WINGED ₁

48

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A WHILE, as Madeleine lay in her bunk that night, she thought of Luke's blue eyes, pallid in the dark, watching her for hours.

Oh, gods, she thought. Luke Castellan is going to kill us all.

Her dreams, when she finally managed to drift off, were feverish and nonsensical: the flash of teeth, a slit wrist, a river of blood, bronze wings, salt on tongues, and the wide, gaping maw of the sea.

She woke just as the sky was turning a light gray. Before she could decide what, exactly, she was going to do with her time, she heard a light tapping on one of the windows.

Soundlessly, Madeleine rose from her bed and padded over. Annabeth was standing there, stark and pale in the moonlight. She waved her hand at Madeleine, an invitation, then replaced her magical Yankees cap, effectively disappearing.

Madeleine dressed quietly and made her way downstairs and out of the cabin. Annabeth, still invisible, grabbed onto her wrist and led her to the sword arena. Quintus and his hellhound were absent, and Madeleine vaguely wondered where they hung out in their spare time.

Once they were clear, Annabeth removed her cap and drew her dagger. "Spar with me?"

Madeleine nodded wordlessly and they fought until the sun started to rise in the sky. It was less vicious than fighting with Ethan had been, and Madeleine ached for him all over again. But Annabeth wasn't a bad fighter by any means, and by the time the conch horn rang in the distance, signaling breakfast, they were both sweating.

They sat down on a bench and shared a water bottle. Annabeth stared into the distance, her blonde hair like a halo in the sunlight. 

Madeleine finished the water. Annabeth said, "Madeleine, if I have a quest for the labyrinth, will you go with me?"

Madeleine thought of the way Clarisse said Chris, how her sharp edges became smooth. She thought of Zoe's body against the rocks, limp like a ragdoll. She thought of Ethan's pallid face, an eye for an eye.

She thought of Luke tumbling from the cliff, and she made her decision.

"Yes," Madeleine said. "I'll go with you."

The relief in Annabeth's smile made it worth it.

⎯⎯ ୨ winged ୧ ⎯⎯

The next morning, Chiron called a war council, so Madeleine returned to the sword arena and watched as the now-present Mrs. O'Leary chewed on a squeaky pink rubber yak the size of her owner.

Chiron and Quintus stood at the front by the weapon racks. Clarisse and Annabeth sat next to each other and led the briefing. Tyson and Grover, representatives for the Cyclopes and satyrs respectively, sat as far away from each other as possible. Also present were Juniper, Silena, Beckendorf, Lee, Percy, and even Argus, the camp's many-eyed security chief.

Madeleine took a seat between Lee and Percy. 

"Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance," Annabeth said. "He knew everything about camp."

There was a little pride in her voice, and Madeleine thought, once again, of how easy it had been to defend everything Zoe did. How wonderful she was, how graceful.

Annabeth was still a little bit in love with Luke, and maybe that was the problem.

Juniper cleared her throat. "That's what I was trying to tell you last night. The cave entrance has been there a long time. Luke used to use it."

Madeleine got a chill at the thought of those blue eyes in the dark, scouting for Kronos, even then.

Silena frowned. "You knew about the Labyrinth entrance, and you didn't say anything?"