"Ha, I win," Juliet smirked at Mulch from across the table, laying down her cards.
"I can't believe you two can be so calm while Artemis is in there, having his operation," Holly groaned.
"You cheated!" Mulch protested.
Butler was pacing around the cramped lobby room, hands interlocked behind his back. Artemis was inside the operating room, having his Atlantic Complex treated using a new technique. Juliet and Mulch were playing poker and Holly was sitting nervously on the sofa.
"Did not. You're just sore because you lost to me for the sixth time in a row."
"Will you two shut it?" Holly snapped. "Or go outside if you need to argue."
They both glared at Holly, and then glared at each other. Juliet grabbed the deck of cards, Mulch grabbed his sandwich, and both marched out the door.
Juliet set the cards down and began shuffling them. Mulch stuffed his sandwich in his mouth. "Let's play something else."
"Like what?" Juliet asked.
Mulch grinned at her, showing his huge yellowed teeth. "Go Fish."
"He's awake!" the surgeon called. Then he paused. "Who's Minerva?"
"Minerva…" Holly muttered, recalling the blonde genius.
Butler pushed past the four-feet-tall doctor and into Artemis's room. Artemis was propped up. His mismatched eyes blinked. "Where's Minerva?"
"I think she's currently vacationing with her parents in Australia," Butler said carefully.
Holly swallowed and looked down. Why was the first person he asked about Minerva? She'd expected him to ask about Mrs. Fowl, or perhaps Opal, or maybe N1…
Not Minerva.
Minerva Paradizo was looking around her hotel room. The others had left, but she needed to think.
It'd been three years since the demon incident, but hardly a day passed without her analyzing it. Analyzing her actions, her plans. And most of all, her feelings.
She'd felt something when she'd met Artemis Fowl, she was sure of it. But she'd only been twelve then. A foolish child.
The sixteen-year-old sighed, and looked down. She'd recently gotten an email from Butler. Artemis had contacted a mental illness called Atlantis Complex.
She wanted to see him again, to ask about his new adventures with the fairies. She dialed Butler's number. He picked up on the first ring.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Butler, this is Minerva. Could I see Artemis again?"
"I was about to call you to ask the same of you."
"Perfect."