So school has literally overtaken my life. Fun stuff there. Sorry.

To all the readers who are still reading; cheers! Merry christmas and a happy new year! I hope you still have faith in me, and this story. I understand I'm a horrible updater, and yeah, but heres to hoping that i will finally finish this!


Chapter 19


"Anything the matter Darling?"

Although the question was structured in a way to bring to light some sort of concern, the tones were smug and haughty, and the word darling had an undeniable ownership to it. He owned her, that's what was in his mind, that's how he looked at her with everything hungry glance he had to offer her.

Just the way he spoke told her about how her life would be when the rings were exchanged. Freedom, happiness, a future; these were the things she was fighting for now, and these were the things that weighed down on her chest with every battle she raged.

At night she found herself, more often than not, staring up at the blankness of the ceiling with a thousand concerns slowly sinking like a heavy weight into her torso. Everytime she prayed for sleep she got more worries and stresses. She couldn't do this. She couldn't make it. She couldn't save him. She couldn't fly.

It hurt.

Not the concerns, or the stresses but the fact that she couldn't bring herself to believe that everything was going to be okay. Nothing had ever been okay. How could Percy be so certain that things would align for her?

If luck was symbolized by your form then Annabeth would be a black cat. She was told that much by her mother most of her life.

Who was to say that she was wrong anyways? What was the purpose of all this?

I'm not even trying to sleep, and yet still my head is so full.

She'd grown so accustomed to wearing her mask. There was hardly a time she took it off. She could now daze off into space and still have the posture and melodious tone of a lady. Perhaps that's what all true ladies were.

She was alone with Octavian, a person who rarely saw her small and insignificant slip ups. Unlike his mother, he lacked the sharp eye for class and never bothered to throw her a disapproving glance. His eyes were filled with nothing but vain and greed.

"Nothing dear." Annabeth repeated the line like she had a million times before. Elegantly setting her hands on the delicate curve of the teacup handle before drawing it to her lips. Using the nasty concoction of leaf juice as an excuse to talk any further.

Her eyes wandering out onto the open landscape with a weary sigh locked in her mind. Wishing herself to be in the distant field of budding wheat shoots breaching the confines of the rich black soil rather than on the spotless terrace having afternoon tea with her 'beloved'.

"This afternoon, if it pleases you, you should go over the list of staff and choose your own personal attendants. I'm positive many maids would be delighted to have the promotion." Octavian simpered proudly. Between his words was the strong implication 'I can provide so well for you.'

Annabeth restrained her shudder and sent a thoughtful look back up to the thick stone and ivy covered house. A pit of hot despair swirling like a thick stew in her gut at its intimidating outline.

Much like a castle, she concluded silently. Or a medieval prison?

It was hard not to remember that this was to be her home in a matter of weeks. The wedding day was set, and the designer had already been to see Annabeth to take her dimensions for the dress. All she had to do was sit still and look pretty. Mrs. Aresto was handling the rest. It was sure to be a spectacular show with Annabeth as the centerpiece. She was as involved as the cake topper was.

"I'm afraid that I am not quite accustomed to each of the maids as of yet." Annabeth hummed with an apologetic smile. "Let me learn each of their particular working patterns, and then I shall make my decision."

Octavian sat back in his chair and grinned at her coquettishly. His eyes slipping down to her low cut dress with an eyebrow twitching in interest. "How lucky am I to be marrying such a wise woman?"

Girl. Annabeth wanted to correct. I'm only seventeen…

"I suppose you have the same fortune I have in marrying you my dear." Annabeth replied wittingly but with a docile smile. The disguised insult flying over his head as his smile only broadened. He reached across the table to grab her hand firmly and sloppily tried to lace them. Annabeth stuffed down the repulsion.

"I think the tea is quite finished." Octavian's eyes were scaring her.

"I was hate for anything so delightful to go to waste-"

"Let's go for a walk, shall we?" He persisted. A fiery determination in his eyes.

