Two days later, we were packed into the back of Matt's car and ready to leave. There hadn't been any sign of Luke yet, and it made me anxious. It worried me a little to think of how patient and deceptive he was. He'd easily managed to fool everyone at camp last summer, and he hadn't been in any rush to see his plan completed. He'd been cool and calm throughout the whole thing. I knew that if he thought he stood more of a chance waiting until we let our guard down, he'd wait as long as he had to.
Even worse, I knew one very persistent person who wasn't anywhere near as patient.
When I'd particularly begged Apollo not to come anywhere near me after he'd left me here, he'd agreed. A little reluctantly, but he'd given me his word he wouldn't visit me again. And I suppose, technically, he'd stayed well away just like he said he would. What he failed to mention however, were the not-so-subtle methods he'd taken to using to check up on me. For example, I'd only gone into the town centre for five minutes the other day to pick up a replacement for one of Felicity's toys after Jake had stabbed it repeatedly with a kitchen knife – long story, but in his defence, it did kind of remind me of a harpy. Still, on my way into the toy story I'd run headfirst into a girl about a head-shorter than me who hadn't even felt my elbow collided with the side of her face. In fact, I was the only one to stagger backward in surprise. She'd just beamed at me, clutching what looked like a tiny harp to her chest.
"Are you alright?" she asked in a strangely musical voice. I blinked, gawping at her in disbelief. Her smile never wavered, and for a moment, I thought I was losing it. Then I realised she was probably the only other person in a five mile radius with an American accent and my face fell.
"You've got to be kidding me," I frowned at her, my eyes locked onto the harp in her hands. She'd just giggled and floated away with a wink.
"A Muse?" Will had blinked at me when I explained what had taken me so long. "You met one of the Nine Muses of Apollo? How?"
"I'm extremely unlucky," I'd grumbled to myself. Fortunately, he'd been too stunned to listen to me.
On the other hand, that wasn't nearly as disturbing as half of the dreams I'd been having since I arrived here. I knew for a fact that it was Apollo directly influencing them, instead of the locket having the nasty side-effect of showing me the future because the metal hadn't burnt the skin it sat on for about a week. And still, every time I closed my eyes, I found myself in a dream having a perfectly normal conversation with the Sun God, or on one strange occasion, bowling at a bowling alley I'd visited with Percy and Sally in the first week I'd stayed with them.
However you looked at it, Apollo was still there. I could just about handle the random visits from a Muse, but controlling my dreams? It made me incredibly uncomfortable to think he could manipulate my thoughts so easily, and the fact that I never realised they were just dreams until I woke up didn't help matters.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Matt asked for the hundredth time as he handed me the keys to his old home. It wasn't much; just a small cottage on the outskirts of town. But that was probably a good thing. I wasn't entirely sure it would still be standing when we were finished.
"Better than bringing you into any more trouble," I insisted.
"I still can't shift the feeling we're missing something." I hesitated, then sighed heavily and pulled a cheap mobile phone out of my pocket and handed it to him. He blinked. "We're not supposed to use these."
"I'm well aware of that," I grimaced. "But if you need it, you'll already be in more trouble than you can handle." He didn't look very reassured, but I stepped out of the car in time to catch Will's arm before he staggered again.
"Thanks," he mumbled at me. He and Daniel had fortunately recovered a lot quicker than I had thought they would, and though I was still reluctant to leave the three of them to their own devices, I knew Luke was here for me. They'd probably be better off.
"Sasha's already caught the scent of monsters off to the west," I continued. "I don't think she's caught up with them yet, but she won't be able to go much further and still contact me, so I'm going to head out after her."
"Whoa," Daniel scowled. "Is that such a good idea?"
"Probably not," I admitted. "But have you got any better ideas?"
Will let out a low whistle beside me, shuffling on his one good ankle. "Those guys almost wiped the three of us out without breaking a sweat, Acacia," he pointed out quietly. "I know you're good and everything, but what do you expect to be able to do?"
"I want to know why he's here," I replied impatiently. "We have no idea why he wants me, or even if I'm the one he's after."
"This is a bad idea," Daniel frowned. "But since I know I'm not going to talk you out of it . . ." He dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a golden drachma, flicking it in my direction. "If something goes wrong, call us immediately. Okay?"
I nodded stiffly. "Got it."
"Good luck," Jake grimaced at me as I turned and rushed down to the end of the street, following Sasha's very faint voice in an attempt to find her.
The pressure I'd been under recently seemed to fade a fraction when I was finally alone, heading further and further out of the city. There was no need to sieving through my thoughts and try to determine how much I could tell the others without causing any more trouble, no need to assess how my actions would be taken or, best of all, how much danger I was putting them in. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into, being over here. None of them knew I was being tested, and no one knew that my latest test was just a under-handed tactic so that Aphrodite could get under Apollo's skin.
