Oh my god I finally defeated this chapter! Seriously it gave me so much grief over the past two months, some of the worst writer's block I've ever had. It could probably be better, but I'm happy with it considering what a pain in the ass it was to get finished. Whew.

Anyway, thanks to those of you who reviewed last chapter! Sorry about the stupid wait on this. I hate when it takes me that long :(

Enjoy!


Singin' oh, love / Get me out of the cold
If I promise that I'd take you there with me / Would you go?


The hot, summer sun pushed waves of warmth through Reyna's armor as she paced the southern rampart of her team's fortress the following afternoon, assessing their outfitting. Not that the heat bothered her overly much—it never had, what with her naturally deep skin tone and acclimation to higher temperatures. She felt comfortable, which was a nice change to the pins and needles she'd been treading on over the past few weeks—even more so when piled on the satisfaction with which she inspected what her team had been able to develop in a short amount of time.

Not that she would admit it, but Reyna was glad Octavian had decided to hold a war game event (his neglect to consult her notwithstanding). It had been a while since the legion had partaken in the games, and regardless of whether or not he'd meant it, his idea of the ordeal helping to welcome the Greek building team was a sound one. At first, she'd been worried they might take it as a sort of challenge. But when they'd been teamed with the Fourth and Fifth Cohorts and set to defend in the games, they'd taken to the task of perfecting a makeshift fortress with respectable enthusiasm, which relieved Reyna. It would be good for them to have a little fun before cracking down.

She'd volunteered to join the defending team while Octavian took offense along with the First, Second, and Third Cohorts (officially, the centurions would be in charge of the teams; when the praetors participated it was more as an observational sort of role, though if she was honest Reyna suspected that Octavian would have his hand the decision making regardless). Her team had spent the morning building while she took care of her usual daytime work in an effort to free up her afternoon, and now, roughly twenty minutes before the games were set to begin, she was happy to see that they'd finished—and done an impressive job. The defending fortress wasn't gigantic, but it was surprisingly high and sturdy—a multi-story stone structure set heavily into a flat patch of earth surrounded by deep trenches too wide to jump across. The six guard towers were each, Reyna had discovered, outfitted with rotating crossbow ballistae and enough modified arrows to pepper half the Field of Mars. The ramparts connecting the towers were lined with what looked like water cannons each manned by two people, though Reyna couldn't see where they connected to the water lines running beneath the field. The steel portcullis below had been rigged with some kind of alarm system that blasted Broadway show tunes if the correct input code wasn't entered before the hinges were activated (which Reyna had discovered the hard way a little while ago). She hadn't fully inspected the interior yet, but was sure it as well had been spared no expense.

Glancing up at the sun to check the time, Reyna noticed Hazel waving her down from the far end of the southern rampart. She was standing with Frank and Leo at the corner and trying to get the praetor's attention.

As Reyna approached them, Hazel asked with a smile, "So what do you think? We've got a pretty good chance at this, don't we?"

"I have to admit I'm impressed," Reyna replied, turning to survey the building again with her eyes. "It should be a good match."

"Yeah, I'm thinking we can totally give Mr. Hero-of-the-People a run for his money," Leo added, leaning back against the rampart wall and smirking over his shoulder at the ground far below.

Glancing him over, Reyna frowned. "Where's your armor?" she asked, noting that he, unlike Hazel and Frank, who were both fully outfitted for the war games, wore no protection over his dark green T-shirt, jeans, and that tool belt that seemed to never leave his waist.

Unconcerned, the pyrokinetic shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm not really an armor kind of guy."

Reyna arched an eyebrow. "You do realize you're asking the other team to kill you, right?"

He turned to look at her, his dark eyes sparking with an odd, fiery glow. "I'm asking them to try," he said confidently. Reyna rolled her eyes, not amused.

"Don't worry," Frank said wryly. "We'll make sure he doesn't get skewered. We need him for the building project, after all."