"Yes dear." She fought the tremor that threatened to take over her voice. She fought the fear, and the anxiousness, and the hate for this man. With a deep breath, she gathered her wits and stood gently. Allowing herself to be led by him to the gardens. The sweet smells of full bloom flowers, and warm summer breezes went unnoticed by her. The sound of chirping sparrows nesting in the topiary's, humming honey bees making their rounds and rustling leaves in the warm full air was accompanied by the ever even sound of their feet knocking against the well stoned walkway.

It was only a matter of time until Octavian's hand wandered from her hand to her waist. Then her hip. Then he was close beside her.

"Have I ever shown you the garden cove?" His voice was sly. She couldn't tell if he could sense her unease or not, but either way he wasn't backing down.

"Is it-"

"Here, this way."

And she followed, or should it be put- she was lead.

-{:oOo:}-

She found herself crying again in the same bathroom as the night of the dinner party. Like a statue, she stood there blankly and stared at her reflection, wondering who she was becoming and what she could do about it. If she had any control left on her life, or if she was just sitting in a paddleless kayak watching the rapids approach.

This time, the reflection staring back was hollow and vacant. Streams of inky mascara lay goth like in the tracks of her tears. Her eyes were bloodshot and swirling and empty all at the same time. Her hair, so beautifully pinned up into a classic french chignon was loose and frazzled.

She kept the sobs in even though every roll of hiccups sent pain rattling down her spine. All she could do was stare into the beautifully embellished oval mirror with her hands on either side of the victorian sink and stare. Her legs felt weak, her lungs burned for no reason and her head was splitting with an acute sharp pain.

She felt dirty. She felt sticky and grimy and slick with oil. She felt as if she needed to dive into a thick soapy bubble bath and scrub her skin raw.

She smelled like him.

That was the hardest piece to deal with, she smelled like him. It was evidence that he was there. She couldn't deny his ever lingering presence and it made her stomach surge with nausea at every whiff.

Her neck was speckled with intimate bruises, carefully placed there by his unyielding mouth. Her dress was rumpled in skittish areas because of his ridiculous need for dominance. Her wings hung limp from her back in quiet sorrow. She felt totally enslaved because of his demanding outlook. His casual yet possessive hold on her was like icy bars of a cage against her heart.

You are my fiance. You owe me this.

It was never spoken, but it was there. He saw her try and disway him, and he only became more sure in the way he moved. He might've even smiled.

And she had to take it.

What could she do? Smack him off? Kick in his skull? Run away screaming?

No. Octavian was the tantrum type. One mess up from her and the wedding would be off. With the wedding off, she'd be kicked out, her reputation would plummet, rumors would arise and the government would swoop in and either kill or torture her. Maybe even both.

Maybe I should just die…. Annabeth shuddered again and wrapped her arms around herself. Trying to find some sort of comfort as the tears doubled over her lids again. Remembering with a mournful gasp at how he finally pried away from her, eyes glinting and lips bruised. A grin and a promise splitting through his lips in one moist hot breath against her cheek.

"We can finish this up on our wedding night." He crooned, pleased. "Can't wait, darling. Can you?"

She stayed still that time. She was burning with anger and hate, and grief and hurt but she stayed still. Then, as if her head were rusty, she shook her head.

With trembling hands, Annabeth tried to wipe the tracks of lost mascara away, but they only smudged. Her ball of emotions spiking darkly as she knew she couldn't leave the bathroom like this.

It was just kissing. She tried to soothe herself with a muffled sob. It was just touching and kissing. He could've done worse. I'm lucky. I'm lucky, I could've been experiencing something much worse. It's okay.

It wasn't okay. She knew it wasn't okay. Octavian had always shown a disregard to the personal space line. He edged over it from now and again, and never was it okay. Had her situation been different she would've kicked him until he sang opera, not sit there and internally recoil.

It's okay. She tried telling herself again. I'll clean myself up, I'll make an excuse to go home. I'll get out of here.

But even as she took strips of toilet tissue and wiped at her eyes, her dark whispering corners loomed.

