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Artemis bolted awake. She had dreamt of the mortal world suddenly thrown into a terminally destructive panic, with no way for her to return to Olympus.
“What?”
The blinking in the darkness of a text message on her smartphone stung her bleary eyes as she grabbed the phone. She stared. It was in the format of an emergency broadcast alert, but far briefer than any message the government agency could produce.
RUN.
Despite her sleep-fogged state, she realized who had actually sent the text. Clever, reckless man. It was a simple message, signaling a monumental problem.
She pulled on her clothes and scrambled to the door before consciousness fully caught up. Yanking it open, she sprinted down the hall.
“Apollo! Hermes! Persephone! Wake up!”
A moan, a murmur, not enough of an answer.
“Guys, we need to go! NOW!”
Slapping her hands on the walls as she ran, Artemis slewed into the hall closet and grabbed the backpack she had packed for this particular eventuality.
Swearing and stumbling, the others in the house appeared in the hallway. Artemis hissed, “Come on, you guys, MOVE IT!”
Apollo gaped at the sight of his sister flinging gear and clothing at them. “Art, what in Hades?”
She paused only long enough to level a frightened look at him. “Poseidon. He’s on the move.”
Stunned silence answered her.
Finally Hermes found his voice. “He knows where we are?”
“He must. Hephaestus just messaged me. Probably pinged all of us.”
Hermes and Persephone blanched as Apollo grabbed his phone from a pocket and let loose a string of invectives that would make any satyr blush.
“Yep, got the message on my phone as well.” He lunged for his pack as Artemis tossed it to him. “No chance of Hera letting us back in? Maybe we play on her maternal streak?”
Hermes spat in disgust as he fought his way into his jacket. “No way. Justice for me to get snuffed by the big guy, she would call it. Keeping bad company by being with me, she’d say for you. Heph is our best chance to get clear of here, until we figure our next plan.”
Persephone shook her head as she grabbed her sneakers. “Hephaestus is off his rocker. Aphrodite will kick his butt down to the Titans and back if she finds out he’s aiding us.”
Artemis shrugged the backpack on and slipped into her shoes. “Not as much as Hera will if she learns that we slipped past Poseidon’s arrival because of him interfering. And there’s no way Father is getting involved in this ruckus with his brother, not with his wife inciting it.”
Not soon enough for her comfort, her comrades were outfitted. She led the way to the back door of the house, her brother and the others close behind her in the dimness. A glance into the yard for any activity, and a sigh at not spying anything.
Persephone murmured, “Art, seriously, can’t we reason with Poseidon? Explain what really happened? He must know Hera manipulates everything.”
Artemis glanced morosely at her before pulling the hood of her sweatshirt up over her head. “Maybe? But first I want miles of distance between him and me before I try. My name was the first to get tossed in his face.”
She scanned the yard again, then pointed to the road with her chin.
“Let’s go. Heph can’t wait for us for long.”