Ack, I know it's been a little bit of time since I posted, but I've actually been really busy... and distracted. I recently finished my first original novel first draft and I've been going through it, making changes where they were needed and so on so I can get started on my second draft. Also, I had no idea where I wanted this chapter to go. Anyway, hope you enjoy and feel free, even obligated, to review.

Chapter 14

Dozens of Half-bloods stood at the barrier, each trying their own way to get through it. However, none could, except Izzy.

"What if this means that Half-Bloods still out there can't get in?" one asked.

"Is it worse to be trapped in here than out there where we'd have to face monsters?"

"Is there enough food for everyone to survive?"

Izzy couldn't count the number of times they had forced her to walk out and walk back in. She was getting bored with it. And worse, neither Addy nor Uncle Connor had come. It was mostly older campers and the newly arrived adults.

The question as to whether Half-Bloods outside the border could enter was answered at noon that day when Miranda Gardiner arrived and was able to pass through. There was hope that maybe she'd be able to leave, but to no avail. At least it gave Izzy a shoulder to lean on.

"This whole thing is so screwed up," Izzy said, sitting on a log not far into the forest, her head against Miranda's shoulder, or Aunt Miranda as she had always known the woman. "I just wanted a nice, low key summer here. Instead I'm now the freak."

"That's not how anyone sees you, Izzy," Miranda said. She ran her fingers through Izzy's hair. "As I see it, right now, you're the camp's biggest hope. You're the only one that can pass through the border."

"I'd assume Addy can too," Izzy said.

"Which we will verify once she can walk again," Miranda said. She smiled at the girl. "You might just get a quest."

"My father would freak," Izzy said.

"I think he'd be proud," Miranda said. "It's an honor to be chosen for a quest."

"No," Izzy shook her head. "My father already forbid Addy and me to go on any quests."

Miranda laughed. "And how does he plan on stopping you?" she asked. "If he's out there," she motioned to the entrance to camp, "he won't know whether or not you are going. And if he comes here, you just have to get out the border and he'll be stuck inside."

"I wouldn't want to disobey his orders," Izzy said.

"Oh, believe me, your father has been no angel during his time at camp," Miranda said. "He and your uncle were more mischievous than even you and your sister were last summer. I'm sure they could have broken up a wedding in three days flat."

"What changed?" Izzy asked.

Miranda smiled at the girl. "You," she said. "And Addy. Travis became a father, Connor an uncle. The parental gene just kicked in. I can still see Travis's face the first time he got to hold you and Addy in his arms, carefully cradling each of you in one arm. He was so careful to make sure that you were both comfortable, but the look in his eyes... it was adoration."

Addy heard speaking just as she was waking, but decided to keep her eyes closed. When no one said anything after a few moments, she assumed that they weren't aware that she had woken.

"Don't you have patrol duties to perform?" Jemma asked.

"I'm not leaving here again," Sloan's voice said. "Not until she has recovered and can defend herself."

"Her uncle had a son of Apollo in here all night working on her," Jemma said. "She should be fine to protect herself by now."

"Then why are you in here?" Sloan questioned.

"To protect her from you," Jemma said. "I don't trust you and your... man parts."

At that, Addy couldn't help but laugh a bit. Both immediately stopped talking, and when she opened her eyes, they were both staring down at her. "Is something funny?" Sloan asked. She noticed his cheeks were red, probably from Jemma's 'man parts' comment.

"I don't know," Addy said, smiling a bit. "Do your man parts plan on doing something to me?"

Sloan's cheeks just reddened more at that, making Addy laugh a little harder. It hurt, but in the good way. She sat up, and felt more stiff than pain. "So, where are Izzy and my uncle?"

"Izzy is the talk of the camp," Sloan said. "Last I saw, she was walking off with an adult daughter of Demeter."

"If I recall correctly from the last time I was here, that's Miranda something-or-other," Jemma said.

