madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-i am a first born daughter, wolfchoker, aching to martyr-

the title's from the song Wolf House by Rabbitology and honestly it applies to the whole Lycaon plot through this book mixed with the hunters and then Piper and Teqi's fight like: 

You huff your hungry, drooly jaw
But touch her and I'll hack you raw

Come on, sink your teeth in me
Come on, sink your teeth in me

Drink my blood, my spit'll be the chaser, all
So you don't catch her slipping out the door

⋆˖⁺‧₊🎧🧨🍷🎬🍓₊‧⁺˖⋆

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For a minute, Jason and Thalia faced each other, stunned. Then Thalia rushed forward and hugged him.

"My gods! She told me you were dead!" She gripped Jason's face and seemed to be examining everything about it. "Thank Artemis, it is you. That little scar on your lip—you tried to eat a stapler when you were two!"

Leo laughed. "Seriously?"

Hedge nodded like he approved of Jason's taste. "Staplers —excellent source of iron."

"W-wait," Jason stammered. "Who told you I was dead? What happened?"

One of the white wolves, the one who'd stayed, peered around Phoebe's legs and barked sharply. Thalia looked back at the wolf and nodded, but she kept her hands on Jason's face, like she was afraid he might vanish. "Our wolf is telling me I don't have much time, and she's right. But we have to talk. Let's sit."

Teqi took the instructions and followed through, sitting down right there on the snowy forest floor, amid her ripped up clothes and big paw prints. Her body was aching and her heart rate hadn't returned to normal yet. She tucked the packet of letters into her waistband.

Piper did better. She swayed, and then collapsed. She would've cracked her head if Gleeson hadn't caught her on the way down.

Thalia rushed over. "What's wrong with her? Ah—never mind. I see. Hypothermia, ankle, and... what are those bruises?" She frowned at Piper's beaten up face and then at the satyr. "Don't you know nature healing?"

Hedge scoffed. "Why do you think she looks this good? Can't you smell the Gatorade?"

Thalia surveyed the clearing, and then glanced to Piper's limp form. Leo was holding her up now, though he was vague himself, and kept yawning. They were a dismal looking little quest.

She nodded at Phoebe, who dropped a satchel and began unfolding plastic sheeting into a strange shape. Almost immediately, a small tent popped open.

Phoebe began nailing down strings and pegs.

Thalia looked to Leo. "We'll set up camp for a short while. You and the satyr, take her into the tent, Phoebe's an excellent healer. And she'll check your injuries; you don't want a bite from one of Lycaon's wolves."

"Humph. Fine," the satyr muttered. "Didn't even get to brain anybody."

Teqi couldn't help but breathe a laugh as she stood. "Yeah, thanks."

Thalia raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, it's just sort of funny. I was the one who healed your wounds when we found you in the roots of the tree," Teqi said with a smile. She remembered wrapping bandages around the unconscious girl with Will in case those tree carving scars opened up, the girl they'd heard sacrificed everything- and for Luke Castellan in the end, no less.