The Hunters of Artemis

Chapter 29: Betrayal

Now, for all of you out there who think: Kat! You're a Hunter, what are you doing?, I'm here to tell you that I never wanted this. I never wanted or expected this sudden flood of emotions I had never noticed before. It just came so suddenly. 

But you're right. Love is out of the question. Completely out of the question... Which is why I almost kissed Liam? Ugh. Why did this have to be so difficult? This decision should be the easiest I've made in a long time! But it wasn't.

I wrapped my arms around myself, even though it wasn't very cold outside. 

I found a bench and sat down, my head in my hands. And then, a tear rolled down my cheek. I really liked Liam. Like, like-liked him, even though I've only known him for a couple weeks... but I could never be with him. Artemis would... Artemis would what? Throw me out of the Hunters? Don't get me wrong, I loved being a Hunter, but I was getting tired. Tired of never aging. Tired of moving every three minutes. Tired of being hostile to every single boy ever even if they were actually kind of nice...

I joined the Hunters because I was hurt by a boy and thought that all boys were like him. But Liam proved me wrong. He was nothing like the boy who had betrayed me. Who had broken my heart. Liam was... he was different. 

Liam was brave, smart, and funny, and respected my feelings. He was... almost perfect. Sure, he could be annoying, but that went for anyone. Anyone could be annoying. Heck, Rhea annoyed  me to no end... But I could never be with him. Even though I wanted to... I would have to crush the feelings I had for him. Crush them into dust.

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Back at the hotel, Liam had already come back. Rhea told me he had said I wanted to be alone for a bit. Close enough...

I lay down on my bed and turned to face the wall. Away from Rhea and Robyn. 

Rhea called over to me, "Hey, Kat! How'd it go?"

"I still don't think you should have gone," complained Robyn. "It's unbecoming of a Huntress."

I shrugged. "Okay, I guess..."

"What happened?" asked Rhea, hopping onto my bed. 

I shook my head. "Nothing. Just... nothing," I said. 

She shook me gently. "Come on. Spit it out, girly."

"It's just all so... so confusing! I just once want something to be straightforward for once. This... whatever this is, is not straightforward. I just don't understand!"

Robyn came over and rubbed my shoulder. "What happened, Kat? Did he hurt you?"

I sat up. "No, quite the opposite. He... ugh, if I tell you you might overreact."

The two sisters laughed. "Overreact?" they asked. I nodded. "We're not going to overreact."

I sighed. "Fine. We walked around for a little while, and then we just... happened to come across a cute little park. We just... danced... and we nearly k--kissed..."

"KISSED?" exclaimed Robyn as Rhea grinned. Wait... grinned? Why was she grinning? She wasn't happy we nearly kissed, right?

I covered my face with my hands. "Ugh. And you said you wouldn't overreact. Anyway, I pulled away and came back here."

Robyn glared at me. "How could you allow something like this to happen? You're a Hunter. You'd do well to remember that." She huffed and left the room, Rhea right on her tail.

I turned back onto my side and started crying. "Do you think I don't know that?" I whispered to myself. 

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The next morning, we went out for breakfast at one of the local cafes. I sat as far away from Liam as I could; I wasn't ready to face him yet. Not after I left him like that last night...

Instead, I sat on the end, next to Rhea. I didn't participate in the conversations; I was too caught up in my own thoughts to listen. At the end of our breakfast, I put in, "Do you think we should start looking for Lyra? I mean, who knows what they could be doing to her."

Robyn nodded. "Kat's right. We need to find Lyra fast. And then we need to find that stupid pegasus."

"Yeah. So where should we start?" asked Atlanta. 

I shrugged. "We could just start by walking around the city and trying to find a clue or something." 

The group nodded. "Alright. Let's go!" said Rhea. We packed up and left the restauraunt, leaving an equivalent of a hundred American dollars in Ethiopian birr on the table.

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We walked the streets for hours. But we came up with nothing. Nada. Zilch. There was nothing at all that could possibly link to Lyra's capture. 

By the time it was lunch, we were all exausted and ready to just sleep. Instead of searching until our feet fell off, we decided to take a break back at the hotel. 

I flopped on my bed. "Rhea, do you think we'll find her?" I asked quietly.

"We'll have to..." she replied. 

I sat up. "What do you mean?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Can you go down the hall and knock on Olivia's door? She borrowed my brush. Do you think you can get it for me?"

I rolled my eyes and put my hand on my hip. "Why can't you go get it yourself?"

"Because you're such a good friend?" Rhea pouted. "Pretty please?"

"Fine. I'll be back in a second. "

Emma and Olivia's door was down the hall and around the corner; not too far, so we could get to each other quickly, but far enough to be secluded. We had tried to get rooms right next to each other, but there were none available. Somehow, the place was almost full. Shocking, right?

As I walked down the hall, I could hear voices. I crept to the corner and peeked around to see Emma and Liam talking. Liam was shaking his head while Emma looked like she was pleading. 

What was going on? Before I could step out to ask, I saw Emma grab Liam's shoulders and press her mouth to his. I gasped. I waited for Liam to pull away, but he didn't. Instead, he just pressed her closer and angled his head to kiss her better. 

I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes and I turned to run back to my room. I burst into my room and closed the door, crying. 

"Kat, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Rhea rushed over to me and checked me. "You're vital signs are good... What happened?"

I stumbled over to my bed and collapsed. Rhea got the idea and pulled the blankets over me. 

"You should rest. I'll talk to you when you wake up." 

I never thought I would fall asleep, not with the image of Emma's and Liam's lips locked together, but somehow my eyes closed on their own and I drifted off to sleep.