"Gardiner," Addy said. "She's one of our aunts that actually acts like an aunt to us." She tilted her head. "Why is Izzy the talk?"

"Well, they created a new border protection spell," Jemma said. "And it works."

"Okay, not following what this has to do with Izzy..." Addy said.

"It works too well," Sloan said. "It keeps the monsters out, but we're all stuck inside. Only Izzy has been able to pass out of the border since it's been erected. So, we're all patrolling, but it's kind of useless."

"We're stuck?" Addy asked, her eyes widening. "I'm gonna be stuck in here?"

"Well, we'd assume that you'd be like Izzy," Jemma said. "Be able to pass through the border."

"Obviously, that hasn't been tested," Sloan said.

"Then let's test it right now," Addy said, slipping out of the bed. She placed her feet on the ground, carefully, and then stood up. She was a little stiff, but she didn't feel the pain that she had been feeling in her leg from before. She took a step, but then her leg, the one that had been broken, gave out and she fell. Sloan caught her, pulling her close against his body.

"There's no need to push yourself," he said, holding her up.

"I'm good," Addy said, her cheeks going a little red. "I just have to be aware of that leg."

"Maybe bring a crutch?" Jemma suggested, wedging one between the two. They were both blushing as Addy grabbed the crutch and began walking again, with better results.

It was sometime later that Miranda left Izzy, as the young girl wanted to be alone for once. She was still in the forest, sitting on a log, looking the border. There could be any number of monsters on the other side, but that's where they were stuck. And yet, so many great heroes and warriors were stuck inside the camp.

"Something on your mind?"

Izzy felt a shock go through her back, sitting up straighter at the voice. She felt her cheeks redden, remembering a few events that had happened earlier in the week, and knowing that if she turned around, she'd still think he was handsome, even though she knew he was rotten.

"Go away," she forced herself to say. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Sure you do," he said, rounding the log until he stood in front of her. Izzy couldn't stand it, seeing him in front of her, so handsome with his golden hair and blue eyes. She felt a few tears begin to leak from her eyes.

"You used me, Sonny," she snapped. She stood up, but he grabbed her wrist.

"Would it help if I apologized?" he asked.

"No," Izzy said. "You were only ever after Addy."

"She came onto me first," Sonny said with a smile.

"That is a lie," Izzy said. She shook her head. "She would never do so."

"What makes you so sure?" Sonny asked. "Aren't I handsome? Talented? Girls come onto me all the time."

"Addy wouldn't do that to me," Izzy said.

"Why do you assume that?" Sonny asked her. He still held her wrist but pulled her a little closer so he could wrap his other arm around her waist. "After all, Isabelle, you've only known her for a year. Right? You couldn't know everything about her yet."

"We tell each other everything," Izzy said, though it wasn't as insistent as she meant it to be. Stopped struggling.

"You tell her," Sonny said. "So she knows what you and I did in Cabin Two?"

Izzy's eyes grew wide. She shook her head. She hadn't told Addy. Hadn't had a chance to admit it. She shivered a little bit when she felt Sonny's lips on her neck. "Sonny," she said slowly, in a quiet voice. "Please..."

"Please... what?" Sonny asked, his voice a little lower than usual. He slipped his hand under Izzy's shirt and slowly caressed it up her stomach. Izzy didn't respond as her breath hitched. Sonny's warm breath brushed her cheek and ear as he spoke. "This place is starting to get crowded, but I still know a place that we can be alone for a while. We should use this time well, don't you think?"

Izzy's body was reacting so strongly toward Sonny, but she tried to think about anything other than his hand as it brushed the skin just under her bra. And then his hand was cupping her breast, and his other hand was slipping under the waistband of her pants.

"Please, Sonny," Izzy said, but gasped from his actions before she could get farther.

"No one needs to know," Sonny said. He licked her neck. "It can be our little secret."

