Sooo there's a typhoon drawing closer and closer to my hometown, Hong Kong - looks like I'll be able to skip school tomorrow. Which means I get time to update! Yay!

Annabeth Chase POV

I decided to head to Luke's apartment to tell him about what I'd done, about the way I'd been unfaithful. I breathed in and out, in and out. Obviously I'd never done this before – I hadn't had that many boyfriends before Luke, and I'd certainly never cheated – so of course I was feeling nervous. Very nervous, in fact. Extremely nervous.

Luke lived in Queens, so I took the subway. All the way I was trembling. Luke had a fierce temper, and while I'd never seen the full extent of his wrath, I knew it was a terrible thing to behold. I certainly didn't want him to unleash it on me.

I walked down the street on which Luke's apartment building was located. Luke's neighbourhood wasn't exactly the safest in New York. I certainly wouldn't dare come here by myself at night.

As I approached the building, though, I heard voices. When I realized that I recognized one of the voices, I slowed, and came to a halt by a narrow, seedy-looking alleyway.

The voices were coming from in the alley. I identified one of the voices as Luke's. The other one was a deep, cold, sinister-sounding voice that sent shivers down my spine. I poked my head into the alley to have a look. Immediately I had to stifle a gasp of horror at what I saw.

Luke was standing with a huge, muscular man. He towered over Luke, who was already pretty tall. He had his arms crossed over his broad chest, showing off impressive tattoos that seemed to cover every inch of his arms. The man sported a short beard and moustache, and his pitch-black hair fell down to his shoulders. It was his eyes that really made me shudder – they had an evil, malicious glint in them. I recognized him at once from the newspapers.

Kronos. The drug lord. One of the most wanted men in the United States, Kronos controlled an enormous network of illegal drug trafficking that covered almost the entire East Coast. The FBI had been searching for him for years, yet they'd never found him. Kronos' huge drug empire was incredibly lucrative and had made him rich beyond anyone's dreams. Not only was he a drug lord, he was also a murderer. Kronos was notorious for killing anyone who got in the way of his empire's expansion – or anyone who ticked him off. After his first divorce, his ex-wife had been found in a hotel room in Van Buren, Maine, with her throat slit. Because of the baggage in her room, and the proximity of the hotel to the New Brunswick border, there was a popular theory that she'd been trying to escape across the border into Canada. Evidently, she hadn't made it.

Luke looked terrified to be in Kronos' presence. I could see the sweat glisten on his brow.

"I-I promise I'll make the delivery," he stammered. "I-it's just that I n-need some time t-to get the d-drugs – "

"You have until the end of next week," Kronos said. His emotionless voice made my hair stand on end. "I have customers waiting across the Tri-state area, you know. You don't want me to tell them they have to wait just because a pathetic teenager like you can't get his act together, do you?"

"N-no, Kronos."

"I thought not. Listen to me, Luke – you really don't want to tick me off. Do you know what happens to people who tick me off?"

Luke nodded.

"I thought so."

I'd heard enough. I fled frantically from the alleyway.

Twenty minutes later, when Luke returned to his apartment, it was to find me sitting on his bed, waiting for him.

"Annabeth?" Luke couldn't hide his surprise. "Babe, what're you doing here?" He came forward, a welcoming grin on his face.

I didn't move. Luke's smile faltered.

"You're working for Kronos?" I said, very quietly.

Luke's face darkened.

"Yes, Luke, I heard you speaking to the Drug King of New York. What were you thinking? You can't get mixed up with people like that!"

"Annabeth – " Luke began, but I wasn't finished.

"What are you? Just a little delivery boy? Just Kronos' filthy little servant?"

"I'm not anyone's servant!" Luke exploded. His eyes glowed with sudden rage. "I'm one of the most important couriers in Kronos' empire! I handle all the major deliveries of drugs from here to Philadelphia! I am the backbone of Kronos' deliveries!"

I stepped back. This was worse than I thought. Luke was up to his neck in the drug business – and all this time I'd had no idea.

"Didn't sound that way to me just now," I told him. "When he called you a pathetic teenager."

"What would you know?" Luke sneered at me. "You eavesdropped for all of two minutes? Wow, congratulations, you nosy pig."

