8. Hunters and the Flame Runner

Sneaking out of the house was easier than I thought it'd be.

My parents' door was closed, and they didn't hear the squeaks that the floorboards made as I tiptoed to the door.

I'm out of breath –and glad it's not raining- when I stop in front of the Empire State Building.

It's 11:34. I stand in the middle of the sidewalk, people shoving and elbowing past me.

Where is…?

That's when I see a dark head by the doors. I can't see his face but when he pushes the door open I see the glint of a green eye.

Pushing through the people, I burst through the doors. The heel of a converse shoe disappears through the door that leads to the staircase. Forcing my hair out of my face, I throw open the door and start to dash up the stairs, vaguely wondering why no one stops me.

Every time I round a corner of the staircase, I can just see the heel of a converse shoe, disappearing around the next bend and up the next set of stairs. Above my heavy breathing, I can just hear the pounding of his footsteps. After an agonizing amount of time, I come to a door. There are no other stairs. I brace my hand against it, trying to catch my breath, a terrible stich sticking knives in my side. I suppose I should just be thankful I made it up alive.

Although with my luck, I'll probably die right here, right in front of this door…

As my breathing starts to even out, my heart starts to race as fast as it had when I was running. Why did he ask me to meet him here? My hand finds the door handle and I shove it open, stumbling out onto the roof.

A figure stands at the edge of the balcony, looking out over New York. With the intensity of the lights behind him, a shadow covers his face. But then he turns, and his green eyes burn brighter than any light in the city around.

"Thalia," Albus steps toward me, "I'm glad you came."

[[[]]]

It was suddenly impossible to breathe again. Partly because of the insane beating of my heart and partly because of how high up we are.

Albus walks forward until he's so close that I could reach out and touch him. His eyes gleam so that I want to reach out, close the space between us. But a crooked half smile turns the corners of his mouth up.

I want to slap the look off his face. One, because there's nothing to be smiling about, and two, how it turns my stomach, making me feel like I'm floating…

Albus lifts his arm so that his hand rests just inches from my face. My heart is going crazy, beating a tattoo against my chest. Just as I'm about to close my eyes and lean into him, he drops his hand, "I have something to tell you."

My stomach drops. I can feel what little color is in my face fade.

My mouth goes dry and I have trouble forming the word, "What?"

This time when he reaches out, his hand touches my face, and sends volts of electricity coursing down my spine. He traces a line down from my cheekbone to my lip, "You wouldn't believe me…" He whispers. I can see the secret in his eyes, growing larger and larger, threatening to overwhelm… I reach up and take his hand in mine, lacing our fingers together, "I will," I look up into his eyes. "Just tell me."

"I'm a wizard."

I don't think I really processed what he said, "You're a what?"

"A wizard."

"At what?"

"What?"

"What are you a wizard at?"

Albus knits his eyebrows together, "Magic?"

I take a step back. Why do I believe him?

His eyes darken, "I knew you wouldn't believe me." He turns his back and goes to stand at railing, looking over the city. I go to stand next to him, "It's not that I don't believe you it's just…" My mind wanders back to Half and the fish with the bubble voice, "You have better things to be doing than ogling at wizards and swimming in ponds."

"I wasn't ogling at him." I mutter to myself.

Albus turns to me, "Who weren't you ogling at?"

Color rushes to my face and my eyes grow wide, "Nobody!"

Albus smiles, the hurt look leaves his eyes as he pulls something out of his pocket. He holds it between us.

"A stick?" I ask utterly confused. Albus smiles and waves the stick between us. With a shower of sparks, a rose appears out of thin air. As Albus twirls the stem between his fingers, its iridescent petals shining in New York's lights.

He pushes my hair back and puts the flower behind my ear. His fingers linger a moment at the base of my neck. I stare up into his eyes, and then back down at the stick.

He pulls his hand away as he looks down too, "It's a wand." When I shake my head in confusion he says, "It's what I use to channel my magical powers." I raise my eyebrows. "Here," He opens my fingers and places the wand in my palm, closing my fingers back around it. "Oak and dragon heartstring." I stare up at him, "Dragonheartstring?" He smiles.

I turn the wand over in my fingers. A certain energy emanates from it, warm to the touch. I look up to see Albus's eyes trained on my face again. "It feels like-"

"Like what?" His eyes bore into mine.

"Like it's-"

"Gravitated?"

