Thalia thought things were awkward between Reyna and Piper, but those two had nothing compared to Nico and Bianca. The two siblings had not spoken for about five minutes now. Instead, they just stared at each other, waiting for the other to blink first. And, Thalia did mean blink. They had not moved a muscle. It didn't even look like they were breathing!
"Fucking hell," Reyna groaned. She slowly sat up and shot a hand to her side. "Can you please just make up your fucking minds? Are we going to help each other? Am I a prisoner for the Hunters?"
"You can shut your mouth," Bianca snapped as she turned her head.
"I agree," Nico muttered.
"Holy shit. You're finally agreeing on something," Thalia chimed in. She stood up and glared at the two siblings. "Can you two just work together already!? I know you hate each other, but guess what? You hate Luke more! If you just, I don't know, FUCKING KILL HIM. YOU DON'T HAVE TO INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER AFTER THAT!"
Thalia almost felt relief as her throat burned from how loud she yelled, and she was sure that the neighbors had heard. Reyna turned to stare at her, and from across the room, Piper's jaw dropped. Nico looked like someone had punched him, and Bianca seemed like this was her first time being yelled at.
"Here's how this is going to go down: you two are going to work together and help us kill Luke. If not, Reyna and I are leaving. We will handle Luke by ourselves," Thalia stated. She pulled the gun from her waistband. "One of these bullets is going into Luke's head."
"And what about the last bullet, Thalia? We keep trying to warn you, but you refuse to listen," Bianca retorted, shaking her head. "If you want to issue an ultimatum, here is mine: you will give that gun back to Reyna and work with the Hunters of Artemis. You will join us, and we will kill Luke and topple the rest of his empire."
"Can't you see that we need Nico?!" Thalia hissed. She looked at Bianca. The lieutenant looked at her impassively. A glance at Nico showed that he was glaring at Reyna, and the two seemed to be having a silent conversation.
"Fuck it," Thalia snapped. She slipped the gun back into her holster and stormed towards the door. "I'm leaving!"
"Thalia," Reyna called. Thalia stopped outside the door and looked back at Reyna. "Wait."
Reyna slowly swung her legs over the bed and stood on shaky limbs. Her gaze moved to Nico, and she nodded. Then, Reyna walked towards Thalia. Her arm was still pressed against her side. The bones in her arm had been straightened, but Thalia knew the woman still needed plenty of time to recover.
"I know you're pissed, but don't storm out there by yourself," Reyna whispered as she made it to Thalia's side. The two walked down the hall. Thalia moved her gaze to the side. It seemed like Reyna was still hurting pretty badly, and her face kept contorting in pain.
"I don't know how I'm going to take down Luke," Thalia muttered. Reyna gently grabbed her arm.
"We'll figure something out," Reyna whispered. She sighed. "Bianca will never admit it, but she is scared. She knows that a war with Luke will end with plenty of her Hunters dead, but she continues these guerrilla attacks. It is going to backfire, and Luke will find this base."
"I'm guessing Nico won't help," Thalia grumbled. Reyna didn't answer. "Fuck!"
"Let's just go back to my place and regroup," Reyna said. They made it outside, and Reyna slowly looked around.
"Should we walk there, or are you going to use your magic powers?" Thalia asked. Reyna looked at her.
"Let's just take a ride," Reyna answered. Thalia nodded and gently placed a hand to Reyna's face. The woman was burning up, and her body was tense from pain.
"I wouldn't have stormed out if I knew you were feeling this bad," Thalia commented. She rubbed Reyna's back, and Reyna groaned as she hung her head.
"There is no way you would have just sat in the corner pouting," Reyna muttered. She looked back at Thalia. "Come on. The sooner we're back at my place, the sooner I can sleep."
"Reyna, wake up. It's literally been ten minutes," Thalia said as she patted Reyna's face. Her gaze moved to the taxi driver, who thankfully was too busy on his phone to yell at them to hurry up. "How do you fall asleep mid-conversation?"
Reyna shifted slightly, and a frown came to her face. Thalia sighed and shook her shoulder again. Reyna groaned, but her eyes slowly opened. Thalia spoke, "Come on. We're here."
A groan left Reyna, and she slowly got out of the taxi. Her hand struggled to grab her wallet from her pocket, and Thalia helped her. She made eye contact with Reyna, and the woman's breath seemed to hitch.
"Want my hand somewhere else?" Thalia teased as she slowly retracted Reyna's wallet from her pocket. Reyna's face turned red. Thalia smirked and passed Reyna's credit card to the taxi driver. He swiped the card and then handed it back.
"Thanks," Reyna said after a moment. She tried to take the wallet back, but Thalia didn't let her take it. She placed the wallet back into Reyna's pocket. While Thalia did say that there would be no strings attached, the truth was that she had fallen for Reyna.
Thalia's type was an absolute asshole. Fitting really.
"Yeah," Thalia said with a smirk. She turned and walked towards the apartment. Reyna followed her but was slow in her movements. It looked like she was trying to hide how much pain she was in. "You know, I can give you a nice hot shower."
Reyna blushed and didn't say a word. She led Thalia through the hallway. Thalia heard a door open and saw someone peek their head out. Upon seeing Reyna, they quickly closed the door. Reyna studied the door for a moment and then continued on. Thalia stayed close to her.
"Are you not feeling well, or are you just trying to avoid talking about what happened?" Thalia teased.
"We had sex," Reyna muttered.
"And I want more," Thalia replied. She stepped in front of Reyna. "Yeah. Okay, I know. I know I said no strings attached, but fuck it. I don't care if there are strings attached. I just want to be with you."
"Thalia," Reyna began. She sighed and looked away. Thalia studied Reyna, but the other woman wouldn't meet her gaze.