This was your fault. Something whispered. Your dress is too low and too tight. You were asking for it. You should've worn something else.

(Shut up, shut up, shut up!)

She wiped harder. Twisting and scrubbing the cloth under her eyes as she grit her teeth. Trying to block it all out. Trying to bury everything in one heavy grave.

Your mother made you wear that dress but you could've fought her. You could've-

(Shut up! Octavian is just a sexual harasser. He's a criminal. He's the problem)

Her teeth started to ache from the pressure smashing them together. Her shoulders were wound back and her other hand was gripping the cold edge of the marble sink as if she were trying to strangle it. Suddenly a burst of hot anger sent every other emotion crackling and burning and spinning away. Her usual flare of defiance breaking from her chest as her gaze on her reflection sharpened.

Screw it.

She stormed out of the bathroom with her clutch in hand. Upon stepping into the richly decorated hall, she was met with Octavian's ice blue eyes.

"Darling." The word felt like acid on her tongue but she still spoke it with the fire of determination. "I'm afraid Piper's having a bit of an emergency. Could you be so kind as to have Gerard bring up the car?"

She didn't let him butt into her talking. She didn't let him get the first word in. She was firm. She was demanding. She was fighting back in her own way. If she was going to be his wife, then dammit she was going to wear the pants in this relationship.

"Oh well if-"

"It's a very time sensitive and personal problem and I'm certain you would do the same for your best friend. Should I just wait out front?"

Her eyes leveled with his. She smoothed the urge to punch him as his mouth opened.

"Well… yes… That would seem most efficient." Octavian looked taken aback, and yet this almost approving sort of grin came up on his face. His gull like wings seemed to perk up. "I'll have the car ready and waiting for you my dear."

Annabeth held on her mask, but let him see the fury behind her grey eyes. The spinning knives she sharpened behind her gaze.

"Thank you… darling."

"Of course."

-{:oOo:}-

"The return of Mothman?" "Demon terrorizes small suburban town!" "Why are Authorities failing to take action against the Winged Watcher?"

The headlines were promising. They gave her a simple scrap of hope at her situation that she held onto closely. Plus the media was overflowing with the new sightings. Her inbox was flooded with questions from journalists, skeptics, talk hosts and theorists begging to know if she thought the sightings were connected to the strange disappearances the authorities didn't seem to care about.

Wisely, she kept her trapper shut about the issue. The media was stirring itself up just fine. That and the peculiar way politicians and members of the government refused to answer the questions directly had people in an uproar.

All the chaos was warming Annabeth's heart. She was closer than ever before to her goal. Percy might make it home by christmas. The thought of his and Sally's reunion had her all starry eyed and excited for what she could achieve.

But, simultaneously she was furious with the pickle brained nut head. Percy had only mentioned making himself seen once yet there were multiple shady photos of him sprawled across the media from distinctly different towns.

He'd been keeping himself busy, that was for sure.

The moment she realized his busy bee behaviour, she turned right around and stormed out of the house. Slipping into her mom's car without even a breath of warning and pulling away from the driveway in a manner that forced the now usual cluster of journalists huddled in front of her house to part in a jolt. After a few mandatory evasive turns, she was parked in front of the looming trees of the green strip and started stomping her way through the brush.

One of these days that Seaweed Brain is going to get caught. She seethed. Then all of my hard work will be for nought. He'll be dead and I'll have to marry Mr. Touchy ass, and I'll slowly be cut off from Piper and the world will obviously explode because it's a crisis and a tragedy.

She flattened a few meek green leaved plants mercilessly as she moved. Her eyes were trained on the ground for once and her fists tight and burning against her sides. The summer warmth seemed to cling to the brambled forest floor but she stamped her way through anyways. Hopping over gnarled roots and snapping twigs beneath her sneakers. The mottled shadows from the whispering leaves above cast dancing patches of sunlight all around her.

Jeopardize everything I've done for him? Fine, I'll wring his stupid little neck.

She kicked a rock moodily. A huff passing unconsciously through her lips as she robotically moved through the woods on the familiar path.