"Gee, Frank, never knew you cared," Leo responded with a sarcastic grin. Frank punched him amiably on the arm and he cringed, causing Hazel to giggle into her hand.

Suddenly, an eagle circling overhead cawed loudly, twice in quick succession, and Reyna felt her muscles tense. "Game on," she said aloud as people jumped into motion all around her. She stepped to the edge of the rampart and peered over the wall toward where Octavian's team had set up ranks a safe distance away. She glanced to her left, down the row of legionnaires manning the cannons. They all looked ready for action.

Across the field, the offense started to move. Small factions of them broke ranks to approach the trenches in a phalanx formation, tight and orderly. Reyna could see legionnaires near the rear flank carrying wooden bridge ladders over their heads, to be used to cross the trenches and gain entry to the fortress.

"As they cross, they'll be sitting ducks," Reyna said, eyebrows drawing together. "Even if they have a team hold position to provide cover fire. Should be a good time to launch an offensive."

"The best offense is a good defense," Leo pointed out. "Just hang tight a sec, boss-lady. You're gonna want to see this."

Reyna frowned as he stepped around her toward the nearest cannon. He leaned his head back and pointed three fingers upward toward the center front guard tower, and the person manning the ballista atop it returned the gesture before rotating her weapon and firing a speeding arrow directly upward into the sky, where it exploded in a tiny shower of purple sparks. Evidently this was some kind of signal, because as one the defenders on the ramparts aimed their cannons downward over the wall and fired, letting loose dozens of powerful streams of what Reyna realized was definitely not water.

"Is that… oil?" she asked, leaning over the wall to try and get a better look as gallons and gallons of dark, slimy liquid hurtled into the trench circling the fortress, forming a kind of moat.

"Sure is," Leo responded, his attention focused on the activity. He kept looking back and forth between the nearest cannon stream and the sky. Across the field, the attacking team continued their steady pace, though they had to be wondering what was going on.

A few at time, the cannons ceased their barrage. After a few seconds, another firework arrow was launched, possibly signaling that they'd all finished. Leo quickly exchanged a nod with Frank, who reached over his shoulder and whipped a crimson-fletched arrow from his quiver. He approached the eastern rampart wall as Leo leaned over the northern, and as Frank nocked and loosed Leo thrust out an arm and sent a thin wave of phantom fire toward the ground below. Reyna realized what was about to happen a second before the oil in the trench ignited, hurling broiling flames across its surface at an alarming speed. In barely a few seconds their fortress was surrounded by a moat made of fire.

"Ha-ha!" Leo laughed with a cocky sort of grin. "Try laying wooden ladders over that!"

The approaching attackers seemed to realize this same predicament, because they slowed to a halt a few yards from the burning moat. "Impressive," Reyna said truthfully. "But they'll figure out a contingency tactic. That, or they'll shore up defenses and wait for the fire to die down. Either way, it's a matter of time before they're at our gates."

"Small victories, Reyna." Leo shot her a sideways smirk and pointed a finger at her. "And don't worry. That's not our only parlor trick."

As the attackers regrouped, many of the defenders on the ramparts began breaking off and heading into the fortress toward whatever tasks their centurions had assigned them. Leo said something into the ear of the Greek girl watching below from the nearest oil cannon as Frank exchanged a significant nod with Hazel, who turned and disappeared around the southeast corner without a word. When Frank and Leo took off past Reyna toward the closest downward lift, she decided to follow them rather than keep lookout with those who remained.

Inside the fortress, the walls echoed with the tinny sounds of armored movement and steady voices rang indiscernible in the air. Reyna remembered her brief trip through the maze-like layout not long ago, and how she likely would've gotten lost inside had it not been for the Fourth Cohort legionnaire guiding her. She couldn't help but wonder if some of those voices were in fact requests for assistance or directions.

