The cabin turned out to be what Kieran considered to be a one-room shack. It was equipped with a bed and a small trunk in which to place his things, along with an armchair in one corner. Other than that, the small space had only the door and a few windows to add some light. His only consolation was that it was private, and he wasn’t the only one lodged in such meager quarters.

He’d been relieved when he’d been told that when it came to a call of nature or bathing, he at least had his own bathroom. The idea of having to make a trek to use shared facilities didn’t appeal to him. He’d spent the majority of his time in college in a dorm with a communal shower so although he was used to the concept he was glad he wouldn’t have to put up with it here.

By the time Artemis and Apollo had left him to his own devices, he already felt exhausted. He wanted to blame jet lag, but he knew it was more to do with his situation than it was the long trip to get to the middle of nowhere. Disappointment and frustration were more draining than hours of travel, and his helplessness at his situation wasn’t helping.

“At least the beds are decent,” he told the ceiling as he reclined.

He’d been invited to go out and see the rest of the camp when he was ready. If he had his way, he wouldn’t have left the small cabin for the duration of the retreat. A part of him knew he was being unreasonably stubborn, but he detested being taken away from the city in the first place. He hadn’t exactly been taken away from work during a slow period, and his mind was still running over every detail of the cases he’d been working on. There would, of course, be others who’d take over his cases for him, but that did nothing but sour his mood even further. Those were cases that would no longer have his name on them, and that meant less evidence he could use to prove his competency.

The thought of missing out on work drew a growl from his lips as he rolled off the bed. He wasn’t going to be able to relax if he laid there for the rest of the day. His tendency to pick apart a problem and analyze it from every angle would be his undoing if he was unable to find out what was bothering him. It worked in his favor when it came to analyzing a case, but he’d go crazy if he did the same with his current predicament.

After tossing his bag into the nearby trunk, he stepped out into the wash of afternoon sunlight. He closed his eyes against the sudden glare, taking a deep breath as he tried to force himself to calm down. The rich smell of the woods flooded his nose as he let the sun warm his skin. Despite having been in the confines of the city most of his life, he’d always taken pleasure being amongst nature. Most of his time in ‘nature’ had consisted of city parks but even so, he’d found his time there invigorating. The effect seemed magnified as he stood on the steps outside his cabin.

After a moment taking in the sight and smells of the forest, he detected the sound of nearby voices. Cocking his head, he traced the source to somewhere further off, closer to where he remembered there’d been other camp buildings. He knew he would need to introduce himself and find out who else he’d be interacting with for the duration of his stay, but he hesitated at the thought of dealing with strangers. As much as his job involved interacting with others, it was done with a veneer of professionalism. Interpersonal socializing had never been his strong suit, but he knew it was inevitable and that he’d have to do it at some point or another.

Taking a deep breath, he walked toward the sound. The closer he got, the more voices he was able to single out from the crowd. There were various conversations going on at once, and he could identify what sounded like almost a dozen different voices as he broke through the line of trees into a clearing. The clearing itself was lined with seating, and he noticed a circular set of stairs around a pit at the center. The pit itself was scarred with ash, and there were scattered pieces of charred wood in the middle.

The men in the clearing looked up when he walked over. Kieran paused at the attention, glad he’d squared his shoulders and set his face before walking past the edge of the forest. He might not have been the most skilled when it came to dealing with others, but in his mind it was important to give the appearance of confidence and self-assurance to others. Some of the men looked away after taking a moment to appraise him, but one group was still watching him.

“I take it you’re the new guy?” one of them asked from his perch on a picnic table.

Kieran glanced at him, immediately struck by the impish appearance of his grin as he waited for Kieran to reply. “That would be me.”

The man nodded. “I’m Tristan, one of the lucky bastards who gets to babysit all of you.”

Kieran snorted softly, taking umbrage at the idea that he needed supervision. Tristan’s shock of bright, blond hair fell over his eyes, and Kieran could read in them that Tristan was looking for a reaction from him. He’d met more than a few people like Tristan, who seemed to survive purely off the reactions they could get out of other people. Kieran had never understood that kind of mindset, preferring to be left alone, but he certainly recognized it when he saw it in someone else.

Tristan grinned. “Well come and sit with us, Kieran. We don’t bite.”

Kieran shrugged lightly. “Don’t mind me. I’m only giving myself the rest of the tour around here.”

Tristan nodded. “Artemis only gave the half-assed tour, huh? Not much to see around here, I’m afraid, unless you’re really big on trees. You’re from the city, aren’t you?”

“New York,” Kieran replied.

“Sounds about right,” Tristan said.

