Lies

Chapter 18

**Zoë**

I was shook awake roughly and immediately noticed that my chest didn't hurt where I'd been shot. They must've helped me, but the question was, who? Outside the bared windows a dull reddish glow was lighting my surroundings. My wrists and ankles were chained, with a foot of slack so I could me around slightly. The door was bolted shut with a small hole down the bottom where I guessed they dropped in food. With a jolt I realised I was in Tartarus. The door slammed open and two dracaena unlocked my chains. I tried to run past them and I did succeed but a giant I recognised as Polybotes caught me. I struggled but he wasn't letting go and I was weaponless. The guards brought me to a room with a wooden column in the middle of the room. They chained me to it, despite my protests. Then the dracaena whipped my back for a long long time and then came the beating. My body was literally a patchwork of blue, purple and yellow bruises with blood dried everywhere. The dracaena took me back to my cell and grinned wickedly.

"It really beginsss in seven hours," they hissed.

I hung limply from my chains wondering what the Hunters were doing. The next day they injected a drug into me, to make sure I couldn't use my powers. I was defenceless and weak and sore. The giants got more and more creative as each day went by and I refused to tell them where the Hunters campsite was. Poison, acid, beating, whipping, near drowning, electrocuting. They did it all. Eventually, after what I figured was three months, Polybotes decided to bring me to Tartarus, to see if he could extract information from me. It was a three day journey through Tartarus to get to where Tartarus lived. He sat on a red throne dressed in red armour swirling with dead monsters. I shuddered involuntary.

"Zoë Nightshade," he boomed. "The fifth and disgraced Hesperide."

My voice wavered as I spoke. "I am not a Hesperide any longer. I am a Hunter of Artemis with information you will never receive."

Tartarus laughed and the sound echoed of the walls.

"Kneel."

The dracaena shoved me onto my knees and I raised my head to glare at him. He stepped of his throne, shrinking in size while he walked over to me.

"Such a pretty little face," he crooned. "It'll be a shame to scar it." He ran his fingers over my cheek.

I snapped at his hand, nearly taking his fingers off. He yanked back his hand and looked at me disapprovingly.

"You should know to respect your elders, Hesperide," he said.

"You deserve no respect," I spat.

"Drug her with twice as much. She shouldn't be able to speak, let alone bite like that," Tartarus ordered.

I glared at him hatefully. He laughed and opened his hand. Instantly a whip appeared there. They used my chains to hold me down while he whipped me. I arched my back in pain and gritted my teeth, determined not to let him hear me scream. Blood trickled down my cheek when he struck my face. My back stung, and was going numb with pain. Tartarus picked me up and threw me to the ground. I skidded along the grainy ground on my back. I gasped in pain and tears glittered in my eyes. He laughed cruelly and threw a handful of acid over me. It burned away any part of clothes it touched and sizzled on my skin. I screamed in pain and they took me to my new cell. At least this one had a bed. My hand hung over the side of the bed. My blood stained the wood and ran along the stone floor. I was covered in blood—dried and fresh. My back was in shreds, I had a sprained ankle, my ribs were broken, my left leg had an infected sword wound oozing pus and my face had a scar going across my left cheek and nose, stopping five millimetres away from the edge of my mouth. It carried on like that for another month. My daily routine was: get drugged, poisoned, tortured, antidote, sleep. Then it changed on the ninety-third day. Nico, Percy, Bianca and Phoebe were hiding in the shadows. Tartarus raised the whip and brought it down, harder than usual. I gasped, gritting my teeth, straining to get away from the monster. The chains rubbed on my ankles and wrists, making them bleed. The whip came down on my stomach this time. Blood splattered everywhere. After about fifty more I screamed. My vision grew fuzzy and I squirmed around on the floor.

The dracaena holding me down hissed at me and told me to keep quiet. I ignored them. A tear rolled down my cheek and splashed onto the stone floor. Despite the air being humid, the floor was freezing. I wondered how many others had lain here, and eventually died. I glanced at the others. Percy had turned away and Bianca and Nico were hugging each other. Phoebe sent me a grim smile which I couldn't return without giving them away. I coughed up blood and choked. After my coughing fit had subsided I rested my head on the floor and squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the pain to come again. It didn't. I opened my eyes and shut them just as quickly. Acid was tipped over me, steam curling into the air. My body was racked with pain and I let lose a string of curses. Tartarus chuckled and poured more over me. My skin burned and my clothes smouldered. I tugged on my chains and longed to stand up. I hadn't been to my cell for two weeks. Instead I had been made to sleep here. The dracaena held me down while another approached with the antidote.

"Please," I whispered, my throat dry. "I -please."

She ignored me and kept walking forward. I struggled around in their grip but they held me tight. Now I realised how Thalia felt in Artemis's grip. Helpless. Weak. Defenceless. They stood me up and pushed me forward. I took the opportunity and ran my chains dangling behind me. Sadly, I wasn't fast enough with all my injuries and being chained. The dracaena caught me and held me still as the other dracaena tipped the contents down my throat. I immediately felt a little better and tried to get free. They brought me into the throne room again. Their were monsters lining the walkway. They cheered and soured when I was dragged up to Tartarus. I was forced to kneel and he shrunk down to six foot six. He smiled wickedly at me.

"Look at you Zoë Nightshade. Your pretty face, ruined by that terrible scar," he said darkly.

I glared up at him as he trace it with his fingers. He brushed my hair out of my eyes and grinned as I tried to bite his stupid fingers off. I muttered a curse towards him that he didn't hear. His fingers were burning hot compared to the ice cold floor I was used to. I scrunched up my face and pulled away from him, trying to get away. He stood up, towering over my kneeling form. I refused to lower my head in respect even when he pushed it down. There was a splatter of blood from my wounds where I'd been kneeling. I was glad it was staining the carpet. Why did he even have carpet? After Tartarus finished playing with me and generally making me want to kill him, he had his guards take me back to my cell. I noticed Nico had slipped in to when the guards weren't looking. I looked at him and collapsed on the floor. He hacked of my chains and scooped me up. He shadow travelled back to the others and they set off in a run towards where they came from. I drifted in and out of sleep, always in pain. I knew Nico was still carrying me but I wasn't sure of much else. Before long we arrived at a shelter where they sat down to rest. Nico sat me in his lap and gave me broken up prices of bread. I didn't even care that he was a boy I was that tired. I heard Phoebe laughing quietly. The last thing I saw was Nico's face before the shadows swirled around us and we reappeared somewhere in New York. Nico gave me more bread while the others laughed and talked. It turned out they had fought off the monsters while Nico came and got me. I eventually fell asleep with my head on his shoulder. He had one arm wrapped around my back and the other propping himself up. I woke up to the harsh glare of the sun. Everyone else was still sleeping. I tried to stand but I was too weak and my ankle screamed in protest. When we were all up we started walking to the Hunters. As it turned out, they found us. Cynthia and Diana were out hunting for dinner when they came across us. They beamed at me and showed us where the camp was. Dinner was forgotten so Artemis conjured up bread and cheese. Nico was still breaking up the bread into smaller pieces when Artemis glanced over at us. He opened my mouth gently and popped the food in. I chewed slowly and swallowed. I managed to eat five parts of bread before I fell asleep in his lap.