Honestly though, I found it was hard even to worry about that. For the past few weeks, life had been utter chaos. There was no sense, no logic, and much more confusion than a girl of my intelligence could ever deal with. Now, I had a target and an objective, something I could focus on long enough to regain a small amount of control over my own life.
I'd been moving for about half an hour before I came to the end of the city suburbs, and one large field stood between me and the towering trees I knew Sasha had disappeared into. For a moment, I panicked that the field was far too open. If I got halfway across that and realised I was in trouble, there'd be nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
Then I figured it didn't really matter one way or the other and started off at a run.
Luckily, I reached the treeline without incident, but I'd barely slowed to a steady walk when an urgent howl sliced the air. I went rigid, holding my breath awkwardly. It sounded like Sasha, but . . . different somehow.
Frowning, I flicked my locket open. Sasha? I thought.
Yes, my lady, I'm fine, her reply came immediately. And there is no need for weapons, though I do not think you're going to like what is going to happen next.
What? I asked in shock. What does that mean?
These are not people you will see eye to eye with, my lady, she told me blandly, and I was sure I could hear a little bit of judgement in that sentence. Before I could think about asking her to explain properly, something shifted to my left and I had one of my swords in my hand before I could take breath.
Clamping my hand around it tightly, I stepped forward to see past the tree to my right and made out an arrow being drawn back in the same second. Heart leaping into my throat, I spun the sword in my hand expertly, knocking the arrow to the side and letting the sword come to rest on the attacker's shoulder, all in the space of time it took me to blink.
With another blink, I was surrounded by archers all aiming in my direction.
I warned you not to use weapons, my lady, Sasha's wry voice came, and I could tell she'd dropped the monsters trail altogether, turning to race back to me as fast as she could.
I didn't answer, praying that none of the archers could hear my heart hammering furiously in my chest. The girl in front of me must have been at least a few years older than me, with long silky black hair that was braided over one shoulder and delicate, coppery skin. She wore worn jeans, combat boots and a silver parka jacket, like most of the other girls surrounding me, but unlike the others, a small silver circlet sat on top of her head. Her dark eyes reminded me oddly of a volcano, and the small amount of courage that had allowed me to keep the sword to her throat began to waver under her intense glare.
Then she spoke, and my resolve strengthened again. "Acacia Grace," she stated, like the name tasted badly. I didn't answer, but I could feel myself developing a very strong dislike for this girl, something that rarely happened to me. I liked to think of myself as an understanding, patient person. I lived with Percy Jackson, after all. But something about this girl made my lips purse tightly. Sasha obviously thought she was no real danger, and apparently agreed more with her outlook on life than mine, which was the only thing that made me reluctant to say anything to aggravate the situation.
"You can lower your sword now, Grace," the girl instructed sharply.
"I don't even know who you are," I pointed out in a measured tone. "As far as I can tell, you don't like me very much."
The girl hesitated, scanning my appearance critically. "I have no reason to dislike you," she replied. "Unless of course you refuse to lower your weapon." Taking a deep breath, I slowly pulled my sword back. The girl took a breath and waved a hand at the other girls. Reluctantly, they lowered their bows and straightened out a fraction. "I am Zoe Nightshade," the girl in charge said. "I am the Lieutenant in the goddess Artemis's Hunt."
My expression slacked in surprise. "Oh," was the only reply I could find.
Zoe lifted an eyebrow. "Oh? Something wrong, Grace?"
"I really hope not," I mumbled, too quietly for her to make out.
Her jaw locked irritably, her eyes narrowing a fraction. "I met your sister, Thalia, once," she told me sternly and I felt my fists clenching before I could help it. "We gave her the opportunity to join the Hunt, and she foolishly turned it down. She refused to leave that boy she was always with."
My chest constricted too tightly. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. "Luke Castellan."
Zoe hesitated at the tone in my voice. Admittedly, I wasn't sure I could have sounded much more venomous if I'd tried, and it sounded completely alien coming from my own mouth. Slowly, Zoe's eyebrows tightened again. "You do not like him?"
"You don't keep up with current events, do you?" I found myself snapping shortly. "Thalia is dead. Luke led an attack on camp last summer, and now he's up to something else, and no one has a clue how to find out what it is let alone how to stop it."
Her face straightened, completely emotionless. "I warned her," she told me simply.
"I beg your pardon?" I found myself snarling, but before I could do more than think about taking my sword back out, Sasha barked loudly and bolted into the middle of the group, coming to a graceful halt by my feet.
