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we ran until we couldn't anymore.
rachel steered us away from traps, but we had no destination in mind — only away from that dark mountain and the roar of kronos.
we stopped in a tunnel of wet white rock, like part of a natural cave. i couldn't hear anything behind us, but it didn't help me feel any better.
i could still remember those unnatural golden eyes staring out of luke's face. that was probably the worst part of it all.
"i can't go any farther," rachel gasped, hugging her chest.
annabeth had been crying the entire time we'd been running. now she collapsed and put her head between her knees. her sobs echoed in the tunnel.
i collapsed next to her, my mind still a little hazy. every single thing that had happened since last winter was too much for me to handle. it was all going too fast for me to process. i couldn't even bring any tears out over luke. i just sat there, confused, and scared.
nico and percy sat next to each other. nico dropped his sword.
"that sucked," nico said, but his voice sounded faraway in my head.
i wasn't even in the right state of mind to get mad at him. he literally just shoved the fact that he's a son of hades in kronos' face.
"you saved our lives," percy said, almost in awe.
"blame the girls for dragging me along. that's the only thing they could agree on. we needed to help you or you'd mess things up. besides, riley can't babysit you forever."
"nice that they trust me so much."
in the background water dripped down the stalactites like rain.
"nico... you, uh, kind of gave yourself away." percy's voice sounded.
"what do you mean?"
"that wall of black stone? that was pretty impressive. if kronos didn't know who you were before, he does now — a child of the underworld."
