Annabeth nearly collided with Perseus as she bolted upright, suddenly awake. His hand was on her shoulder, his sea green eyes above her own. It had been his voice in the dream, coming from Jason's mouth, drawing her back to the mortal world. She scrambled backwards, grabbed her knife from her nightstand.
"What's going on? What are yo—" Annabeth started, but she was cut off by a scream, loud and nearby. She could smell the edges of smoke but could not yet see fire.
"Come with me," he said, holding out his hand. His expression was hard, but determined.
"Go," a voice in her head said, and Annabeth was not sure if it was her own or some intruder's, but it did not matter. She took his hand, and he pulled her up and out of her bed.
She managed to shove her sandals back on her feet, and Perseus took a cloak that she had haphazardly tossed across a chair and fitted it over her shoulders, throwing the hood over her head.
They crept into the hallway, still holding hands.
"They tried to kill Jason in the night," Perseus explained, voice soft as the glow of his sword, which he wielded with his free hand, "But they were not expecting him to summon lightning."
"The fires," Annabeth realized, dread pooling in her stomach. Perseus nodded.
She had seen Jason call down lightning on previous rare occasions, and it had always been terrifying. It was also prone to catching anything flammable in the near vicinity on fire, which could be deadly in this enclosed space. Thankfully the house was large enough that it hadn't reached them yet, but it would only be a matter of time.
"How do you know this? Where is he?" Annabeth asked, still allowing herself to be led down the hallway by his hand. She knew intellectually that it was idiotic to do so, that for all she knew he was lying to her, or behind the plot to kill Jason to begin with. But her heart told her he was telling the truth.
"They tried to kill me too," Perseus said grimly, "But they didn't get far. I found Jason and his wife in a similar state, and they sent me to find you."
"Piper," Annabeth murmured, more out of habit than anything. It seemed odd to her that Perseus would know so much about her and not her name. Perseus nodded.
"She was very insistent we not leave without you."
Annabeth wanted to ask more, but two shadowy figures rounded the corner up ahead, and Perseus pulled her against the wall. The newcomers had not noticed them, but if they got any closer it would be impossible to hide. Their voices drifted up the hallway, barely audible over the general commotion.
"...find the governor. In the meantime, the master wants his mortal whore dead."
Annabeth's heart pounded in her chest. She knew they were speaking of her, and if Perseus had not dragged her out of bed minutes before, they might have found her alone, asleep, trapped in dreams, and practically defenseless. As it was now they were fast approaching.
She was armed with only her knife, and though she knew she was skilled with it, their enemies surely had swords. She looked at Perseus, panicked, but he had his sights set on the two figures, like a hunter stalking his prey.
It happened so quickly Annabeth scarcely believed her own eyes. One second Perseus was next to her, holding her hand, the next he was out in the hallway, slamming the flat of his sword into one of the soldier's heads. The other drew his blade, but Perseus disarmed him easily, bringing the butt of his own blade down on his forehead. The man crumpled to the floor like packed sand meeting water. Annabeth might have stood there all night gaping at the scene, but Perseus tugged on her hand again.
"Come on," he said, pulling her away. They ran down the hallways, keeping their heads down. Occasionally they ran past other people, but none recognized Annabeth with the hood obscuring her face, and Annabeth suspected most of them were simply innocent members of the household anyways.
But how many of them had been traitors all along?
Perseus led her to a spare room, tucked away in an obscure corner of the house, and pushed open the door. Piper was kneeling next to Jason, who was lying on the floor, unconscious. She looked up, relief washing over her face as Annabeth pulled her hood down.
"Thank the gods," she breathed. Jason's sword, sheathed, was strapped to her back, and Piper's own long knife was next to her on the ground, the blade bloodied.
"We have little time," Perseus said, "Will he wake?"
Piper shook her head.
"I've never seen him summon a blast so large. At first I thought…" she trailed off, but Annabeth could finish the sentence without her. She had thought the effort had killed him. Annabeth might have thought him dead if she had not seen the shallow rise and fall of his chest.
"We'll have to carry him, then," Perseus said. Piper nodded, grabbing her blade from the floor. Together, her and Perseus dragged Jason from the ground. Annabeth took off her cloak and draped it over his back, using the hood to cover his face. It was not much, but it was what she could offer. He was the biggest target, and in his state in the most danger.
"Which way are the stables?" Perseus asked. If he was strained under Jason's weight, he made no indication of it.
"Down there," Annabeth said, pointing down the hallway, and they began their movement forward. It was slow-going, too slow. Annabeth could feel the heat from the fire Jason had started creeping up behind them, growing closer with every misstep. They slowed as they reached the stables. Annabeth crept up to the corner of the hallway, very, very carefully peering around the edge. It was guarded by four men, each holding swords.
She crept back to the group, shaking her head, holding up four fingers. Piper bit back a curse, but Perseus looked unphased.
"Switch with me," he said quietly, already starting to unwrap Jason's arm from his shoulders.
"There's four of them," Annabeth protested, but she did as he asked regardless.
"I know," he said, and disappeared around the corner in a flash.
"Is he mad?" Piper asked, but Annabeth did not get a chance to answer.
They had been foolish to leave their backs turned, but Annabeth heard the footsteps just in time.
It was her instincts that saved her, catching the sword on the hilt of her blade seconds before it could cut through her face. She felt Jason's weight shift underneath her, and a second later Piper was next to her, her knife buried hilt-deep in the man's stomach.
Annabeth pushed away his sword as Piper removed her knife, and the man clattered to the floor. Annabeth winced at the noise. Piper tucked her bloody blade back in her belt, looking down at the man she had stabbed with a blank expression.
Perseus appeared a second later, looking no worse for wear.
"The way is clear." he said, frowning as he noticed the man on the floor. Annabeth didn't know if he was dead yet, but he wasn't moving anymore.
"Good." Piper said, returning to her place propping up Jason, "We need to hurry."
"Clearly," Perseus said, giving the man one last dubious glance, but forging ahead. All four guards who had been watching the stables were on the ground, though whether they were dead or simply unconscious Annabeth didn't know. She didn't look closely enough to find out.
Getting Jason onto a horse was another matter altogether, but the three of them managed to do it after a few minutes of wrangling. Piper climbed on the same horse behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist to keep him from falling. Percy and Annabeth climbed on their own steeds. They were about to leave when Annabeth realized they were one short.
"Wait," she said, "We should take a horse for Jason, for when he wakes."
"How?" Piper asked, but Percy maneuvered his own horse up to one of the other stables. He slashed the door open with his sword, and the horse inside it trotted out, as if compelled by some invisible force.
"This one will follow us," he said. Annabeth wasn't sure how that would work, but he seemed so confident she did not question him. And, indeed, when they raced out into the night, the horse followed behind, matching their every step.
With all the commotion at the main house, nobody noticed four horses slipping out of the back of the main compound, and were soon on the main road, which was empty in the night.
Annabeth risked one final look back at the place that had once been her home. It looked almost beautiful, with the flames flickering up the walls, throwing the white marble in a warm glow. A pillar of black smoke rose into the air, obscuring the moon.
Annabeth turned forward again, and focused on the road ahead.