They passed small groups of defenders moving in twos or threes as Frank led the way through a series of short corridors, avoiding certain areas that Reyna assumed played host to traps. He almost missed one such spot at the top of a set of curved stairs leading down, and Leo had to grab his arm and say, "Wait, stop—skip the second step down, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Frank mumbled sheepishly, following his friend's advice and stepping over the stair in question. Leo and Reyna leapt it after him and descended the rest at a quickened pace.

"Where are you going?" Reyna inquired curiously as they strode across the circular room at the foot of the stairs and continued through the leftmost of four optional doorways. She'd had no idea the inside of the place was quite this big.

"We're gonna intercept the attackers near the gate and lead them inside," Frank explained. "There's only the one entrance, so they'll have to use it once they get across the moat. Well, unless they try to blast through a wall—"

"—Which I hope they do," Leo added with a grin, "'cause it'll be hilarious."

Frank's mouth twitched up in an amused smile. "Yeah. But anyway, there're enough traps in these halls to take out any number of 'em. Should easily turn the odds in our favor."

Reyna frowned. "Now when you say 'take out'…"

"Don't worry." Frank shot her a half-smile over his shoulder. "Everything's non-lethal. We played fair."

"Sneaky," Leo supplied, "but fair."

Reyna nodded in satisfaction. It was true that accidents sometimes happened, but the rules of the games did dictate not to use lethal force. She was sure to enforce that guideline whenever possible, a fact of which all of the legion's centurions were well aware.

When they reached the entrance hall, a few more teams of legionnaires were already waiting at the other branching corridors. They could barely hear the sounds of shouting and clanging metal outside, signifying that a battle had begun.

"They're across the moat," Leo reported, touching a finger to his ear. He must have been wearing some kind of communication device. "Waited for it to die down a bit and attached shields and bits of armor to the bottom of their ladders. Not bad." He raised his eyebrows, looking mildly impressed and not the least bit worried. Reyna felt her brow furrow. She knew for a fact that confidence like his was dangerous. If he didn't have the skill to back it up, it could get him into real trouble.

Technically, though, that wasn't any of Reyna's business. Leo didn't belong to the Twelfth Legion, and therefore she wasn't responsible for him. Still, though, if any of their Greek guests got themselves killed in her camp, she had a feeling it might sour their relationship with Camp Half-Blood. And that was her business, and her responsibility.

Not a minute after their arrival, something banged on the outside of the steel portcullis marking the entrance to the fortress. At once, everyone in the foyer ducked into one of the four branching hallways, clearing the empty room. The banging repeated once more, and with a smirk Leo muttered, "Showtime." With the next attack, the gate was forced upward and sunlight spilled into the entrance way. The shouts and clanging grew louder, and Reyna wondered for a second which team had cleared the path—that is, until hidden speakers somewhere in the high ceiling began blaring music, signaling that the correct input key hadn't been entered. Attackers filed into the room, shooting confused glances at the walls as "Master of the House" from Les Misérables echoed from seemingly everywhere at once.

Immediately Frank drew his gladius and banged it noisily against the stone wall beside him. Similar sounds drifted from the other corridors, and in proper response the attackers wasted no time. They split into four groups and charged toward each hallway, weapons in hand.

"Green light," Leo said in an undertone as the three of them leapt to their feet. He dashed past Reyna and led the way back through the corridor in the direction from which they'd come, both of the others on his heels. Reyna glanced over her shoulder and around Frank she could just barely see a group of legionnaires following them. In the darkness she couldn't tell how many were present, but it was definitely more than three. They—and probably every other group of defenders who'd met the attack in the entrance hall—were outnumbered. She hoped Leo and Frank knew what they were doing, seeing as it wasn't her place to give orders here.

Apparently, though, she didn't need to worry. Halfway down the hall, Leo jammed a fist against the wall to his right without stopping and Reyna heard something mechanical move behind her. By the time she chanced a look, a loud, metallic clanging had filled the corridor as a few of their pursuers tripped over the slim section of the floor that had just risen a foot from the ground, causing an effective commotion. Reyna shook her head and chuckled as Frank shot her a grim smile.

