In the Middle

Chapter Four

     A brittle cold settled over the crisp night air, causing shivers to run up my spine. Tonight was the night I had to tell everyone of the attack. Lance and I walked hand in hand to the Big House where the meeting would take place. The meeting was strictly cabin leaders, something Brittney had promoted me to before her departure at the end of the summer. When we walked into the room, all eyes were on Lance and I. I let his hand free and immediately sat in my designated seat. Most of the seats were empty. It gave the room a cold feeling, with hardly anyone in it. Chiron stood at the head of the table. He looked at me expectantly. I took a deep breath in and folded my gloved hands on the table.

     "A few months ago, I had a dream. It was of my biological sister and several other demigods. She told me to get ready, that they were coming. Before the summer was over, I had another dream. This time I was in a makeshift camp, seated by a bonfire. My sister was there and most of the same demigods in my previous dream. There were speaking of their hatred for our godly parents. But, most of all, their hatred for us. The 'favored' children." By now I had everyone's full attention. They all stared at me, waiting for me to continue, so I did. "The...rebels are coming. We need to prepare, we need a plan." A hollow laugh echoed across the silent room. We all turned to see Inez standing in the doorway. Arms crossed, a smirk on her face. She was surrounded by a slowly diminishing cloud of shadows, that eventually only surrounded her black boots, then disappeared completely.

     "Aren't you being a bit dramatic?" Her voice was like ice, piercing through my mind, filling it with fear. Instinctively, I reached up and touched my cheekbone, expecting a blackened bruise to be on my eye from where Inez had struck me. But, there was no bruise, no real pain, only the pain of the memory of the night when I'd first arrived at camp. Inez regarded me coldly. "I mean really. A few demigods? As if we couldn't handle them." The others asked her with their eyes to further explain her theory. "Come on, people! It's not that difficult to put two and two together. She's probably exaggerating the urgency of the situation. Or even lying about it. Wouldn't put it past her." This line received a few confused looks in both mine and Inez's directions. "Oh, they don't know?" Inez was now looking at me.

     "Know what? How you're double-crossing this whole camp and everyone in it?" I answered in a smooth tone, never missing a beat of Inez's plan. If looks could kill, I would've dropped dead from Inez's glare.

     "Is that true?" Everyone directed their attention to the opposite corner from which the somber voice had come from. It was Nico di Angelo. He looked only at Inez. "Is. That. True?" Nico questioned with a much more accusing tone. A hint of distaste in his words. "Is it?" Nico was shouting now. Inez stood her ground, her eyes never showing a hint of discomfort. A neutral expression stayed plaster over her face. Inez smiled indifferently.

     "Of course not." Before Nico could reply I spoke.

     "My loyalty is not the topic of this war council, nor is Inez's. Now if you all don't shut up, we'll never be able to discuss what to do about this." I poured charmspeak into my words for good measure. Even that slight amount of persuasion was enough to quiet the room. "Inez, Nico, feel free to join us." I explained the threat once more and asked for thoughts.

     "We need Annabeth." I eyed the boy who had spoken. Connor Stoll. It was surprising that he would suggest it. That he would take me seriously. When everyone else cast glances at him, Connor grew defensive. "She's our best strategist. She'd know what to do." It was true, in fact, I'd thought about this before.

     "He's right."

     "What do you suppose we do about this circumstance?" Chiron spoke for the first time since the war council gathered.

     "I hate to ruin her 'vacation', but what else can we do?" I answered for the other councilors.

     "What do you mean?" Lance asked from across the table.

     "I mean we're going to San Francisco."