𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 • 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧 ¹

𝐈

"Bi, don't yell at Nico, please." I asked with a sigh, looking around at the other students in the gym. Caelan was nowhere to be found but I semi trusted my twin brother not to get us expelled like he had before. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a group of three kids and Grover, one of the newer students, staring at our little group and a boy with sea green eyes pointed at us. I moved closer to my siblings, hoping Caelan would hurry up with his friends so we could go back to the dorms. I put my hand on Bianca's shoulder with a smile. "I'm going to go find Cae. Be right back. Watch Nico. Something about Thorn doesn't sit right with me."

Bianca nodded and I made my way down the bleacher stairs, scanning the crowd for my brother. My hair flowed down my back in dark curls as I walked. I spotted my brother talking to Grover and one of Grover's friends, the others were no where in sight. I kept glancing over my shoulder to check on Nico and Bianca.

"Hey Cae." I said, plastering a fake smile on my face.

"Novalie." He said with a grin, studying my nervous demeanor. He knew I hated my birth name and preferred Nova.

"How much longer until you'll be ready to go?" I bit my lip anxiously. The other two had danced away into the crowd.

"What are you so worried about, Nova? Nothing's going to happen to us here. We're safe, Bianca's safe, Nico's safe." He said and I shook my head.

"I don't know, just Thorn." He nodded in understanding and I glanced back at my siblings, finding Thorn getting closer. "He keeps looking at us weird and getting closer."

He followed my gaze and began to walk towards our siblings, I was hot on his tail. We took our seat next to our siblings and the anxiety began to drain out of my body slowly.

"Ah, the di Angelo siblings. Just the people I was looking for." A voice with a thick French accent said and I winced before turning around slowly, Caelan was caught up playing Mythomagic with Nico and talking to Bianca.

"Dr. Thorn." I greeted with little enthusiasm.

He placed a hand on my shoulder and one on Bianca's who froze. "Come with me."

Nico's eyes found mine, full of fear and I nodded with an unsure smile. We stood up, Caelan trailing behind, grasping Bianca's hand and Nico's found its way into mine.

"We'll be fine." I whispered to the frightened boy as we passed through the doors next to the bleachers and he nodded. The way he was headed made it seem like Thorn was taking us outside.

Thorn's hand moved to the back of my neck as we walked into a dark hallway and I shivered. Thorn opened the door to the entrance hall with a grunt and walked us inside. He shoved us to the far side, visible from the door and he stood across from us, behind the door.

The door creaked open not even 10 seconds later and the boy from before with the sea green eyes walked in, carrying a glowing sword.

My eyes widened in horror as I realized what Thorn was planning on doing, and I saw Bianca's eyes also widen and she made her fists into balls.

He advanced slowly, lowering the tip of his sword as he went. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

None of us answered and I gripped my siblings hands, Caelan stepping forward to shield Nico and Bianca from view.

"My name's Percy," He said with a slightly leveled voice. "I'm going to take you out of here, get you somewhere safe."

Percy whirled around and a black shard of some sort embedded itself in his shoulder. The force shoved him into the wall and he slashed his sword, hitting empty air.

A cold laugh echoed through the hall.

"Yes, Persues Jackson," Dr. Thorn said. His accent mangled with the J of his last name. "I know who you are."

A dark silhouette moved into the slight towards us and Dr. Thorn stepped into the light. He looked human but his face looked like that of a forgotten ghost. He had perfect white teeth and his eyes were still the same. One blue, one brown but they reflected the light of Percy's sword.

"Thank you for coming out of the gym," he said. "I hate middle school dances."

Percy tried to swing his sword but missed the man by an inch.

Something caught my eye and my hair was blown back by something moving past my head at lightning speed. Next to me, Bianca yelped and I gripped her hand tighter, staring at the Thorn that had embedded itself between the two of us. I glanced over at Percy frantically but he didn't look over.

"All five of you will come with me," Dr. Thorn said. "Quietly. Obediently. If you make a single noise, if you call out for help or try to fight, I will show you just how accurately I can throw."