"Think about it," Thalia continued. She gently grabbed Reyna's jacket and pulled her into another kiss. Reyna slowly kissed her back. Thalia pulled away and smirked. "Now, can we use the front door for once?"
Reyna rolled her eyes and walked towards her apartment door. She dug around her pockets and finally pulled out her wallet. Reyna pulled out a key and showed it to Thalia. Then, she unlocked her door and stepped into her apartment.
"Also, I could go for some food," Thalia said as she followed behind. She turned to close the door, and when she went to look back at Reyna, her heart dropped to her stomach.
"I guess it's a good thing that I cooked for dinner," a voice chuckled. Thalia tried to grab the gun from her waistband, but her hand wouldn't respond. Her entire body wouldn't budge. The only thing she could move was her eyes, and she looked over at Reyna.
Reyna looked to be frozen in place as well. Her face depicted strained effort. Thalia's eyes shifted to the man that was standing in the middle of the room. The light highlighted the scar on his face, and his stupid, evil face was displaying a kind smirk.
"Thalia, it's been some time," Luke said as he studied Thalia. His eyes glanced to the side. "But, not as long as you, Reyna. I hope you remember me."
"Fuck. You," Reyna hissed. Her lips barely released her words, and her hand slowly started to shake free of her idleness. Luke maintained his smile and walked towards them.
"You look just like your sister," Luke commented. He stopped as he was right in Reyna's face. "I just can't tell if you look like her before or after we fucked her senseless. We had so much 'fun' with her."
Thalia really wanted to pull out the gun and shoot Luke right in his fucking head. She wanted to take a swing at him. Instead, her body refused to act. It felt like her muscles were straining, but she wasn't making any progress. What the fuck was going on?
Luke turned towards Thalia and looked her up and down. He reached towards her belt and grabbed the gun that was tucked into her waistband. He slowly pulled it out, tracing the gun up her stomach and stopping at her breasts.
"Like the kind of 'fun' I'd love to have with you again," Luke remarked, and he lightly pecked Thalia's cheek. Thalia felt anger flood her veins. When she thought about seeing Luke again, she thought she was going to be scared. That fear would keep her from moving. No. She was mad as hell and ready to punch Luke's stupid face in.
"But first," Luke said. He slammed the gun into Thalia's jaw, near where he just kissed her. Whatever force that was holding Thalia still let go, and she fell to her knees. Both hands shot to her face to cradle her jaw. "You've been busy. I can respect that."
The gun slammed directly into Thalia's temple. Her head snapped to the side again, and she almost fell over. A foot kicked in her ribs, and she cried out as she collapsed from the blow. The gun slammed down into her temple for a third time, "Too bad you're on the wrong team."
He battered Thalia's temple again. She collapsed against the harsh floor and felt something warm and sticky flow down her face. Luke spoke, "That was for my friends."
Luke turned and held the gun out. Thalia glimpsed a creature of some sort stepping out of the shadows to take it. Luke turned towards Reyna, "Now, time to deal with you."
Luke turned and walked towards the desk that held a golden sword. Luke picked it up and studied it. He spoke, "Was this your sister's? Or did you get it from good ol' Nico?"
Reyna remained silent, or she just couldn't talk. Thalia tried to get to her hands and knees, but her world was spinning too much. Nothing held her in place besides pain and dizziness. The last blow had stunned her greatly.
"Thalia, what do you know about monsters?" Luke asked. He placed the tip of the sword to Reyna's chest. Reyna tensed and squirmed under the sharp metal. Thalia slowly looked up and tried to stand again. She couldn't and ended up feeling even sicker. "Normal monsters, straight out of Greek myths, can be killed by special metals. Not like the kind that makes a kitchen knife or even a bullet. Oh no."
"Now, Reyna here is a little special. Orion made some good notes. Just wish the bastard had told me about her before he died," Luke commented. He sighed and pushed lightly on the sword's pommel. Reyna hissed as the blade cut into her shirt. "Monsters don't ever stay dead, they're dispelled into Tartarus until they crawl their way back; but, like I said, Reyna is special."
"If Orion is right, only two things can kill Reyna: being killed after she reveals her true self or dying by the hands of a demigod," Luke lectured as he looked right at Thalia. "So here's my offer: kill Reyna, or I'm going to make your life a living hell by taking my time with both of you."
"You already made my life a living hell you fucking piece of shit," Thalia spat. Luke smirked and pushed the sword in a little more. Reyna hissed and tensed. Luke pushed the sword deeper, and Reyna cried out. The tip of the sword appeared out of her back.
"I guess it's a trip to Tartarus for you," Luke sneered as he pushed the sword far enough that the hilt was pressed against Reyna's chest. She yelled and collapsed against him. Luke twisted the sword and then shoved Reyna off of the blade.
Reyna fell back against the wall and grabbed at her chest. Thalia watched as she saw not just blood coming from the wound but something that looked like golden dust. It was the same dust that came from that Bear Twin when it had been destroyed. Thalia tried to speak, but her head was still spinning whenever she tried to move.
Luke swung the sword, and Thalia stared in horror as the sword cut through Reyna's neck like she was made of warm butter. Instead of a body tumbling to the ground with the head following close after, Reyna's body exploded into the same golden dust. It trickled to the ground, and there was nothing left of the woman, the monster, that Thalia had fallen so damn hard for.
"R...Reyna," Thalia whispered as she felt her heart cave in on itself. Tears filled her eyes. "No. No. No."
Luke walked towards her. He handed the sword off to someone in the shadows and knelt by Thalia. He said, "Now, shall we have dinner? I worked very hard on it. You should enjoy it. It'll be a nice entree before your just desserts."