Bone head.

When she finally looked up, she startled herself six paces back. Unconsciously, she'd marched directly to the site where Percy's tree house once stood. The elegant tall oak had charred limbs and a hefty trunk of a neighbor tree now slumped against it.

At its base was the remains of Percy's life. Shattered beams and fluttering wisps of shredded garbage bags pinned under piles of twigs and splinters. A few unsalvageable clothes lay woven in the wreck and a pan was jutting out awkwardly, bent beyond repair.

Holy….

The sight sent chills rattling throughout her stomach. A swirl of nausea swept up her esophagus as her wide eyes traced over each jagged piece in awe.

She could've been a corpse under that. That pile could've been her grave.

But I'm not.

Tentatively, Annabeth stepped up onto one of the thin logs. Her mind full of empty thoughts as she peered between the cracks in the pile. Each forlorn layer seemed to hold a piece of the familiar treehouse. A fire pit rock, a wrapper, a rag from Percy's old sleeping bag. Annabeth even spotted Percy's panda hoodie buried two logs down and torn in three places. She didn't know whether to be thankful or to cry. The cute face of the hoodie now seemed so eerie and hopeless. It was almost like it was crying for help. Her wings shivered.

Silently she let her hand find the fold of her pocket and reached inside. The smooth cool compass met her hand and seemed to calm the unease growing there.

Things are okay. Things are still okay.

"HEY!" A surly voice ripped across the forest and sent a racing shock over Annabeth's mind.

In a panic she swung around. Her footing slipping and her body tipping as the world turned sideways. With a cry she went tumbling down the pile and landed on her face on the forest floor. Tingling pain burned in a mottled fashion over her skin as she groaned and yanked herself to her feet.

"Well, well, well, if it ain't girly." A haughty voice continued. "It's about time we ran into each other again. Well, I say 'ran' when the right would be 'followed'."

She couldn't see him at first. Her eyes were still dancing with spots and her head was a bit fuzzy from dizziness, but he finally stepped out of the bracken and smiled chillingling at her.

"Oh, it's just you flab face," Annabeth sniffed in recognition before stiffly crossing her arms. "I thought it was something I should be worried about."

The man wrinkled his ugly hawk nose and sneered at her. "If you ain't worried about me, then you need to screw on yer head a bit more."

"You brag a smidget too much to be in such a secretive job." Annabeth observed with a nonchalant huff. Her eyes narrowing and her pulse rose. An acidic bitterness grew in her gut at the hatred for this guy.

"Team," Flab face directed his attention to his left without giving Annabeth the satisfaction of a comeback. His eyes centering on the grisly pile of crumbled rotting logs and their entanglement of clothes and bags. Instantly a troupe of agents gingerly stepped out of the cover of the trees. An odd collection of men and women of different heights and builds, but each with the common rifle slung over their shoulders and a distinct uniform that declared their authority.

"I think we may have found our living site." Flab face grinned as he stepped forward to examine a shred of cloth. "Or at least what was the living site."

"Living site?" Annabeth scoffed, yet her heart began a climbing and urgent beat. "What do you mean living site?"

"You know exactly what I mean girlie," Flab face simpered. "You were the hint that tipped us off after all."

"Tip? Hint?"

"Ahh, it doesn't matter anymore. Felix, arrest her."

"Arrest me?!" Annabeth was starting to feel sick of echoing. A wave of prickles was sabotaging her nerves as she tried to come to terms with his words. "You can't arrest me. The public will go insane."

"What does the public have anything to do with this?" the man leant against a thick birch tree with a relaxed smile Annabeth didn't like. She didn't feel in control anymore. "They can't see you arrested out here."

"But when they realize I'm missing-"

"It only takes like two hours to roll information out of a person." Flab face shrugged. "You'll be home for dinner. And if we're nice, you won't even remember the ordeal."

"That's- that's just… you're sick!" The feeling of entrapment climbed up her neck slowly. Winding around her windpipe was she felt the circle of agents close in. No sympathy on their faces.

