Artemis

EIGHT

Castor gazed back at her, his expression unreadable. He looked between the two of them. "Are you . . .," he started. "Do you trust him?"

Ari furrowed her brows, surprised at the question. "Who?" she asked. "Finn?" He nodded. Ari paused, not because she didn't know how to answer the question, but because she had never admitted it out loud before. But this wasn't exactly the time to be self-conscious. "Yes," she replied swiftly. She felt Finn look at her sharply. "But what does that have to do with the reason you punched him?"

"I—nothing." Castor shook his head. "I must have mistaken him for someone else. Sorry."

"What?" Finn clenched his fists at his sides, gritting his teeth with fury. "Ari just let me punch him. One good blow to the head, that's all."

Ari shook her head, then turned as Dagger came out of her shop at all the commotion. Ari was relieved to see a very nervous looking Phoebe following after her, glad she was safe.

"What's going on?" Dagger asked, eyes wide as she looked between the three of them. She spotted the blood dripping down Finn's face. "Are you fighting? In front of my shop?"

"I was attacked," Finn cut in angrily. He pointed a finger at Castor. "By him. Ari's dear old friend—"

"Hey," Castor said, holding up his hands. "It was just a misunderstanding."

"That's bull—"

"That's enough!" Dagger interjected. "All your shouting is driving away my customers. Deal with this inside."

Finn shook his head, wiping away the blood that rolled down his nose like a teardrop. "There is no way in hell he is coming in there." He turned accusatory eyes at Ari. "I have no idea what he's doing here, but you need to tell him to leave because I am this close to clobbering him."

Castor trained his eyes on her. "Ari, I need to speak with you. Privately." His words hinted at a sort of urgency, but Ari looked away. She had been too reckless, had assumed he could be trusted just because she'd been able to before. And she had a feeling that there was more to this than just a misunderstanding.

She gazed at him coolly. "You need to leave." she said. "Thanks. For your help, earlier. But Finn's right. You need to leave."

He opened his mouth, as if to argue, but shook his head in frustration. "Fine." He gazed at her, his face turning grim. "But you need to be careful."

The words rang in her ears as she watched him leave, disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel. She turned to the others, eyes resting on Phoebe first.

"Are you alright?" Ari asked. She nodded feebly.

She turned to Finn, then sighed. "You don't happen to have a first-aid kit, do you?" she asked Dagger.

*

"Okay, what the hell was that?"

Finn glared at her in the dim candlelight. They were in the back room of Dagger's shop, sitting on stools amidst the various weapons and papers scattered haphazardly on the floor. To say it was messy was an understatement - the place looked as though a hurricane had recently blown through. 

"Actually, who the hell was that?" Finn asked. 

Ari frowned as she iced his wounds, noting his split lip. She picked up an alcohol swab. "Hold still." 

"And wasn't he wearing one of the black uniforms? Why would you — ow!" 

Ari rolled her eyes, pulling the alcohol swab away from his face. "That wouldn't have happened if you'd just held still." She waited for him to calm down, then brought the swab back to his face. He stopped her, catching her wrist. 

"Ari," he said, forcing her to look at him. His eyes reflected the flame from the candle as it flickered weakly. 

She sighed. "Look, he was disguised as one of the men from the tunnel, and then he took them down and helped me. I knew him, from before, from Omega. But I have no idea why he attacked you." 

Finn looked at her, face guarded. "You said you didn't trust anyone, and yet you thought it'd be a good idea to lead him here?"

She went back to his wounds, grabbing a new alcohol swab and dabbing at his cuts, giving her time to think. "He had information," she admitted finally. "Information I thought you'd want to hear." 

He raised an eyebrow, then stopped as the action caused him to wince in pain. "What kind of information?"

Taking a breath, she recounted everything Castor had told her, from Polaris, to Omega's secret plans, to her revelation about Bishop. When she was finished, he looked as confused as she'd felt.

"So let me get this straight," he started. "He— Castor, whatever, is a spy at Omega and secretly works for an organization called Polaris, which is trying to take down Omega? And Omega actually knows about them, and now they have some kind of military, and they want you to lead them for some unspecified reason?"

"Pretty much sums it up."

"And you didn't think to doubt any of this?" 

She let out a breath. "Of course I did. But isn't it nice," she started, replying Castor's earlier words. "To have a little hope?"

"Hope gets you killed," Finn said.

That she could agree with.

"So, you have any theories on why he attacked me?" Finn asked. 

She shook her head. She really didn't; it stumped her. "No," she replied. "But it definitely wasn't a misunderstanding." 

"Definitely not," Finn agreed. 

There was a silence, in which Ari rummaged through Dagger's makeshift first aid kit and came away with some ointment. She fiddled with the tube, squeezing some out onto her hand,  spreading it lightly on his cuts. His eyes fluttered closed at her touch. Her fingers accidentally brushed the stubble on his jawline, and he leaned into her hand, almost involuntarily. She swallowed, then pulled away, as if scorched. 

He seemed not to notice as he opened his eyes, his blue ones searching her's intensely, wide and unblinking. "Ari. What you said earlier," he started. His tone was light, but it was the slight seriousness his words carried that made her look up at him. "That you trust me. Is that true?"

She chewed on her bottom lip. She'd kind of been hoping he wouldn't bring that up. For a moment, Ari wondered whether she should just say yes, tell him what he really meant to her. But she rolled her eyes instead, scoffing. "Don't flatter yourself." 

She expected him to drop it, but his lips only twitched in amusement. "Oh, you so trust me," he said, laughing with glee. "The stone cold Artemis Sullivan, who doesn't trust anyone, trusts me."

She gaped at him indignation, swatting his arm. "Shut up," she said. "I do not." 

He gave her a knowing smirk. Then his eyes softened. "Hey, if it's any consolation, I trust you." 

A surprising, unexpected warmth spread through her at his words. She had forgotten what it felt like to feel this way, to feel so . . . safe. She held his gaze evenly for a moment, but looked away sharply when Dagger walked in. Ari stood up, clearing her throat, letting out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding as Finn dragged his eyes away from her. 

"So I've set up the couch for one of you to sleep on," Dagger said. "And some blankets on the floor. You can decide among yourselves who gets what." 

"Give Phoebe the couch," Finn said. "We'll take the floor." 

"Actually, just Finn," Ari said. Clarity had filled her mind suddenly, as though a bucket of ice had been poured over her head. The earlier tranquility she'd been feeling had faded away. 

"What?" Finn asked. "Where are you going? You need to rest."

Ari shook her head. "Not tonight." Her voice was low, calm. Dangerous. "I need to have a few words with Walter Bishop."