I nod, "Towards you." How does he know what I'm thinking all the time? Well… hopefully not all the time…

He nods, "The wand chooses the wizard." He says simply, even though I don't see anything simple about it.

In the span of about five minutes, what I thought was the stuff of fairytales has turned out to be real. I hand the wand back to Albus because it seems to like it better that way.

We stand there watching each other for a bit, the lights of New York flickering in the background.

"So you believe me?" Albus asks hopefully, his eyes cast around at anything but me.

I shake my head, "You just made a rainbow rose appear out of thin air. How could I not believe you?"

He laughs, "I have to show you something." He walks to the other side of roof and turns back to me, "Just… don't scream okay?"

I shake my head, completely mute now. What's he going to do? Albus stands on the edge of the roof. He looks over for a second, then back at me, grinning.

Then he jumps off the roof.

Wait, what?!

I have to shake my head to make sure I wasn't just seeing things. But no, Albus is definitely not where he was two seconds ago. I don't even have time to process the thought of screaming before I race to the edge of the roof and look down. I squint. I can't see him… anywhere. We're too high up for him to hit the ground already… right?

A pathetic squeak escapes me. Covering my mouth, I stare down at the ground. What just happened? My head starts to spin, and I barely register the sudden gust of wind whipping my hair around.

"What're you looking for down there?"

I whip around to see Albus, his eyes glowing in the near darkness. "You just… just…" I can't form a complete thought. That's when I notice Albus is sitting on a… "Is that a… a…" I give up, "What is that?"

Albus looks down as if just noticing that he's hovering over the ground. "Flying broomstick," He says modestly. And that would be when I crack. I sink to the ground, covering my mouth. Magic wands and appearing roses? Bring it on. Guys jumping off the Empire State Building? A little squeal but not much more than that. Now flying broomsticks is what Thalia Jackson can't handle?

Seriously?

I take a deep breath and stand up. Albus smiles sheepishly, "I know it's a lot to take in." All I can do is breathe slowly… breathe slowly and nod.

I walk around him, levitating on his broomstick three feet in the air. On my fourth time around the broom, Albus sticks his hand out in front of me, "Do you trust me?" I just stand there; staring at his hand like it's a poisonous snake.

He asks again, "Do you trust me?" In response, I grab his hand. It doesn't seem real, the way he swings me up onto the back of the broom behind him. It's like I'm watching it all through another person's eyes, not my own.

My vision starts to go fuzzy, looking down at the roof three feet below. I must've started to slip off because Albus grabbed my arms and, slowly, wrapped them around his waist.

"I've got you," He says. "Ready?" I tighten my grip in response, and we shoot off into the night.

[[[]]]]

For the first half of the ride, I keep my eyes shut tight. When Albus looks back at me, he laughs. I open my eyes a crack and Albus says, "You know, I'm having a little trouble breathing. Would you mind," Is it just me or are his cheeks a little pink? "Loosening your grip… just a bit."

I realize then how tight my arms are clasped around his waist. Now I feel my face going red as I release my grip and promptly start to slip off the broom. "Eep!" Albus pulls me back up again and I loop my arms back around him, hopefully not as tight as before.

The cold air hitting my face brings me out of my stupor. After a while, I become less tense. Albus must realize it too because he asks, "You ready for this?" Before I can answer, he leans forward as we loop and zoom across the sky, weaving around the buildings.

Hours later, we get back to the Empire State Building. I hop off the broom.

Just when I was getting used to being in the air… Albus jumps down behind me, holding the broom upright in his hand. In a fancy gold script, the words Flame Runner are written down the handle of the broomstick. Albus sees me looking at it and smiles, "Fastest broom in the world… at the moment. Rumor has it there's going to be a Flame Runner 470 out in the next couple months."

I nod, "Thanks… for tonight." I look up to see his eyes trained on me again.

But I'm glad to see now that there's no secret in them anymore.

I reach out, and wrapping my hand around his neck, gently plant a kiss on his cheek. I freeze, realizing what I've just done. I can feel Albus tense underneath my fingertips. Before I can do anything else to ruin the moment, I turn around throw open the heavy metal door, and start racing back down the stairs.

I stop halfway down the third flight of stairs.

What am I doing?

Opening the closest door, I go looking for an elevator. When I finally do find one, I push the down arrow.

And wait.