Something in Zoe's expression faltered, and her eyes flicked reluctantly between me and the immortal wolf guarding me. One of the girls to my left cleared her throat pointedly. "I apologise, if I offended you," she said through her teeth and my jaw locked. "I was merely pointing out that-"
"My sister was an idiot for giving her life to save him," I finished sourly. "Yeah, I got that." Zoe's lips pursed.
"Zoe, we're losing the trail," another of the girls said in a clear voice.
"They've changed direction," the one beside her scowled. "They're on the move."
"Which way are they heading?"
"Back into the city centre," the first girl answered immediately. "We don't know why, but they're heading to the east side."
At my feet, Sasha stiffened just as a cold chill ran down my spine, like someone had dropped an ice cube across my skin. My lady, Sasha started cautiously. I'm afraid Mr Graham may have been right along . . . You should not have left.
Her words echoed in the back of my mind, and I had to gulp hard before I could talk. "East?" I blurted, unable to stop my panic showing as I locked my eyes on the girl that had spoken. She blinked at me, a little startled.
Zoe frowned carefully. "What lies to the east?" she asked.
I ignored her, shifting on my feet. "How far out are they?"
"Acacia Grace-" Zoe started irritably, but the other girl cleared her throat with a grimace.
"About five minutes," she told me in a quiet voice, avoiding Zoe's burning gaze.
Terror shot through me like a bolt of lightning, and before I could stop to think, my feet skidded back the way I came and I raced out of the woods. The Hunters didn't try and stop me, but I could hear Zoe hurriedly giving out instructions before following me.
Sasha bolted out ahead of me. I can travel much faster than you, my lady. I'll do what I can to hold them off until you can get there.
It felt like my chest was being ripped apart. I needed to get back before Luke, but Sasha had been a huge part of my life for almost a year now. She never wavered, she never left my side, and she was the only living thing I could be entirely myself around. I couldn't bear the thought of her getting hurt. But she was already rushing away, and before I'd even managed to break out of the woods, she'd disappeared from sight.
"Grace!" Zoe's determined yell came from behind me as she ran after me. "You have no idea what you are running into you! Stupid girl!"
I ignored her. The last thing I needed on top of everything else was getting into a fight with Artemis's lieutenant. Artemis was one of the few gods who wasn't trying too hard to get me killed, and I was more than a little positive she was doing everything she could to keep Apollo at bay.
It took far too long to get back into the city centre, and despite onlookers gawp at me like I was insane, I pushed harder and sped as fast as possible to return to the Cunningham's house. Cutting through a child's play park, I vaulted over fence after fence and skidded around corner after corner until finally, I could see monsters swarming in the middle of the street.
Taking a sharp breath, I staggered to a halt, quivering in panic. Pushing as much of it as I could to the back of my mind, I flicked my locket open and pulled my bow off my shoulders, loading an arrow in the same second. Lightning crackled along its surface before I'd even drawn it back, and overhead, the clouds darkened. Sensing something was wrong, the monsters hesitated and looked up, but it was too late. I pulled the arrow back and released in the space of a split second, and lightning crashed thunderously as it collided with the middle target.
The resulting explosion made even me stagger back a step, and behind me, Zoe yelped in surprise and dropped to the ground, shielding her head with her arms. Ahead of us, the monsters had all exploded in one large cloud of yellow dust, and the sight made fists clench around my bow.
"Acacia," Zoe started.
I shot her a cool look and hurried forward again, jamming the bow back over my shoulders and taking out a sword as I neared the house. The front door was hanging by its hinges, and the front windows had all been broken. The sight made me hesitate, overcome with a sudden aching in my chest. This couldn't be happening. Not again. I'd lost my mother like this once already, I couldn't lose another family.
The thought made a fierce determination burn suddenly in the pit of my stomach. Swinging the sword around expertly, I kicked the door open properly and barely managed to side-step in time to avoid a head on collision with a growling hellhound. It skidded in front of Zoe, who looked at it in disgust before shooting an arrow straight through its eyes. A second scrambled clumsily through the doorway, but I jabbed it through the chest with my sword before it could even regain its balance.
Shaking the yellow dust out of my hair, I strode into the house, ignoring the painful twinges at the sight of the living room furniture lay broken and scattered around the floor. I had just taken a step into the room, gripping my sword tight, when a shrill scream sounded upstairs followed quickly by a fierce snarl.
"Go," Zoe frowned at me. "I shall hold anymore off from here."
I didn't stick around to argue. Taking the stairs two at a time, I bolted around into Felicity's room and kicked at the door. This time, it wouldn't budge. Shouldering it with a yell of frustration, I had to collect myself quickly before I collapsed with helplessness. I had to help them.
"SASHA!" I pretty much screamed through the door.