"You could just confess now." The man continued with a tone that masked his intentions in mercy. "We know you know where he is. You can't hide him forever."

"Him?" playing dumb was her last resort, but it wasn't working. She was locked into this, and there was no visible escape.

"You know who. We've been informed that you spend a suspicious amount of time in these woods."

"Informed?!"

"Yeah, like told, instructed, tipped off. That kinda thing. Now hands behind your back. No sudden movements."

"Well screw that." Annabeth growled lowly as an agent came forward with a pair of glinting cuffs. His eyes mundane and frankly careless as if this were just another extremely ordinary day.

If they shoot me, I just have more tinder to feed the media's fire.

Annabeth crouched with a scowl and acted as if she were surrendering. Keeping her head tilted to the ground to mask any flaming defiance that was scribbled across her face.

She felt the warmth of the agent and the cold brush of metal feather across her skin before she wrenched forward and scooped up a hefty splintered branch. Barely registering the rough bark of its wood bite into her palms as she darted forward with a bellowing scream. Adrenaline singing through her veins as her heart burst against her chest in a final throb of fear before she was three fourths the way to the only escape-able gap.

Just for good measure she swung her hunk of wood as hard as she could into flab faces face, and almost giggled jubiantly at the startled yelp and satisfying crack that followed. Crazy thoughts of leading this gang into town and exposing there work swarmed her mind as she staggered slightly in the confines of the woods before everything seemed to piece itself back together and her mind sharpened.

Then she was off. Leaping and springing through the woods with a flurry of cries following her heels. Using the edges of rocks and fat stumps as foot holds as she wove between the large majestic trunks in an effortless way. Her hair skipping in her movements and her lungs heaving as her stamina started to wear. But the forest was her element, Luke taught her how to navigate it, they couldn't catch her. Not with all the gear they were wearing at least.

She was blundering through bracken and thorn bushes, barely feeling the devilish planten hooks graze her skin and leave paper cut like marks against her thighs. Bounding like a deer over a little creek before taking a hard left to try and throw them off her trail.

It wasn't until the baying howl of hounds being released onto her tracks did her confidence waver. Panic swelled heavily in her chest as she threw a flighty glance over her shoulder, expecting to see the open maws of chunky dogs already snapping for her legs.

They were far, but they were getting closer by the second.

I can't outrun dogs. The truth was seizing and made with a maniacal flicker of her eyes, but it was real. She suddenly couldn't see herself succeeding. I can't get away like this.

If she climbed a tree, she'd be stuck like a coon but if she kept running she'd be holed like a fox. There was no ultimate move to make.

Just when Annabeth was convinced that she should simply climb a tree and hope for the best, a familiar shushing noise grew like fire behind her.

"No, NO!" She screamed in warning. Whipping her head around to glare at Percy for the one second she was earthbound before he whipped her up and went careening into the sky. His midnight wings were beating against the wind, and Annabeth's head was cradled against his chest. Pressed tightly enough there that she could hear the shuddering pattern of his heart.

"You IDIOT!" she thrashed in his grip without any conscious thought to the climbing height. "You imbecile! They were chasing me. You just EXPOSED yourself!"

Percy's grip tightened and he grimaced with the strain of flying two people, but he still had the energy to scowl at her.

"Me?!" He huffed as the spinning ground below grew smaller and smaller. The cool wind grabbed and yanked and shoved them in a chaotic manner the more they rose. "I just SAVED you!"

"And led those buffoons directly to you!"

"They were about to catch you! You should be thanking me!" Percy argued above the sound of air crashing against his wings. A breathless wisp was embedded in his voice as they toiled upwards. A distant sputtering nagged at Annabeth's mind but she was too angry to care.

"All I'm attempting to do is keep you unharmed you moron!" Annabeth seethed, glaring up into his startling green eyes. "Can't I do that without having you trying to thwart every effort I make?"

Percy made a face at this, and turned his black brows down in dislike. "I'm just trying to keep you safe!"