And wait.

Why isn't it working?

I push the button again, but nothing happens. "Here, let me get that for you," I turn around to see an older version of Albus standing behind me.

His dad. Oh poop. He steps forward to swipe his personnel card in a scanner next to the button. A light flashes and the doors open with a ding.

Well then. I feel stupid. I step inside after Albus's dad, trying not to make eye contact.

Has Albus told his parents about me?

"Thalia, isn't it?" I flinch, giving myself away. I turn around, only to see the same eyes as Albus's staring down at me. My stomach gives way and I can feel my face flushing. "Ummm…"

"Sorry," He says, holding out a hand, "I'm Harry. Harry Potter. I work with your mum and dad."

Oh. Okay. I reach out and gingerly take his hand, "Hello, Mr. Potter." The elevator doors open with a ding and I step into the lobby. "Nice meeting you," I wave to Mr. Potter and try not to bolt outside.

Pushing through the revolving glass doors, I turn and run into someone. Mumbling an apology, I step aside, only for the person to grab me by the shoulders. "Thalia!"

"Albus! What are you doing? How'd you get down here…?" His eyes flick to the broomstick in his hand.

Right.

I don't think I'll ever get used to that. I hear the door behind us start to spin.

Crap.

"Albus!" I push his arms away. "Albus, go!" I say it with more force than I meant to, and his eyes flicker uncertainly.

"What? Wh… why?"

"Ah, just, Albus! Your-" I gesture towards the door.

"Albus?" Harry Potter comes to stand behind us. He doesn't even seem to notice that I'm standing there.

I try to take a step back, but Albus catches my eye and I freeze.

"What are you doing here so early, Albus?" Harry's eyes bore into his son's identical ones.

"Oh! Yeah, ah, right, I was just here… Mum wanted to know when… you were going to be getting… back!" Albus said with a little too much enthusiasm.

"Oh, so her meeting got canceled?"

"What meeting? I mean… Yes. Yes it did."

Harry shakes his head, "We'll talk about this later. When your mother's meeting gets let out."

Albus looks down and is suddenly fascinated with his shoes. Harry nods satisfactorily, and finally seems to notice I'm standing there, "Oh, Albus, I almost forgot, have you met Thalia, here?" Harry pats me on the shoulder.

I hold my breath. Albus looks up at me, the tips of his ears reddening, "Um, no, can't say that I've had the pleasure."

He holds out his hand and stifling a laugh, I take it.

Albus holds onto my hand a little too long.

I pull back and turn to Mr. Potter, "I should really get going." Harry's eyes flash, hovering on the flower that's still in my hair.

My hand twitches to take it out, but I decide that would be too obvious.

Harry just smiles, a smile that makes me smile too.

I start backing up down the sidewalk, "It was nice meeting you Mr. Potter. You too, Albus." Albus winks at me from behind his father's back.

But I see his smile fade as Harry turns back to him and grabs him by the ear, dragging him back the opposite way, back to their hotel.

[[[[]]]

A wolf bays in the distance, jolting Xandria out of a restless sleep. Moon fall. Just when they said they would be here. She'd decided to sleep in her clothes last night, to be ready for this exact moment. Jumping out of bed, she tidied her room, even though everything was already too clean. Looking down through the tiny window, she saw a silver arrow stuck point down in the ground below. Time to go.

At the door, she takes one last sweep of her room. It may have been small, only big enough for the cot laying on the floor, the small chest of drawers and some of her drawings stuck up to the low ceiling.

But her family had cared enough to give it to her. She could've been a whole lot worse off. She didn't deserve them, no matter how cruel they were sometimes… But no matter how many times they said so, she knew they didn't want her. After the first time she had talked to the Hunters, Xandria had paid close attention to the way her family treated her. And she came to the conclusion that she was more of a loyal puppy than a sister or daughter to them, with the exception of Noel, of course.

Noel was always the exception. To Noel, Xandria had never been anything more than a useless worm. No magic, no worth. That was what Xandria thought Noel's motto would be.

Creeping down the stairs, she ran her hand along the walls, saying good-bye to the manor she had lived in since the day she was born, fourteen years ago. And now she was leaving. But it was for the better. For everyone, she reminded herself.

Especially for her.

Outside, she stared through the forest, following the baying of the wolf. She came to a circle of pine trees; she'd walked past so many times before, but never thought anything of it. Now though, she found a small opening between some branches, and snuck through.

