Lies

Chapter 33

**Zoë**

I knew it. I could feel it my bones, sense it in my mind. Tartarus was coming and this time he was determined to win, even if it meant all his army had to die.

"Cynthia, you have to promise me this." I gripped her arm. "Swear it."

She hesitated, doubtful. Then she nodded.

"OK. I swear I won't tell anyone unless you give me permission."

"Tartarus is coming."

"What?" She looked at me like she was hoping I was kidding. "You're kidding!"

"I rarely kid," I said.

"We have to tell them, Zoë. We can't just sit here and wait. We'll be at his mercy if he catches us unaware!" She protested.

"No! The campers are still getting over the Giant War. Hearing this would send them panicking, and then we would surely be at his mercy."

"I—I guess," Cynthia agreed.

She brushed her brown hair out of her eyes and exhaled slowly.

"Are you going to be OK?" She asked. "I mean, what with him kidnapping you, and all."

"Yes. I will be fine," I reassured her. "But we had better tell Artemis," I suppose."

Cynthia agreed, so we walked out of the infirmary and over to Artemis's tent.

"Why are you covered in blood?" Artemis asked as soon as we came in.

"Not important. We have bigger problems. Tartarus is rising and this time he's determined to win," I told her.

Artemis paled drastically, and I remembered something about Apollo being captured the last time the gods had fought Tartarus.

"Are you sure?" Artemis questioned.

"Yes," I answered.

"How did you find this out?" She wanted to know.

"I had a nightmare again. He was speaking right to me, as if he knew I were there. He said, and I quote 'I am coming, Hesperide, and I shall not be stopped,'" I said.

Artemis sighed and slumped forward, hitting her head against the edge of the desk. The paper scattered in different directions, floating through the air. I rushed towards her and held her upright as Cynthia checked her breathing and pulse.

"Fear," she told me. "It was too much for her to handle, having her brother caught the last time, on top of trying t—"

She cut herself off as if she had almost said something she had sworn she wouldn't and looked at me with a guilty expression. I shrugged. Everyone has their own secrets.