By the time the legionnaires at the back had climbed over their fallen allies, Reyna, Leo, and Frank were turning the corner ahead and jogging into the open area at the foot of the curved staircase. They ground to a halt and Frank immediately whipped around and yanked a white-fletched arrow from his quiver. He took aim and loosed it with his trademark speed and precision, embedding it in a flat circle of stone on the wall directly above the doorway through which they'd just run. Below, the (somewhat smaller now) group of attackers chasing them was once again deterred when something thick and wiry began raining down on them from the ceiling of the corridor. Squinting through the dim light, Reyna realized it was Silly String.

As Leo laughed, Reyna turned to him and asked, "What exactly are we doing here?"

He shrugged nonchalantly in response. "Messin' with 'em. Come on, you gotta admit this is fun."

It was rather amusing to watch Octavian's team flounder in the face of her team's traps, but Reyna wouldn't admit to that aloud. Instead, she inquired, "What about their banners? How are you planning to get them? You do want to win, don't you?"

Leo waved a hand, exchanging a grin with Frank. "That's being taken care of already, don't you worry."

"Our job is to spread them out and weaken their offense," Frank added. "If we frustrate them, they'll get sloppy, and the games will be over before they know it."

"I take it our banners are hidden well enough," Reyna said.

"Of course," Leo said confidently. "I'm telling you, don't worry. We've got this thing in the bag."

By that time, a few attackers had fought their way out of the corridor and were breaking into the circular room. They looked more than a little ridiculous, covered in piles of sticky, rainbow-colored string. Beneath the decorative topping, though, Reyna could see looks of anger on their faces, hands tightly gripping swords and spears.

The same instant, she heard movement behind them and twisted around, eyes scouring the shadows. A second later, another group of five or six attackers appeared from the doorway closest to the foot of the staircase, quickly spilling out into the room.

"Uh-oh," Leo muttered in a low voice. "That wasn't supposed to happen. Guess we're fighting."

Reyna calmly drew her sword, dagger still clutched in her left hand. Behind her, Frank nocked another arrow, this one with yellow fletching, and fired it into the Silly-String-covered legionnaires. One girl in the front dodged, but the projectile slammed against the breastplate of the boy behind her, sending out ochre arcs of electricity as it did so. The boy grunted as he was thrown backward, bowling over two allies. Another attacker charged forward and aimed a backswing of his sword at Frank, trying to hit him with the hilt, but he ducked it just as Reyna dashed up beside him. She slammed the blade of her sword against the attacker's and twisted, forcing his arms sideways. She felt another person dodge around her left side and turned, expecting an attack at her back, but instead the girl made a jab at Leo as he sidestepped the spear of a guy from the other side of the room (Reyna had a difficult time identifying them beneath their armor and, in some cases, layers of Silly String). He saw the girl's movement just in time and leapt backward, stretching out an arm and shooting a thin beam of fire as a counterattack. It struck the guard above the hilt of her sword and she shrieked, dropping the blade and wildly waving the hand that had been burned by the heated metal.

With a quick glance at Frank to see that he'd safely drawn his sword and was fending off a swing, Reyna turned back to the larger group of newcomers. None of them seemed to be too keen on engaging her directly, which didn't surprise her. That made things easier for her, but at the same time she felt a little bad taking advantage of the members of her camp. Oh, well. It was only a game, after all. And like everyone else, she was playing to win.

Reyna dodged around the burned girl and intercepted another sword which appeared to have been aimed at Leo. She thrust forward and drove the attacker's arm above their head, whirling around and spinning her dagger in her hand so she could slam the hilt against the guy's unarmored side. He growled and doubled over, trying to kick Reyna's legs out from under her in defense. She evaded the weak attempt and rammed her shoulder hard into his breastplate, effectively causing him to lose his balance. He toppled over, almost colliding with someone else on the way down.