“Meaning?” Kieran asked, knowing he was probably going to regret it.

“You look a little lost out here, and you look like you should be walking around in a three-piece suit,” Tristan answered.

Kieran nodded, glad the answer was better than he’d expected. “I’m a little out of my element, yes. I can’t tell you the last time, if ever, I was this far from civilization.”

A broad, dark-haired man next to Tristan laughed. “Don’t like being away from cell towers?”

Tristan glanced at the man. “Naw, Michael, it’s more than that. What we have here is a high-powered attorney who was sent here because his bosses think he needs to chill the fuck out.”

Kieran frowned. “I wasn’t aware it was policy for everyone’s business to become public so readily.”

Tristan laughed. “We don’t keep a whole lot of secrets around here, city boy. Someone’s bound to overhear, so it's better to just get it all out while you have the chance.”

Michael glanced at Kieran curiously. “You’re a lawyer? Does that mean you might be able to help me with a few things?”

Kieran shook his head. “Unless you’re a business owner, no. I deal only with legal and civil issues for businesses, not individuals. You’d need to find an attorney who specializes in whatever…problem you’re having.”

Michael snorted. “Figures. I can’t ever get any help.”

Tristan smirked. “Yeah, well from what I hear, you wouldn’t be able to afford this guy anyway.”

“Are we going to share all about my professional and personal life now? And here I thought this place was meant to help me relax,” Kieran said, knowing he was taking the bait.

Tristan nodded. “Sometimes it’s important to face your issues before you can deal with them.”

“I don’t think me being an attorney is my problem, even if I’m one who charges a considerable amount for their services. Which I might add, is dictated by the firm I work for, not by me,” Kieran told him, unable to hide his annoyance any longer.

“Oh, well excuse me! I wasn’t aware of that! I’m sure it’s torture when your firm makes others pay you a great deal to get them off scot-free from stealing from people,” Tristan laughed.

“You seem to be operating under the assumption that every bit of work I do involves helping businesses cheat the system. Businesses need lawyers for just about anything: new deals, financial issues within the company. It’s not quite the sordid tale of greed and deceit you seem to think it is,” Kieran told him.

Tristan nodded, voice sarcastic. “Right. I’m sure you’re a paragon of justice and morality. You would never do anything underhanded to keep your clients happy.”

Kieran’s eyes narrowed. “If you don’t believe me, say so, rather than playing this passive aggressive game with me.”

Tristan shrugged. “Fine. I don’t believe you. You’re not the first rich guy we’ve had here, and you guys always end up the same. Y’all are too used to a comfortable life in the city, surrounded by other rich types. You come out here to ‘relax’ and you end up sneering at everyone who isn’t like you. All you guys want is to come here, pretend you give a shit about what we’re about, then go back to your comfy lives, screwing your secretaries.”

Kieran scoffed. “Wow, is this the sort of staff they hire for this place? I would have thought they’d have standards.”

“Apparently not,” Tristan said with a pointed look.

Kieran ground his jaw, but he was stopped from being openly aggressive when an exasperated voice from a nearby group cut across the clearing. “Tristan! Stop being an ass to the new guy already.”

Michael was the one to laugh this time. “Uh oh, Trist! Now you’ve got Cole on your ass.”

Tristan waved him off, calling over to Cole. “I’m not doing anything wrong! It’s the truth and you damn well know it.”

Cole, another blond from the looks of it, as he leaned back on a bench, frowned at Tristan. “Just because the last guy we had was a royal bastard doesn’t mean every single one is going to be that way. Give the guy a chance to settle in before he has to deal with your ‘charms,’ okay?”

Tristan rolled his eyes. “Hear that, city boy? Sounds like you’ve got yourself a champion already.”

Cole shook his head as he turned back to the group he was sitting with. “Don’t make me have to come over there and start telling stories. You wouldn’t want everyone to know what you were like when you first came here, would you?”

Tristan’s amused look shifted to one of annoyance. “You really know how to bring down the room, you know that?”

“The only one ruining the mood is you,” Cole said, voice lost in the crowd.

Tristan made a noise of disgust and shot Kieran a look before he turned back to his own group of people. “Enjoy your time here, city boy.”

As Kieran glanced around the rest of the men in the clearing, he couldn’t help but think that wasn’t going to be possible. Save for the one man, Cole, who shot him an apologetic look before returning to his conversation, not one person had a friendly look on their face. In that one conversation, Tristan had ruined the chance of anyone forming a positive opinion about Kieran.

“Yeah, thanks,” Kieran muttered as he stormed out of the clearing in a worse mood than he’d been in before.