LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE . . . pjo

XXXIV.

"WHY IS HE so insufferable?" Mia muttered, glancing around for Percy. "I literally told him that we should find you guys. But, no, he runs away right after I turn away, probably to find them."

"I don't know, Mia," Thalia said. "You sound like you like him a lot."

"Right now? I don't like that . . . that . . . piece of crap," Mia closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, when she felt a not-so-small part of her register the words that Thalia had just said. "What—"

"I've been trying to tell her that for the past two years," Annabeth told Thalia. "She won't listen."

"You can't seriously think that I have a crush on Percy Jackson," Mia hissed, as if he could hear them — which, maybe he could. Probably not, though. "And anyway, this isn't the time to talk about my nonexistent romantic feelings for my best friend. And only best friend. We need to find him before he ends up going to the Underworld due to his stupid—"

Her voice faded as she realized that she is, in fact, the daughter of Persephone. And she could, in fact, sense mortal souls. Her soul searched for Percy, Bianca, and Nico's souls.

"Are you finally realizing your undying crush on him?" Annabeth smirked at her.

"I don't have a crush on him," Mia argued. "He's just my friend. But I think I can find him and the di Angelos."

She surged forward in the direction her gut was leading her to, and her friends followed her. At least, until Grover stopped.

"I can hear his voice!" He announced.

"How?" Thalia asked.

"Their empathy link!" Annabeth realized. "What's he saying, Grover?"

"He's outside," Grover recited, "Thorn's kidnapping them . . . he's a poisonous spike-throwing maniac . . . help."

Drama queen, Mia thought, but then she realized that he'd learned it from the best. Her. It was her. She let her gut and her powers guide her to him. "Then let's go save them from a spike-throwing maniac," she sighed.

They ran all the way outside. As soon as they got there, though, Annabeth stopped them. "We need a plan," she hissed, assessing the situation.

Percy and the others were standing near a cliff, but Mia wasn't sure where it ended. There was a helicopter looming closer, its blades so loud that a headache was quickly forming. Dr. Thorn had a tail. A leathery, scorpionlike tail that bristled with spikes at the tip. She hated it here.

"You go invisible," Thalia told Annabeth. "Me, Grover, and Mia will attack."

Annabeth nodded, then went invisible. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, she invisibly slammed into Percy and the di Angelos, knocking them to the ground.

For a split second, Dr. Thorn was taken by surprise, so his first volley of missiles zipped harmlessly over their heads. Mia, Thalia, and Grover advanced from behind — Mia with Sirius in her hands, Thalia wielding her magic shield, Aegis.

If you've never seen Thalia run into battle, you have never been truly frightened. She uses a huge spear that expands from this collapsible Mace canister she carries in her pocket, but that's not the scary part. Her shield is modeled after one her dad Zeus uses — also called Aegis — a gift from Athena. The shield has the head of the gorgon Medusa molded into the bronze, and even though it won't turn you to stone, it's so horrible, most people will panic and run at the sight of it.

Even Dr. Thorn winced and growled when he saw it.

Thalia moved in with her spear. "For Zeus!"

Thalia jabbed at his head, but he snarled and swatted the spear aside. His hand changed into an orange paw, with enormous claws that sparked against her shield as he slashed. If it hadn't been for Aegis, she would've been sliced like a loaf of bread. As it was, she managed to roll backward and land on her feet.