"Well cut it out!" Annabeth demanded. "I can kindly be the knight in this relationship THANK YOU very much. It wouldn't hurt if you just sat still, looked pretty and played Damsel for like five seconds."

"If I can't refresh your memory." Percy scoffed. "I. just. saved. you."

"I was doing fine on my own!"

"Liar."

"Even if I was caught they couldn't of killed me, or held me for any suspicious amounts of time. I would've been fine."

A wall of cold hit them suddenly as they broke a cloud layer. Droplets of water condensed on Annabeth's skin, and yet still they were headed up. It felt like they were submerged into the deepest thickest fog known to man. Percy's breaths broke through his lungs in ragged gasps before they breached into the open skies and out into the warm sunlight again.

"What are you doing?!" Annabeth hissed as she clung to his shirt. For once, it registered just how high she was.

"Es-escaping." Percy wheezed. "They h-have choppers. They'd f-find us down there."

The sputtering noise was closer. He was right- choppers.

"Well we can't hover forever." Annabeth added helpfully with a sarcastic spritz. A kernel of guilt rattling in her mind at how she was still scolding and sassing Percy even though he was going through all this trouble to save her.

"F-fly south for a bit. Keep under the cloud cover. Then.. then drop. Mkay?"

"You sound like you need to drop now."

"Nah." Percy brushed off with a winning smile, but still wheezing like an asthmatic. "I'm- I'm good."

"You sound like a cartoon airplane about to crash land into toonsville." Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"This planes not used to passengers." Percy managed to snort.

"YOU picked me up. Moron."

"I s-saved you!" He defied.

"Or you just killed us both."

"Don't say that."

"Well, don't pick up unsuspecting runaways when you know you can barely fly a yard before running out of steam like a wind up helicopter over the grand canyon!" Annabeth ranted. "Just get me back to the ground and I can resume running for my life in a dignified fashion!"

"NO!"

"Why not?!" Annabeth grabbed his face and shook it lightly in frustration. "You're obviously forcing yourself into rags to fly me somewhere else. At this point, we'll both be caught and killed. If I can direct them away from you, at least one of us survives."
"NO!" Percy's jaw clenched. His eyes fell to her with a fire licking around his pupils. "I'm NOT letting you risk your life for me."

"Why not?!" Annabeth felt like screaming. The sputtering was closer and louder and more intense. "Just let me do this!"

"Because I love you, you crazy one minded psychopath!" Percy growled over the noise. "I'm not letting my favorite person, my person, go off and potentially die so I can live. That's just plain stupid!"

It was a firecracker of a confession, but it sent Annabeth reeling for two short seconds. The menacing sputtering faded and before she could rip out the reins to control herself she had grabbed Percy's face again and smashed their lips together.

For two heart beats Percy's wings faltered and they went spinning towards earth. The world seemed liquid and weightless and Percy's arms tightened around her in surprise. It was a mash of butterflies and helpless zaps of electricity that set her mind loose. Then the sparks set in and they were yanked back into reality, kissing in a surprisingly tender way for the amount of heat that was just in their argument. A thrush of heartbeats echoed between them before the kiss broke.

When Annabeth pulled back Percy was looking at her with a shy sort of awe. His ruffled raven locks and parted lips made her smile fondly at his cute reaction. She loved how his eyes slowly filled with ardent love he only expressed a few times. How this moment seemed to melt there old married couple arguments, and made the silent agreement that this was a worth a team try.

"Land before you start to cramp." Annabeth instructed with a hand still placed encouragingly against his cheek. "We can hide."

Percy found the breath to sigh, and regripped her a little protectively.

"Okay." he finally relented.

-{:oOo:}-

"Maybe you should head to the mountains." Annabeth murmured quietly. Her head nestled against his shoulder and his wing already curved around her body.

"What?"

They had landed hours ago, and found a little dry creek bed to duck into for a while. It felt like minutes to Annabeth, but it was already dark. The moonlight was casting its unearthly blue glow against the forest as crickets chirruped and cricked in the distance. Toads singing their lullabies also joined the night time melodies along with the breeze entwining with the trees. It was peaceful, and beautiful but it made Annabeth think. Was there somewhere out there more peaceful? Was there somewhere people weren't looking to hunt Percy?

