obsidian black ● jason grace

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 Reyna woke up blind.

A cloth covered her face, and her hands were bound behind her back, tied to a chair. From what she remembered, she had been kidnapped with Nico, meaning that he was around here somewhere.

She tested her luck. "Nico?"

"Here," a voice grumbled. "Unfortunately."

Well, that was one thing sorted out. Years ago, Lupa had taught her how to gauge her surroundings in order of importance. First, they needed to figure out where they were and what would try to stop them when they escaped.

She dug her foot into the ground; no tremors or shaking, which meant that the floor was solid. Then she realized it also meant that they hadn't bound her ankles. A messy job.

Somewhere in front of her, footsteps echoed down a corridor. The sound got closer. Reyna let her

muscles go slack. She rested her chin against her chest. "Nico," she murmured. "Get ready."

A lock clicked. A door creaked open. Judging from the acoustics, Reyna was in a small room with brick or concrete walls: maybe a basement or a cell. One person entered the room.

She surged upward, spinning so the chair legs smashed against her captor's body. The force broke

the chair. Her captor fell with a pained grunt.

Shouts from the corridor. More footsteps.

Reyna shook the cloth sack off her head. She dropped into a backward roll, pulling her bound

hands under her legs so her arms were in front of her. Her captor – a teen girl in grey camouflage –

lay dazed on the floor, a knife at her belt.

Reyna grabbed the knife and straddled her, pressing the blade against her captor's throat. "Who are you?" She demanded. Other girls flooded the room.

Nico looked wiped out from all the shadow traveling, but he'd managed to escape as well. He hobbled over, an annoyed look on his face. Reyna wanted to tell him to run, but there was no way he would make it past the crowd.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded.

Reyna glanced at him in surprise. "You know her?"

On the floor, Reyna's hostage began to shake. Reyna thought she might be having a fit. Then she

realized the girl was laughing.

"Something funny?" Reyna asked.

The girl's voice was a gravelly whisper. "Jason told me you were good. He didn't say how good."

"Reyna," Nico said, with a roll of his eyes. "Meet Thalia Grace."

"A pleasure," Thalia Grace said, dusting herself off. "Come, we have a lot to talk about."

"Hylla is here?" Reyna asked.

They were being led somewhere. Reyna wasn't sure kidnapping someone was the best way to introduce yourself but Nico wasn't angrily demanding to know where they were going, so Reyna kept her silence as well.

"We've been talking," Thalia agreed. "I don't know if you've noticed, but you're being hunted."

Reyna put a hand on her blade that she stole from Thalia. "We've noticed."

"We can take Orion, Thalia," Nico said. "And we were doing fine on our own."

"I'll say," Thalia smirked. "You're passing out a lot less now."