe it was delusional, but I'd thought Fenrir and I shared something of a bond after the garden.
I guess that meant nothing.
"Come on," Dionysus said, draping his arm over my shoulder. "Let's get ready for the next round."
"I'm afraid that won't be necessary," Artemis said, coming out of nowhere. I jumped at her sudden appearance, still a bit twitchy from the labyrinth.
"What do you mean?" asked Daphne. "We've done as well as the Valkyries."
"And your team will continue on to the final round, and is guaranteed a place in the games," Artemis answered. "But Kore has been disqualified."
"That's not fair," Dionysus blurted out.
"Headmaster's orders," Artemis said, giving me a stern look. I scanned the crowd, but there was no sign of Odin. Then, I saw it. The raven perched in a tree, watching everything with a keen black eye. The moment I looked at it, it took off into the clear blue sky.
"She didn't do anything wrong," Daphne protested.
"It's fine," I said, not wanting the situation to escalate and risk getting us all thrown out. I forced a smile. "You guys go on without me. I'll be cheering you on from the bleachers."
They both looked unsure, but Artemis had already walked off and I knew there'd be no convincing her. I still wasn't sure how the Triad had managed to conjure the otherworldly beast that had tried to kill me in the labyrinth, but it was clear to me that they would stop at nothing to make me look crazy.
It would be a miracle if I made it to the end of the semester without that becoming true.
Chapter 11
