"Let go!" Thalia screamed at the top of her lungs. She knew that screaming for help wouldn't do any good. The neighbors would just turn up their music or television and tune her out. Thalia struggled with the grip that kept her in place. She had yet to get a good look at the bodyguard, but he was much stronger than her.
Her gaze moved back to the dust on the ground, and anger filled her veins. It also scared her to her core because she knew that Reyna wasn't coming to rescue her. Thalia yelled as she was thrown into the wall, and her face bounced off of it. Her battered skull ached as she slid to the ground.
Thalia managed to look at Luke. He was pouring a golden liquid into his eye, but unless it could grow his eyeball back, he would be partially blinded. It was a small victory for Thalia. She would probably die today after being assaulted and tortured, but she would hold onto that small victory.
Thalia slowly got to her hands and knees. A foot slammed into her stomach, and she collapsed. Her eyes shot back to Luke's bodyguard. The beast that stood above her only had one eye. Kind of like Luke. A bitter smile came to Thalia's face.
"What do I do, master?" the beast asked. Thalia knew what this was. A one-eyed beast. Cyclops! And, he hit like a fucking truck as it felt like her stomach had been completely turned around in her body. She groaned and placed both arms to her midsection.
"Just keep her there," Luke said. Thalia felt her heart thundering in her chest. She had to move now. After Luke took care of his eye, he would make her pay. Thalia had to make a move and give it her all. This was her life or death moment.
Thalia took a second to examine the cyclops. Like all the creatures she had met recently, this one was much bigger than her. His hands looked like they could crush her head underneath. A sword hung from his belt; the same sword that had destroyed Reyna.
Thalia felt sick to her stomach as she saw the golden dust that dirtied the blade. Some of it still fell off, trickling down like the first snow of winter. The cyclops had the gun on the other side of his belt. Without Nico or Reyna there, the gun was useless. Thalia still wanted it back.
"I'm tired of being your whore," Thalia growled. She spat at Luke. He paid no attention to her. "You're going to pay for killing Jason."
Thalia threw herself to a standing position and at the belt of the cyclops. She knew that she wouldn't win a battle of tug of war against him. She also knew that she couldn't take the sword from his belt as he would just swat her away before it could be pulled out completely.
Instead, Thalia gripped the sword with both hands and threw all of her weight onto the sword and to the side. The cyclops looked down in confusion, but his confusion didn't last long as the sword tore through his leg, and he disappeared into that same golden dust.
Thalia hit the ground and hissed as part of the sword cut into her side. She growled again as she made it to her hands and knees. Her heart hammered in her ears, blocking out all other sound. It was hard to breathe, and she felt sick.
But, Thalia wasn't done. Her sight landed on the golden sword. She gripped the handle and stared at the mixture of her blood and monster dust. Thalia wrenched herself to her feet and stepped forward, throwing the blade like a knife. Her aim was completely off and came nowhere near hitting Luke. He still jumped to the side to avoid it and instantly clutched at his eye.
Thalia snatched the gun off of the ground and stuffed it down the front of her pants. She turned and ran towards the door. As her hand closed around the handle, her body froze. Thalia could only find herself able to blink, and she struggled to move any of her muscles.
"I am done playing games," Luke growled. He walked towards her and slammed her into the door. Thalia tried to cry out as her nose crunched under the force of the blow, but her mouth wouldn't move. Somehow, Luke was just freezing her in place.
"Leave me alone," Thalia hissed. She was able to move her mouth enough to talk, but her hands and legs wouldn't do the same. Luke turned her around and glared at her. Thalia stared at the angry red of his eye. Blood and some other liquid was trickling down his face.
Thalia did the only thing she could: she spat directly into Luke's wounded eye. It felt like a chill shot through her, and she could finally move. Her fist slammed directly into Luke's face. The bastard howled in pain and fell onto his back. Thalia threw the door open and ran.
