The Moon's Shine (PJO)

Chapter 71 (END)

"I've been catching you trespassing on my property a bit too often for my liking," said the woman behind Percy, and it sounded like she had a huge grin.

Percy didn't like how his heart wanted to leap out of his chest when her mouth opened. His entire being was yearning for her—but he couldn't show it. He didn't move a muscle. "Are you going to do anything about it?"

"I just might," Artemis purred, placing her arms around Percy. His neck felt cold the next moment, and she plopped down next to him, close enough that the morning chill wasn't at the forefront of his mind. "What made you climb onto the roof of my cabin?"

"To enjoy life, I guess." His words sounded bland even to himself. But that was normal.

Since the party on Olympus, everything felt bland. Partaking in Capture the Flag and pummeling the younger campers wasn't fun anymore. The thrill of "slipping" on the rock wall to purposely knock others into the lava pool was superseded by Percy's desire to sleep until lunch. And forget teaching swordsmanship—Percy's lessons were so monotone that he sometimes dozed off (the campers seldom decided to wake him back up; they were busy managing their own sleepiness or sneaking out of class). 

He definitely hadn't been dreaming of a pair of silver eyes. 

So after a week of time flowing as though he was holding the sky—again—he'd decided that he needed to do something. He woke up in the middle of the night, exited his cabin, artfully dodged the harpies on patrol (which was pretty easy to do, as they continuously hissed their desire to taste demigod flesh. Creepy.), and used the ledge on the back window of the Artemis cabin to vault onto the roof.

He didn't know why he did it. It wasn't like anyone was asleep below him. But . . .

"I'm here now," Artemis said playfully, then looked toward the horizon, where the sun began rising in a pink, blue, and orange hue. "Wow. I never thought Apollo could look so stunning. Don't tell him I said that, though."

Percy stiffened as Artemis put her head on his shoulder. It fit perfectly, like a key in a doorknob. Percy wanted to do nothing but pull her closer but now wasn't the time. 

Artemis frowned, and Percy almost melted at her cute expression. "Are you mad at me?"

"Of course not," Percy lied. 

"Look, Percy, I'm sorry I've been busy. I want to make time for you, but my godly duties come first. I hope you can understand."

"How's your 'godly duties' with your hunt going?" Percy asked sourly. "It's been quite a while since they've visited camp."

You haven't either, he wanted to add. But he just bit his lip and looked away. 

Artemis sighed as if the tension between them was hurting her. "Father has been ordering us to move all across the country to hunt. He's become paranoid after the wars. We barely have time to sleep, let alone spare time to come visit you. If you decided to move into my palace, you'd see me every day." Artemis gave him a pointed look as she gently grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her.

Percy's heart fluttered as he looked deep into her eyes. But he shook his head. "You would keep me locked up there—and I've heard that being contained isn't exactly a remedy for ADHD. Camp is where I belong, Artemis."

He's answered this question before—multiple times. He wasn't telling her the whole story, though; Artemis' palace had too many memories.

Memories that had been ruined by a certain dead son of Zeus.

"I know," Artemis said, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek—barely grazing his lips and leaving him wanting more. "I'm sorry for asking."

"I'm hearing a lot of apologizing and not a lot of actually doing things," Percy said dryly.