𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐜 ➵ 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

: ̗̀➛ 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 devi shares her coat, she gets emotional turmoil in return

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┌── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──┐

They were crossing the Potomac when the group spotted a helicopter. It was a sleek black military model just like the one they'd seen at Westover Hall. And it was coming straight towards them

"They know the van," Percy said. "We have to ditch it."

Zoe swerved into the fast lane and Devi gripped her seat belt again. She prayed to all the gods every time Zoe turned or sped up, scared for her life. The helicopter was gaining on them no matter what the Hunter did.

"Maybe the military will shoot it down," Grover said hopefully.

"The military probably thinks it's one of theirs," Percy said. "How can the General use mortals, anyway?"

"Mercenaries," Zoe said bitterly. "it is distasteful, but many mortals will fight for any cause long as they are paid."

"That's mortals for you. If you give them enough cash, they'll guard Tartarus with a smile." Devi rolled her eyes.

She's had her own fair share of financial problems at home to know how bad humans were with money.

"Yeah, but don't they see who they're working for?" Percy asked. "Don't they notice all the monsters around them?"

"It doesn't matter. The mist protects whatever things are behind their cruel actions so that mortals won't know the truth. Sometimes they can be worse than monsters." Devi said. Her mind trailed back to her mom's ex boyfriend.

He was a total piece of shit. She called him Dumbass Daniel.

Her mother was a gorgeous woman, despite getting bullied in college for being "ugly". She attracted every man with her good looks and smarts, often ending up with many proposals. One day, she suddenly came home to Devi announcing she has a boyfriend named Daniel, who claimed to be the CFO of his father's company.

She swore she got more bruises from him than an actual monster. He bossed her around all the time when her mom wasn't home, bullied her every time she ate an authentic Indian dish, and he smoked and drank all the time and hid everything when her mom came home. He would just laze around the couch all day waiting for Kalpana to return home from med school to act like the perfect boyfriend

Devi only kept her mouth shut because he was helping her mom through medical school (using his father's money). Once her mother found out how he was acting towards her, Devi watched hell rain on him.

It was satisfying watching him cower underneath her mom's glare and flinch whenever her mom would scream louder if he tried to talk back.

Devi was pulled out of her thoughts when Bianca shouted and pointed at a parking lot.

"We can't, we'll be trapped," Zoe said.

"Trust me," Bianca said.

Zoe shot across two lanes of traffic (Devi slammed into Thalia who grumbling under her breath how she was going to murder the Hunter) and into a mall parking lot on the south bank of the river. They abandoned the van and followed Bianca down some steps.

"Subway entrance," Bianca said. "Let's go south. Alexandria."

"Anything." Thalia agreed.

They both tickets and got though the turnstiles, looking behind for any signs of pursuit. A few minutes later the group was safely aboard a southbound train, riding away from D.C. As the train came above ground, they could see the helicopter circling the parking lot, but it didn't come after the group.