The wolf stopped howling. It stood straight in front of Xandria; its yellow eyes glowing in the early morning sun. A few girls, no older than her, stood behind the wolf, bows and arrows in hand. One of them stepped forward, the one with spiky dark hair, the one named Thalia, the one Xandria had spoken to last time.

"Are you ready?" Xandria nodded. Good-bye Ambrosia Manor, good-bye Father, Mother, Xander… Thalia waved a hand in front of Xandria's face, "Hey! What's your name?" Xandria blinked. This was her chance to start over, away from her family, away from the wizards… "Z." Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Your name is Zee?"

Xandria shook her head, "No, Z. Like the letter." Thalia gave a curt nod, obviously not entirely convinced, and mumbled something under her breath about people in Britain. A smaller girl with chocolate brown hair, still standing behind the wolf, gave a little cough.

Thalia started, and then shook her head, trying to clear it, "Right then… Z. So you know you're never going to get married, you'll never die, unless you're killed in battle, and you'll be forever faithful to Artemis." Z had been thinking about this for the last three weeks, of course she was ready. But her stomach still flipped and flopped as she nodded her head yes.

Thalia's electric blue eyes glinted, "Good. Then repeat after me: I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt."

Z repeated the whole thing, but after she was done, she didn't feel any different… Thalia turned to look behind her at the girl with the chocolate brown hair, "Lady Artemis, do you accept Z's pledge?"

The girl, Lady Artemis Z now realized, stepped forward, walked around the wolf, and placed a hand on Z's forehead, "I accept your pledge, Z." There is a trickling sensation, starting from the point where Artemis's hand touches Z's head. "You are now a Hunter of Artemis," She whispered, and lets her hand fall back down to her side.

And that's when Z started to feel different. With a renewed energy, she smiled. Thalia and Artemis smiled too and gestured to the other Hunter and the wolf still standing behind them. Feeling like she could run million miles, Z followed them out of Pine Tree Circle, out of Ambrosia Manor, and out of her old life.

[[[[]]]

Noel woke up, breathing heavily, not entirely sure why… She laid back, the flash of green still imprinted on the backs of eyelids, as it always was when she woke up.

Her heart slowed again… and that's when she heard it. A wolf, baying, like the howl it makes at a full moon. She jumped out of bed, immediately awake. It couldn't be a full moon, not yet anyway… Noel walked across the room to the double windows and peered down at the pristine lawn below.

Everything looked normal; the moon was just starting to fade, long shadows darkened everything in view. The wolf bayed in the distance again, causing Noel to tense up. But she shook her head. It didn't make sense! She kept an extremely close eye on the full moon now, and even if it was a full moon- which it wasn't! – She reminded herself again. Peter wouldn't be here. He was in Hogsmeade.

Noel ran her fingers through her long, white-blonde hair.

Just as she was about to turn away from the window, she saw a shadow move across the grass. Squinting, she could just make out of the shape of a girl, running along the front of the house. What was she doing?

In the waning light, it took Noel a minute to realize who she was. "Xandria…" She whispered with disgust. It was like Xandria could hear Noel's whisper, though the window and across the lawn. Noel watched Xandria stop at the edge of the forest and look behind her, looking for the source of the whisper.

Noel braced her hand against the window, ready to jump out of the way if Xandria were to look up.

Turned out she didn't have to worry. Xandria took a deep breath and turned back to the forest, disappearing into the trees.

Forever. Ha! Noel thought. One could only hope… She sighed. "Good riddance, Xandria Zoe Ambrosia," Noel muttered, taking her wand off the dresser next to her and twirling it between her fingers. "We won't be missing you," A shower of red and silver sparks shot out of the end of Noel's wand, "Filthy squib." She smiled as the wolf howled again in the distance, and a vision of Xandria meeting up with it flew through Noel's mind.

The thought faded quickly though. She knew from Peter's stories that you shouldn't wish a werewolf onto anybody. Noel sighed. Even a squib, she thought bitterly.

Turning away from the window, Noel twirled her wand aimlessly between her fingers, sending more sparks flying through the air. Standing in front of the full-length mirror, Noel took in her appearance, white-blonde hair, pale blue eyes, the thin, white scar running down the side of her neck…

Noel sighed and pulled her hair over her shoulder to hide the scar from view. Taking a deep breath, Noel closed her eyes and started to walk back across the room to her bed, only to trip on something and fall to the floor, cursing.

