Snippet #2495570

Artemis stared at the boy, immediately irritated on realizing that she'd been ignored. He had the nerve to blow her off and then start groaning once per minute out of apparent boredom? Something a bit deeper than irritation—fear—began to take root in the pit of Artemis's stomach, but she ignored it.

Artemis walked with the group to the library. Her footsteps were silenced. She could feel the eyes of the others, measuring her up, but she did her best to look innocuous, weak, the way she always did. If it had worked at the witching trials, it would work here. She'd let them underestimate her, let them barge in for the kill. And then she'd rip their hearts out, the way she always did. This time, though, she applied her strategy in a more metaphorical sense.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a light-haired figure she hadn't noticed before. A boy—human enough. She might as well start to get to know the people here, and she couldn't do that by staring, the way a certain few others seemed to be treating the occasion. She adjusted her speed to catch up with him. Conspiratorially, she leaned over and murmured, "found anything interesting yet? Because if there's anything worthwhile around here to see, they're sure as hell not showing it to us."