Izzy's knees were starting to go weak, but before he could fall, Sonny removed his hands from within her clothes and swept her up into his arms and carried her further into the woods, where they could truly be alone. The next thing Izzy knew, her back was against a tree and she was making out with Sonny as he worked on getting his belt undone.

"Addy, I don't think this is a good idea," Connor said to the girl as she struggled up the hill.

"You let Izzy try," Addy said. "In fact, as I hear it, you made her cross over and over again."

"Izzy isn't injured," Connor said. "And she knows how to handle a sword. You can't even stand on your own."

"Two steps," Addy said. "Just to prove a theory." She looked at her uncle. "If you're so worried, have one of your archer friends be ready with a bow."

People were gathering. It was time to see if Izzy was the only anomaly or if Addy was one as well. Addy had finally made it to the top of the hill. She looked at her uncle, and then at Sloan. "Here goes nothing," she said, and took a step forward. Connor wanted so badly to follow her, but when he took a step, he pressed into the barrier. Addy took another step, clearly having crossed the boundary. She smiled and turned around, until her crutch slipped on some loose dirt, and she fell, rolling a few feet back from the boundary. She cried out in pain.

"Addy!" Connor yelled and tried harder to push through the barrier.

"Addy, get back here," Sloan yelled, and he too was pushing on the barrier.

Addy attempted to stand, but her leg wouldn't allow her to put any pressure on it. She was exhausted from the climb up the hill.

"Addy!" Jemma yelled and notched an arrow, aiming at something down the hill, approaching the camp. Addy turned her head and saw a large monster. It looked like nothing she had seen. One of Jemma's arrows hit it just between the eyes, but it didn't even pierce the skin.

"Where is Izzy?" Sirius questioned, looking around as Addy began scrambling back, though not near fast enough. Jemma kept shooting arrows, but they kept deflecting off the creature's skin. It seemed to only annoy it further as it pursued.

Addy was still about three feet from the boarder when the creature was right on top of her. It roared loudly, deafening the cries of everyone else. It was definitely ready to pounce and tear her limb from limb. She spun around and pushed as hard as she could with her good leg, reaching out towards everyone on the other side of the boarder.

The creature came down at her, but she felt a hand grasp her own and tug her fast and hard. She ended up rolling down the hill, back into camp, held tightly in Connor's arms, and she could feel a few tears drip into her hair as he held her once they reached the bottom of the hill.

"Never do that again," he said quietly, holding her to his chest. At the top of the hill, she could still hear twangs of people shooting arrows at the creature, and the roars as it stood at the barrier, yet couldn't get in.

Izzy was laying on the ground in the forest after Sonny left her. She felt a million things at once. Shame. Fierce. Lust. Her skin felt like it was on fire, in a very good way, like he had somehow electrified her. She wanted nothing more than to stay exactly where she was.

"Took long enough to find you," Orion said, appearing above her. She noticed he was quite literally floating above her.

"I needed some time to myself," Izzy said, smiling at him. Sonny was gone, and she didn't have to think about him for the time being.

"Could have used you an hour ago at Thalia's tree," he said.

She cocked her head. "Why?" she asked. "And what was that noise I heard earlier?"

"It was some, well, unknown monster," Orion finally set down, and sat next to her. She sat up herself.

"Unknown?" Izzy asked.

"And it nearly ate Addy," Orion said.

"It... what?" Izzy bolted to her feet.

"She's fine," Orion said, taking her hand. She looked at him and felt a little warmed by his smile. "She can pass the boarder as well, though she kind of had a fall and couldn't stand back up because of her leg. Turns out, it's still broken. A couple of healers are working on her now, because she is half our hope."

"Half the hope?" Izzy asked, sitting down again.

"Well, I'm with the other half," Orion said, leaning toward her. A moment later, his lips were against hers, and he was helping her to lay down again. But this time, she knew it would just be that. Laying down on the forest ground and kisses. And, at the moment, it was exactly what she wanted.