That was a first….

Looking around, Noel saw what she had tripped on. Crawling back, she slid the book from the restricted section into her lap, and opened it to the page she had been reading last night.

Standing up, Noel brought the book back to bed, "Lumos!" and in the light of her wand, she started to read.

[[[[]]]

I hurry down the street, constantly looking behind me, but for what I don't know. I pull the rose out of my hair, surprised that Harry hadn't commented on it.

Twirling the stem between my fingers, I watch the flickering colors dance. I brush the petals against my cheek, remembering the feel of my lips pressed against Albus's cheek. I can feel my face flush and I look behind me again.

By the time I get back to the apartment, it's after 3:30.

I have trouble getting the key into the door. When I finally push it open, a hand comes up behind me and brushes my shoulder. I gasp so loudly the hand covers my mouth. I spin around, half-hoping to see Albus, only to see Ben, his blue eyes bright, "Where were you?" His voice is so demanding, I stop and stare. His hand falls down to his side, but his eyes still bore into mine.

"What are you doing here? It's like… 3:00!" I finally ask.

"Where were you?" He asks again, grabbing my arm and shaking it.

"I… I was," I shake my head. "Wait, why does it matter? Why would I tell you?"

Ben runs his hands through his hair, and turns away, "It's just… I'm not supposed to tell you…" My vision starts to go a little fuzzy and I sink to the floor outside the open front door. Do those words remind you of anything?

"Ben…" He turns back to me and in a flash is kneeling at my side clasping my hand in his. This is too weird…

"I'm sorry Thalia. I wish I could tell you. It's just… it's for your own safety," Here we go with the safety thing again.

Before I'm completely aware of what I'm doing, I'm on my feet, my arm at Ben's throat, pinning him against the wall. I try to ignore the look he's giving me.

"If someone tells me those words one more time," I press my arm harder, "I am going to murder them." I snarl.

When Ben sees that I'm still not telling him anything he sighs, a disappointed look clouding his features. Why does my stomach drop at his look? "Fine. I suppose you've already heard that one from your parents." Whaaat? Ben takes a deep breath as I let remove my arm, somewhat disgusted with myself for being so soft.

"There are… things… that are trying to hurt you, and I… I'm your protector. I'm supposed to protect you from harm. That's why I needed to know where you were." A few things go through my mind:

Wait a second Ben is protecting me, the clumsy boy with the limp?

And protecting me from things. Such a descriptive word.

"Uh…" Wow. Real intelligent, Thalia… Ben smiles, "I know it's probably a lot to take in, but…" Why do I believe him? I give him a hard, scrutinizing look, to see if he's lying, but he holds my gaze and I step back.

I hardly hear what he says to me. All I can think about is that this is the first piece of information I've gotten since I listened to Luke and my parents through the door last Saturday when we moved in.

This thought gives me a little burst of energy. After a pause, Ben grasps my arm, "Thalia, promise me you won't do anything stupid. Just know… if you're ever in trouble… I'll be there." He reassuringly squeezes my arm one last time and steps back.

With a nod, I step back into the apartment and close the door behind me, my last glimpse of Ben's blue eyes, wide with concern.

Floating down the hall and into my bedroom, I try not to run into any walls in the complete darkness. I barely have time to push off my shoes and set Albus's rose on the table next to me before my eyes fall closed.

I wake up when someone walks into my room and sits on the edge of my bed.

Keeping my eyes closed, I pretend to be asleep as Mom strokes the side of my face.

"See Percy," she whispers, "she's here."

"I could have sworn I heard-"

"But you didn't. It's just all the pressure with Olympus and the Ministry. I told you she was fine."

Now Dad is sitting on the other side of the bed. He leans down to kiss my forehead, "Are we doing the right thing?"

"What else can we do? I still have faith in her, she's a survivor."

"Keep your voice down, Annabeth; we don't want her to wake up."

I feel the bed shift again as Mom gets up. "Oh look Percy," She's standing at the window, "Someone's been going through our stuff."

Dad stands to join her. "Moon lace." Did my flower in the window box grow?

Annabeth snickers, "C'mon Percy, it's time to go."

As they close the door behind them, I open one eye to see the flower I planted, its satiny petals shining in the moonlight.