Would Percy be better off somewhere else?

"Barely anyone lives in the Mulsnoe mountain range, it's not impossible to fly there in one day and it would provide you with the cover you need."

"Annabeth-" Percy breathed as he sat up to look at her in an aghast way. "Are you trying to send me away?"

"You're not safe here." she whispered a little achingly. "I'm doing a horrible job in protecting you, and they are closer than ever to finding you. It's only a matter of time until all of this goes up in smoke."

"But I can't leave." He uttered with his brows turned down. Something akin to betrayal written in his eyes. "Not now."

"I just need to clear this all up. I need to make you known." Annabeth sighed. "If only it were as simple as bringing you into town."

"If only."

"But it's not. You've almost been caught one too many times. I'm scared… I'm scared if we don't stay one step ahead of them, they'll catch you."

"They won't." Percy decided with a deep seriousness. "I won't let them."

"You have no say in that."

"Apparently I didn't have a say in whether I could fly or not, but I changed that." Percy smiled softly with a teasingly smug tone.

Annabeth smacked him upside the head playfully. "You dork. You just have to rub it in, don't you."

"I can fly Annabeth, I'm going to brag that I can fly." Percy grinned at her. The warmth from his body and they way they were cuddled together made all sorts of happy flutters bounce throughout her body.

"You still have to teach me," she sighed as she let her head fall to his shoulder again. "You said you would."

"I've been trying, but you're just so stubborn." Percy rolled his eyes. "You just won't budge."

"You have?" Confusion ran freely through her eyes as she searched his deeper green ones. "When?"

"Literally, all the time." Percy snorted.

"What?!"

"Yeah, don't bother asking how. You wouldn't believe me." He added briskly.

"Come on." Annabeth groaned. "I wanna know how to fly too!"

"Maybe if you didn't think so scientifically it wouldn't be a problem. But alas, my dear, it isn't meant to be."

"Perseus Jackson, are you keeping the secret of flight from me?" Annabeth crossed her arms as a growl of suspicion clawed at her heart.

Percy just laughed and shook his head while pressing his wing closer against her side. "I wouldn't dare keep a thing from you."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die." Percy chuckled while pressing a kiss into her hair.

"Ew, don't say that. We've already been too close to death." Annabeth wrinkled her nose and looked up at him in distaste. "Just say you promise."

Percy's eyes locked onto hers and his gaze filled with a full sort of contentment as his grin only grew softer. Still chuckling to himself as he pulled her closer.

"Promise." he whispered against her lips, creating a whirlpool of bubbles to swirl up in her chest. Her eyes fluttering closed as she was lost to the time standing world of a kiss. Her absent minded hand were drawing shapes into his arm. A steady incline of breathless happiness boiled over in her gut.

"Footsteps." Percy suddenly breathed against her lips. The urgency of his hushed tone sent goosebumps scattering across her skin. His eyes were already open and fearful as they remained glued in their position.

She could hear them. Distant, but firm. The very sound made her blood turn to ice in her veins. But where were they coming from? It sounded as if all directions were hiding walking attackers.

"We should run," Percy hissed. Fear was prominent in his gaze.

"No," Annabeth hushed with her heart in her throat. "We should stay hidden. It's dark. They'll have a harder time finding us if we just stay still."

They weren't. They were headed right towards them. Not missing a beat in each simple, yet heart stopping step.

"We should run." Percy repeated with a little more panic. "We should go."

"No, we don't know which way they're coming." Annabeth pulled Percy into her as if to stop him from doing anything rash. "We could bump right into them."

"But-"

Click.

The noise was right behind him, in the creek bed a few measly meters away.

A gun, a man, and burning recognition that made Annabeth's heart stop.

"Octavian?!"

Octavian smiled in a distinctly amused way.

"Hello darling." He raised the gun smugly. "And Perseus Jackson I assume?"