A blaze of heat whisked by to Reyna's right and she turned to see another person stumble backward, the blade of his sword actually melting to molten gold and pooling on the floor. Someone else made the painful mistake of stepping in the melted metal, which instantly burned through his boot and likely a layer or two of skin. He threw himself backward with a howl, forgetting all about the battle at hand. Surprised, Reyna swiftly placed some additional distance between herself and the mess, watching as Leo caught the blade of a spear in the curved end of a silver monkey wrench she assumed had come from his magic tool belt. He had a frustrated look on his face as he proceeded to melt this blade as well just in time to duck a vicious jab aimed at his neck. Reyna had a feeling she understood why he was irritated, and a quick glance at Frank, who was doing noticeably more intercepting and attacking than defending, confirmed it. For whatever reason, the majority of the attackers seemed to be ignoring Reyna and Frank, instead aiming their blades at the only Greek in the room.

Hardly sportsmanlike, Reyna thought with a scowl. She spared a brief second to wonder if this was a result of personal prejudice or if Octavian had put them up to it, before she charged back in with renewed vigor and threw herself between Leo and the girl sneaking up on him from behind. Reyna made a jab with her sword before the girl had a chance to initiate her own attack—even before she had a chance to dodge or block. The praetor's golden blade slammed the younger girl in the armored stomach and hurled her backward onto the ground.

"Let's get out of here!" Frank yelled suddenly as he cleared a path to the foot of the staircase. Leo and Reyna followed him without a word, taking the steps two at a time as the attackers bounded after them.

"Remember before," Leo hissed to Reyna, and just in time she recalled his earlier warning about the second step from the top. She was sure to clear it, following Frank up onto the second floor landing. Behind her, the attacking team wasn't so lucky. One of them triggered the trick step, causing the entire staircase to flatten into a slick, stone slide. As one, all of the pursuers cried out as they tumbled end over end back to the floor below in a heap of armored limbs. It was a miracle no one lost their head to a stray blade.

"That should buy us some time," Leo said as he stored his wrench back in his belt and Frank sheathed his gladius. "Come on." He ducked a speeding arrow aimed his way from down below, and as they hurried out of the line of fire Reyna thought of saying something about Octavian's team—apologizing for their behavior, maybe—but now that the fight was over, Leo actually didn't look too concerned anymore. And moreover, neither did he look hurt in any way. He'd held his own against the unfair onslaught considerably well. So Reyna followed his lead and stayed quiet about it for now.

Frank led the way down a corridor and around a corner. "We should get back downstairs," he suggested. "See what's going on. Maybe we can thin them out a little more for Hazel."

"There's a lift back this way," Leo informed them, switching direction at a fork and heading down a short passage that led to a lift shaft. He input a code on the number pad beside the opening and somewhere above them, the lift began to move. In a few short minutes, they were back on the ground floor.

They came across a few more groups of attackers in the maze of corridors, sometimes fighting them off and sometimes disabling them with traps. By the time they reached the entrance hall, activity there had spiked. The room was now full of attackers and defenders duking it out. The show tunes were still emanating from the ceiling, though the lyrics of Jekyll and Hyde's "Façade" were difficult to make out over the din below.

"Looks like they did try blasting in," Leo pointed out with an amused grin, nodding toward a few attackers nearby whose armor was covered in some kind of slimy, green goo. Reyna didn't ask what that was about.

"So now what?" Frank wondered, grip tightening on his bow as he stood on tiptoe to see over the heads of the people closest to them.

"Hazel, where are you?" Leo said loudly, and Reyna looked around them before realizing he was speaking into the device in his ear. "What, really? Yeah, we can do that. Nah, come on, 'distraction' is my middle name." With a half-grin, he turned to address Frank and Reyna, saying, "Almost there. We just gotta keep 'em occupied here for a few minutes."

