Thunder and Blood

22

Percy

Annabeth's face falls. 

She's the daughter of Athena. The goddess of wisdom, she should be able to figure out what I'm doing. She should see that I'm trying to protect her. Come on, Annabeth, just play along, I silently urge. She stares at me, hurt. 

I want to hug her, kiss her. But I can't. Not with Scott and his friends here. Not with Void inside my head. Especially not with Void inside my head. 

"I'll ask you one more time." Peter threatens, stepping closer to her. "Who are you?"

She looks away from me. I can tell just by her expression that I'm going to get Hell for this later. "The toothfairy." She tells him, and I watch as her fist connects with Peter's jaw. He is knocked sideways, having to stable himself on the couch.

"Bitch." He spits a tooth onto the floor, looking back up at Annabeth with a new fire in his eyes. She grins, challenging him. Gods, I'm so proud. Peter deserved it. But I can't show my pride, not now. I can't let them know who she is to me. They could use it against me, and that won't end well for either of us. 

But I have no doubt Annabeth will win this. She doesn't need my help anyways. 

Peter takes a swing at her, but she dodges it easily. That's my girl. He overshoots, and she kicks his back, sending his sprawling onto the ground. Embarrassed, he gets up as if it didn't happen. Peter may be supernatural, but he's nothing compared to the monsters Annabeth has fought. But she still doesn't know what he is. 

She's about to find out. 

Peter growls, Annabeth looks at me in confusion, but I feel Scott's eyes on me, I don't let myself help her. Peter begins to change, from human to werewolf, and Annabeth steps back, utterly shocked. She swears, glancing at her bag. 

It's at my feet, with everyone watching, I can't kick it towards her. She glares at me, annoyed, and dives for it just as Peter takes a swipe at where she had been standing. She grabs her knife, spinning on her knees and slashing at his stomach. The blade connects, and Peter groans in pain. She rises, flipping the knife in her hand. 

"Come on." She says, he looks down at his stomach, at the large gash she made. "I don't have all day buddy." She spits a wad of blood onto the ground. Melissa makes a face as it lands on her carpet, staining it. "Sorry." Annabeth realizes what she did, making a face. 

Peter is annoyed now, he's been bested by a girl, not once, not twice, but three times. I haven't known this man long, but he doesn't seem like the time to be a good loser. He stares Annabeth down, his eyes glowing blue. 

From what I've heard, blue eyes mean that the werewolf has killed an innocent, yellow means they haven't, and red represents an alpha. Scott has red eyes, I'm not surprised. He's definitely the leader. But you also have to kill to be an alpha, and I've seen many killers in my six years at camp, that boy is not one of them. 

I watch the fight roll out, Annabeth beats Peter over and over again. That is until Peter has her backed into the group. And he signals to Scott to grab her. To my surprise, the alpha does. Her knife falls from her hands, clattering on the floor by her feet. Annabeth fights back against Scott's hold. But I don't even think I could break out of his grip. She's stuck, and I can't do anything about it. 

Yes you can. The same voice from before echoes in my head. Void. 

Not against all of them. They'll kill the both of us. I respond, panicking as Scott and Peter hold her down. Well, now Void knows about her. But he's not threatening her life, like I thought he would. He's trying to get me to save her.

You underestimate yourself, Perseus. 

Stop calling me that. I say. My body wants to run to her and protect her. My mind is telling me otherwise. I stick my hand in my pocket, wrapping my fingers around riptide. I slowly pull the pen out, but I don't uncap it. 

And then I see Peter pick up the knife. 

"Peter, no." Scott says, shaking his head. "Put the knife down."

"Why? She used it on me, why not give her a taste of her own medicine." He examines the blade, running his finger over the smooth celestial bronze. "Maybe then she'll talk."

Annabeth fights some more, elbowing Scott in the gutt, but he doesn't flinch. "Suck my di-" She starts to say, but Peter cuts her off, bring the edge of the blade to her throat. 

I react before I can even think of what I'm going to do. I uncap riptide, stepping forward and touching the tip of my sword to the underneath of Peter's chin. He freezes.

All eyes turn to me.