I recoiled. Luke was a lot of things, but he'd never insulted me before. This was the last straw. I took my phone.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm calling the feds," I snapped at Luke. "You're going to jail."

Suddenly, Luke's hand was around my wrist. "You don't want to do that."

"Yes I do. Let go of me."

"No, you don't. You really don't get it, do you, Annabeth? You're going up against Kronos, the Drug King. If you walk away from this now, he'll let you go – you know too little to bit a threat to him. But if you land him in jail – boy, there'll be consequences for you. You think Kronos doesn't have allies, doesn't have cronies? He has one third of New York's police in his pocket. He's got tentacles, Annabeth, that you have no hope of understanding. If he's going down, he's sure as hell gonna take you with him."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I cried.

"Do you really think it'll take much for Kronos to murder you? Not just you, either. One wink is all it takes, and your father will be killed in a terrible car accident. Thalia, Piper and Hazel? Who knows? Maybe there'll be a gas leak in their apartments. Even your mother, over there in Greece – Kronos can get to her, believe me."

I stopped struggling. Much as I hated to admit it, Luke was right. Kronos probably had incredibly powerful friends and allies. If he wanted me or any of my friends and family dead, he could very easily have it arranged – from his jail cell.

"That's a good girl," Luke said. "Now put away the phone."

Trembling, I put it in my handbag.

"Good – " Luke breathed. "Now we can have a little fun."

Suddenly, Luke's mouth was on mine. I fought to get him off me.

Luke drew back for a second. "No more resisting me, Annabeth. No more disobedience. You're mine, and I'm gonna teach you how to behave."

Then his mouth was back on mind. I struggled, kicking desperately, trying to get him away from me. Suddenly, I felt blankets on my back. Luke had pushed me down until we were lying down on the bed, and he was on top of me. I tried to wriggle sideways, but Luke's muscled arms were on either side, forming a cage around me.

Luke's lustful eyes gazed into mine. "You're going to be a good girl when I'm done with you, Annabeth," he murmured.

"You're insane!" I shrieked. "You're absolutely crazy!"

"Crazy with love for you…" He gave me a smile that once I would've thought was cute.

He lifted his arms for a second to rip off his own shirt, before trapping me beneath him once more. My arms battered uselessly against his bare chest. Once upon a time, I'd found his muscular body magnificent. I must've changed a lot since then.

The fingers on Luke's left hand began to fumble with his jeans buckle, and the fingers on his right began to fumble with mine. I saw my chance, and I took it.

Without a second thought, I rammed my knee upwards, and hit Luke in that place where all men are powerful and weak at the same time.

Luke's eyes widened, and he stopped trying to undress himself and me. He inhaled sharply. I placed my hands on his chest and pushed him backwards with all my might. He fell off the bed, clutching himself, trying to breathe. I'd kneed him pretty hard.

I scrambled off the bed and grabbed my handbag. "Just to be clear, Luke Castellan," I hissed as I left the bedroom, "we're through." I left him there, lying on his side in his bedroom, half naked, clutching his soft spot and struggling to inhale and exhale.

Once I was on street level, I ran. I ran and ran and ran, and didn't stop until I reached the subway station. I left Queens at once and returned to Manhattan. Getting off at the stop closest to Thalia's apartment building, I practically ran up to the Grace residence.

Jason answered the door. "Yes?" he inquired.

"Where's your sister?" I murmured. Jason must've seen how shaken I looked, because he immediately turned around and called, "Thals!"

Thalia came at once. "What's up?" she grinned when she saw me. That grin quickly faded when she saw the expression on my face.

"Thalia," I muttered. "I – " I hesitated just a moment, then burst into tears.

Thalia's arms were immediately around me, comforting me, holding me close, wrapping me in a warm embrace. "It's okay," she murmured in my ear. "It's okay, it's okay."

"No it isn't," I sobbed into her shoulder. "It really isn't."

The much-anticipated breakup of Annabeth and Luke has finally come! Although it's much more dramatic than I'd originally planned it. It was originally going to just be Annabeth telling Luke that she'd cheated on him and Luke going a bit cray-cray with anger, but I decided I wanted to show Luke to be the complete scumbag that he is. So yes, it's dramatic. I hope it's okay that I've decided to portray Kronos as a drug lord - it came to me in a flash of inspiration.
Reviews please! They fuel my soul...