"Right." Frank nodded dutifully, wasting no time. He snatched another electric arrow from his quiver and took aim as he charged into the fray, using his size advantage to shoulder people aside.

Leo laughed and started after the centurion, hesitating when Reyna ordered him, "Hey, be careful!" He turned and shot her a skeptical look and she backtracked, "I mean—they were all over you earlier, you had to notice it."

Leo shrugged, looking unconcerned. "Just a basic hazard of being so awesome. People get jealous. Thanks, though—nice to know you care." He gave her a sarcastic smirk and she glared at him, but before the conversation could continue he was forced to avert his attention to the spear aimed at his back. She spared a second to make sure he dodged it properly before sheathing her dagger and forging ahead with her gladius.

As it turned out, they didn't even need a few minutes. It was barely ninety seconds before the sounds of loud cheering echoed in through the open gateway, and when Reyna forced her way outside she saw Hazel atop her flying horse, Arion, cantering above the crowd and waving the attacking team's banners over her head. Reyna didn't know what Hazel's part of the strategy had entailed, but evidently it had worked. She couldn't help a brief smile. Her team had just won, after all.

Reclaiming her neutral expression, she headed back inside and shouted, "The attackers' banners have been captured! The games are over!" All around her people immediately lowered their weapons. Some whooped and cheered, others stamped their feet and looked dejected. Nearby, she saw Leo and Frank high-five, grins on their faces. Slowly, they all began to trickle out of the fortress and back into the sunlight, celebrating with their neighbors or complaining about the outcome. Reyna stood aside to make sure no one tried to resume the battle, just in case any sore feelings got the better of someone—that is, until somebody was pushed by the crowd and stumbled into her. She was almost knocked off her feet as she grabbed the person to steady him, recognizing him as a Second Cohort legionnaire named Zane.

"Sorry, Reyna," he muttered, looking apologetic. Reyna opened her mouth to assure him that there was no harm done when, by some unfortunate miracle, it happened again. Someone's elbow hit him in the back and he tripped over his own feet, bowling into Reyna and this time dragging them both to the floor.

"Sorry," Zane insisted again with a sheepish smile and he scrambled backward. He reached toward Reyna to help her up, but she quickly brushed him away.

"No, it's fine," she snapped, a little irritated. "I'm fine. Just get going." He opened his mouth to argue and tried to help again, but Reyna's attention was torn away when somebody in the crowd suddenly yelled loudly in pain. She sprang to her feet and pushed Zane aside, a glare on her face as her eyes scoured the room, noting that with whatever attack had just happened—accidental or otherwise—the commotion seemed to have increased.

"Move!" somebody shouted, and Reyna looked to see Frank shoving people aside with an angry look on his face. As he disappeared from view, Reyna turned to send Zane to find a medic, but to her slight surprise he'd gone as well. Clucking her tongue, she squared her shoulders and put on her hardest, most authoritative expression before marching forward. People seemed to part around her like she was magnetically charged and in no time she'd maneuvered the group enough to see exactly what her gut feeling had told her she'd see—Frank and Leo were crouched near the middle of the room, the latter clutching blood-covered hands over a slice in his left side.

Reyna swore under her breath as she quickly approached them. "What happened?" she demanded, glancing around and willing anyone to provide a satisfactory answer. Unsurprisingly, though, the crowd had fallen silent.

"I don't know," Leo grunted, his face screwed up in a twitching grimace. "Somebody… shoved me from behind. Accident, I think. I turned around—" His voice broke into a strangled yell as Frank tried to pull his hands away to get to the wound. Sighing shortly in worried frustration, Frank looked up at Reyna and held up his hands, telling her he didn't know anything more. Biting the inside of her cheek, Reyna coaxed Frank aside and knelt next to Leo herself for a closer look.