My lady, it's no use! her panicked reply came. There is something wrong, I cannot move!
Is everyone away from the door?
Apart from two hellhounds and an empousai. It said a lot that for once, she didn't ask me what rash, stupid thing I was about to do this time.
Backing away from the door with gritted teeth, I pulled my bow back off my shoulders and loaded it. Drawing it back, I summoned as much lightning as I dared and aimed straight for the door handle.
This time, the explosion rattled the house and blew the door straight off its hinges, and a shrill shriek told me I found my target. I didn't wait for the dust to settle, leaping over the broken door and into the room.
"Kelsey!" Felicity cried, running straight into my legs and wrapping her small arms around them. Behind her, Mary gave a relieved sob, shaking all over. Matt was nowhere to be seen, and in the corner, Sasha's fur was stood on end and she was sniffing the air with small growls.
"Sasha," I breathed, lowering myself to my knees to hug Felicity tightly. "What's wrong?"
My lady, there's a presence here I've never felt before, she told me slowly, her growls growing louder. It's . . . strong, my lady. Too strong to fight. We must leave immediately.
I'd never seen Sasha back away from a fight before, but the tone of her voice disturbed me. Gulping hard, I nodded sharply and straightened back out, just as a yell came from downstairs. "ACACIA, RUN!" Zoe screamed, and I whipped around.
"Oh, I wouldn't try that," a drawing voice came, and my heart stopped. Luke Castellan grinned at me smugly. "Disappointed by the gods, yet again," he grimaced, sighing heavily. "I really thought you'd have learnt by now, Acacia."
My voice was stuck in my throat. I couldn't speak past the anger burning in my chest. But I didn't have to. Luke had already made my mind up for me. Without hesitating, he lifted his hand and waved to someone behind him, and two shapes moved into the room accompanied by a half-blood I'd never seen before. The shapes turned out to be monsters that looked half human, half bear. Staring at them in surprise, my mind couldn't even register what it was seeing properly.
"Agrius and Oreius," Luke said, answering my unspoken question. "Who will be happy to kill your mortal friend and little wolf here without hesitating if you don't do exactly as I say."
What little colour she still had drained from Mary's face, and Sasha leapt in front of her, snarling and shaking in anger. Behind me, Felicity whimpered and clutched the back of my jackets, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Luke's eyes dropped to her face, and he knelt down to her level. I tensed, eyes narrowing. "Don't worry, Felicity," he said softly. "Acacia told me all about you. I'm not going to hurt you or your sister, I just need your help, okay?"
My stomach jerked and without thinking, I flicked my wrist and brought my sword straight to his throat. He went rigid, and the bear-people behind him growled, moving forward. "Wait!" he ordered, holding them back. "Acacia isn't going to kill me."
My anger flared. "Try me," I snarled at him.
He actually had the nerve to laugh at me. "You can't fight your way out of this one, Acacia," he pointed out arrogantly. "And the gods can't save you now. I'm sure Camp Half-Blood agrees they've played far too big a role in your life already."
Fear paralysed me for a moment, and my face fell. "What did you do?" I breathed in panic.
His eyes narrowed. "They deserved to know the truth," he muttered darkly. "Though frankly, I thought they had more loyalty for you than that."
He was turning camp against me . . . My heart thumped pathetically against my rib cage as he straightened back out. "You have a choice, Acacia. You and your sister come with me and you live. I won't lay a finger on your family here and the campers and the gods won't be able to reach either of you. Or, you can stay here, remain loyal to gods prepared to turn their backs on you to prevent a rebellion from their own children, and die. It's really as simple as that."
It felt like my world had just crashed around me. What scared me most was that Luke was right. However twisted he was, if Camp was turning against their parents for spending so much time with me, I was safer with him than I was anywhere else. And Felicity . . . the campers wouldn't really hurt her, would they? She was just a kid, after all.
Shaking all over, I gulped hard and drew back my sword slowly. My lady! Sasha protested in amazement, but I ignored her.
Luke's lips curved into a smug smile. "Good choice."
"Don't push it," I growled through my teeth. "You even think about hurting Felicity or any of the others-"
"You have my word," he assured me.
My eyebrows tightened. "That includes camp."
He hesitated. "You're still protecting them? They would see the gods kill you for everything you've done for them."
"So you say, but you ever even think about attacking them again and I swear to Zeus I'll make your life as difficult as humanly possible. Understand?"
His lips twitched. "Perfectly. Shall we?" He stepped back and indicated to the door behind him and my chest clenched. I couldn't believe I was doing this, but in that second, I swore I'd find out what was really going on, whatever it took. Luke might have agreed not to hurt anyone for now, but that wouldn't last long. It couldn't.
I'd find a way out of this. I had to.