Thalia knew that she wouldn't be able to grab the sword and stab Luke before he froze time again. So, she just ran. Her lungs ached as she rushed down the hallway and risked glancing back. Luke wasn't stepping out of the apartment yet.
When Thalia made it outside, she did not stop running. She only increased her pace. Her asthma was really going to kill her this time, but it was better than dying to Luke. Thalia turned the corner and slammed into something.
Hitting the ground caused her to cry out, and she scrambled back, grabbing the gun in her waistband. Thalia froze as she saw Piper getting to her feet. Piper looked at her, and relief came to her face.
"Luke... he... Reyna... she," Thalia gasped and choked on her words. Her hands shot to her pocket, and she grabbed her inhaler. Thalia sucked down the precious air. As she was trying to calm down, Piper helped her stand and started to lead her away.
"It's going to be okay," Piper promised. Her panicked tone made Thalia think she was lying. "I'm going to get you somewhere safe."
"The base?" Thalia choked out.
"Under attack," Piper answered. Thalia looked at her and slowly managed to even out her breathing. They kept up their steady and quick pace.
"We have to help," Thalia decided as she moved away from Piper to walk on her own. Her hand moved to her side where the cut from the sword was.
"That's not somewhere safe," Piper argued.
"I know Luke well enough. He's pissed off and not going to be thinking. He's going to look for me, and when he can't find me, he's going to take his anger out on the Hunters of Artemis. I don't know if Nico and Bianca can stand up to him or not. Otherwise, they already would have," Thalia explained.
"The two are working together now," Piper revealed. She stopped walking for a moment and pulled out a canteen. "Let me handle your wounds first. If you're walking into a war zone, you need to be prepared."
Thalia nodded her agreement. Piper grabbed her shirt and seemed to wait for permission. Thalia nodded, and Piper lifted her shift and then poured the nectar on her stomach wound. Then, the liquid was poured on her broken nose.
Thalia let out a small hiss of discomfort as the wounds closed. That was still so fucking weird. She looked at Piper, and the Hunter nodded to her. The two took off walking again. Not a word was spoken between them as they made it closer and closer to the base.
Before they were at the base, Thalia heard the sounds of gunfire and screaming. Piper grabbed her, and they ducked behind a wall. Thalia risked peeking out. She could see cars surrounding the outside of the base, but most of those cars were destroyed or flipped over.
Bodies lined the streets. There were a few Hunters, but the rest looked like Luke's men. The front doors were long gone with a giant hole in the wall, but there was a mound of bodies in front of that door. Thalia felt her gut twist as she saw that Luke's men were fighting against these... creatures. Skeletons.
Someone had raised the damn dead. Thalia could see the streets had multiple holes in it like the gates of Hell had opened and its army had drilled to the surface of the earth. Thalia winced as she heard a loud explosion from the building, and the entire thing seemed to shake.
Piper looked like someone was ripping her heart out. She closed her eyes. Thalia spoke softly, "All of this death and destruction. This is why we have to kill Luke."
"I know," Piper agreed. She opened her eyes. "I don't have enough arrows to take on all of these men, and I don't think I can get close enough to use my charmspeak."
"What do we do then?" Thalia questioned. She felt the shadows around her shift, and Nico stepped out of them. He studied both of them for a moment and then held out a hand.
"Is Bianca…?" Piper began.
"She's fine," Nico answered. He looked back at the building. "We're retreating."
"We can't just retreat!" Piper argued.
"We don't have a choice. Let's go," Nico decided as he offered his hand. His gaze focused on Thalia, and his eyes narrowed. Thalia swallowed painfully and grabbed his hand. Did he know what happened to Reyna? If he did, was he blaming her for it?
"Where are we going?" Piper questioned as she grabbed Nico's other hand. "We don't have another base in the city."
Nico looked at them, and for a moment, he smiled. Nico spoke, "We're staying in the city. Technically. I guess you could say we're going below it. To my palace. In the Underworld."