"Come on," she said firmly. Leo spared her a brief glance before squeezing his eyes shut again, breathing scratchily through gritted teeth. He relented, though, and removed shaking hands from his side. Carefully, Reyna lifted the hem of his bloodstained shirt to reveal a jagged gash across his waist that stretched around his back, thin but considerably deep. If Reyna had to guess by the angle and depth of the cut, she would conclude that someone had attempted to stab him in the back and he'd moved just barely in time to deflect the blade—assuming, of course, that it had been on purpose.

Leo winced when her fingers brushed his ribs as she leaned closer, and though she experienced no pain herself Reyna felt an odd sort of tremor sweep through her own body. His skin was hot—not feverish, but warm like he'd been lying in the sunlight. Just like I thought it'd be, she couldn't help but wonder, though she immediately backtracked afterward. This wasn't the time for such misplaced imaginings. She'd examined countless battle wounds before and felt no awkward tension in doing so. There was no reason for that to change now.

Retracting her hands, Reyna stood up, feeling her blood start to stir. She was furious. The games were over. Everyone in the room had been aware, she'd made sure of it herself. A big part of her doubted this attack had been unintentional or provoked, given what she'd seen earlier that day. But trying to kill someone during the games was one thing. Doing it after they'd ended was another thing entirely.

"What happened here?" an authoritative voice barked from behind Reyna, and she felt her jaw tighten as she turned to see Octavian emerging from the crowd of onlookers. He had a slightly miffed expression on his face—probably a result of his loss in the war games he'd been so eager to hold. Was it Reyna's imagination, though, or did his blue eyes seem to brighten a shade when they rested on Leo?

"An accident," Reyna replied shortly as Hazel pushed her way in beside Octavian. With a gasp, the daughter of Pluto rushed forward and dropped to one knee beside her Greek friend, setting a hand on his shoulder as he gave her a weak smile that was clearly meant to be reassuring.

Reyna turned away from Octavian and back to Frank, not wanting to dwell on the subject of her personal frustration at the moment. "Let's get him to the hospital. I'll look into this later." She shot a brief glare around the room at the last of those words, a silent intimidation technique. It was possible that there was nothing to look into at all, but on the chance that foul play had been involved, she needed whoever was responsible to know that she wasn't about to look the other way.

Leo staggered and almost lost his balance when Frank and Hazel pulled him to his feet. Judging by the hazy look in his eyes, he wouldn't make it to New Rome without help. Reyna sighed shortly when she realized that neither Frank nor Hazel was suited to the job—one was much too tall and the other much too short. Without a word, Reyna shouldered Frank aside and grabbed Leo's left arm, swinging it around her shoulders. He groaned at the strain and she felt him lean against her as his muscles seemed to tense in pained protest. The heat from his skin seemed to warm Reyna's own body, making blood rise in her chest and arms and boil beneath her flesh. Ignoring the discomfort, she wrapped her right arm around Leo's back, careful not to get too close to the tear in his shirt, and with what felt like a permanent scowl on her face she guided him as quickly as he could manage out of the fortress, Frank and Hazel on their heels.

"Maybe I should've worn that armor after all," Leo muttered to her with a breathy chuckle as the other legionnaires shuffled aside to make way.

Reyna grunted noncommittally in response to the wry joke. She met Octavian's icy eyes as they passed him and thought to herself, You were right before, Leo—you shouldn't have needed it. But I'm going to find out exactly why you did.


"And in that moment, like a swift intake of breath, the rain came."
—Truman Capote, Other Voices, Other Rooms


Yikes. So knock on wood, but I'm fairly certain the next few chapters should not take as long as this one did. I dunno why, I just hit this mega block early on in this one and it took me until yesterday to get over it. Yeah, two months of failed brainstorming and I end up writing almost this entire chapter in one day. God, that's lame.

So leave a review on your way out, pretty please, and I hope to see you again soon! Later days!

-oMM