Bianca di Angelo & The Olympians

Luke (Part 2)

Annabeth POV

I was reviewing some Ancient Greek writing with Bianca when Percy rushed into the room. "Oh, er, sorry for interrupting. I was just coming to talk with Bianca, but-"

"You can go." I said in a tight voice. People had told me I had been a bit more irritable lately, and I wasn't trying to be, It was just that something was going on. And no one, no matter how much I pestered them, would clue me in.

Nico, I believed. He seemed genuinely concerned about his sister and Percy's continued secrecy. Piper was using charmspeak when she talked about why she was spending time with the older children of The Big Three. I hated to admit that I didn't trust her at all anymore.

And Bianca? I wasn't sure about her.

She was an... interesting case. As far as I could figure, she had no tell to see if she was lying. I mainly focused on pressuring Percy to tell me but there was one nagging reason I hadn't given up on getting info out of specifically her; she was the current placeholder for The Great Prophecy. I had to make sure she was on the right side. That she trusted them, trusted me.

And on top of all that, she was a child of Hades. I had begun to trust her, regardless of her parentage.

But I shouldn't have even tried.

"Oh, thanks!" Percy said. One thing I had noticed is that they were making sure I wouldn't eavesdrop on them by always keeping one person near me. That person was usually Piper, but sometimes Percy would drag me to the arena so I couldn't trail Bianca or Piper. The meetings were planned.

But judging by the sheer urgency in Percy's eyes, this was unplanned. Which meant I could trail them.

Bianca stood and quickly followed the raven haired boy out the door. I collected my yankees cap from its spot on my bed, stuck it on my head, and slipped out the doorway.

"-Luke invited me to head into the forest for some monster hunting. Alone."

Bianca shook her head, exasperated. "Where no one would hear your screams?" Huh? Why would they be joking about that? Then again, Bianca had a dark sense of humor.

"Glad we're on the same page. I need you to keep an eye out for me. He's the best sword fighter in the century, so I'd like it if it was two against one." I could have passed this off as sarcasm, but Percy never joked about stuff like this.

Bianca bit her lip. "3 to 1 would be better."

Percy looked questioningly at her, "Piper isn't much of a fighter yet, and-"

"No. I mean Annabeth." Percy looked ready to protest, "She's suspicious of us. And she deserves to know before someone gets hurt."

"She would never believe us. Luke and her are family, if we suddenly went up to her and said, 'Oh, Luke actually is the reason we had to go on a quest in the first place because he's a traitor' do you think that would go down well?" My eyes bulged out of my head, but I stayed in my spot.

No way.

He couldn't...

He could.

He would never want that.

He resents the gods.

He was always on your side.

You never said anything good about the gods either.

"I gotta get going, just stick to the shadows." Percy said, interrupting my anxiety.

Bianca agreed by stepping into the shadow between two cabins, making her nearly invisible. The boy looked away, and made his way to the arena, I followed, invisible. He wouldn't.