Almost At The Top- Book Four in the United Series

Chapter Twelve

Max's POV:

He WHAT?!

Everyone around us, watching this all go down, starts an uproar. They all start yelling at Ivan and someone even throws a rock at him. He ducks and the rock sails above his head and crashes onto the ground next to me.

"John, he...did he really?" I ask John as the yelling doesn't stop. John looks down at me.

"Yeah, he did," John answers. I look back at Ivan who's trying to defend himself against the yelling crowd. My eyes land on Adam, who has a big rock in his hand.

Oh.

"Did I..fall for it?" I ask John. He hesitates but nods his head yes. "Gods John, I'm so sorry, I-"

"Hey, it's okay. It's not your fault," John comforts me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer to him. My burns start to sting badly but I brush it off. I rest my head on his shoulder, not caring if anyone stares at us.

"But...I kissed him, didn't I?" I ask John. Once again, John hesitates before answering me.

"I don't know. I wasn't with you during that time, and I'm an idiot for leaving you alone with him," John tells me.

"What else did I do? Please don't tell me I did anything to hurt you," I tell John, lifting my head off his shoulder to look into his eyes.

John hesitates for more than the last two times. "No. No you didn't," he answers but I can tell he's lying.

"What did I do, John?" I ask him, guilt filling me.

"You..." John waits a few moments before answering me again. "You chose him over me..." he trails off. I feel even more guilt. I hurt him. I hurt his feelings, and I feel horrible about it.

"John I'm so sorry," I tell John, embracing him in a tight hug. He hugs me back and pain shoots up my sides, stomach, and back, but I ignore it. "Just know that I will always love you, and I'll never choose anyone over you."

Thunder rumbles in the distance and all the yelling suddenly stops. I look at everyone and they're staring back at John and I. I smile sheepishly at them and I catch a glimpse of Six with a smug look on her face.

Oh gods, I think.

I turn to Ivan and he looks guilty and upset.

Too bad for him.

I walk up to Ivan and he watches me approach him with a few tears in his eyes.

"Max I-" Ivan starts, but I don't let him finish. I punch him in the face then kick his stomach, causing him to fall on his back. He stays on the ground and Percy rushes over and holds me back by my shoulders as I try to jump onto Ivan.

"Max, don't," Percy whispers to me in my ear. I breathe heavily, glaring at Ivan as he starts to stand up.

I stop struggling against Percy as Ivan stands up and looks at me regretfully. "Max, I didn't want to do it." Ivan tells me, which I automatically know is a lie.

"Then why did you?!" I yell at him. He looks hurt, but I don't care.

Six stands in front of the crowd of demigods, humans, and Mog, then yells at them as they stare curiously at Ivan and I.

"Get outta here you piranhas! Dam!" Six yells at the crowd. They all immediately spread out, some to the Cêpans, some to their parents, or they just get into small groups and start talking, most likely about us. Six rushes over to Sam, who's having a conversation with Malcolm, Sandor, and Nine.

Ivan turns back to me. Percy gives my shoulder a slight squeeze before heading towards Annabeth, who's whispering with Reyna, Piper, Jason, Hazel, Frank, Leo, and Clarisse.

John walks towards me, glaring at Ivan the whole time. Next thing I know, Adam has rushed over to us and he looks pissed. He punches Ivan's back and Ivan stumbles forward in surprise. He turns around to see Adam glaring at him, his hands balled up in fists.

Adam takes another swing at Ivan, punching his throat. Ivan makes a choked noise, falls to his knees, and gasps for air. He looks up at me with pleading eyes but I continue to glare at him. He deserves this. He's done too much to hurt us and I've always defended him. But now, he can defend himself.

Adam kicks Ivan's back as he tries to get up and Ivan falls onto his hands and knees again.

"Adam...Brother..." Ivan says to Adam. Adam looks even more angry now. He punches Ivan in the face.

"Don't call me that! I am not your brother!" Adam yells at Ivan, who flinches.

Weak, I think.

Then I remember the good things; he saved me from the Anubis, he left me to protect me, he helped me when the Mogs were after me, and he was always so gentle with me.

But he also put me under a love potion, killed me when I was twelve, almost shot me in the Anubis, betrayed me and turned me in to the Mogs, and electrocuted me.

I stiffen a bit as I remember the 'electrocuted' part. I think back to when that happened. But I don't really care about when it happened. I care about how.

I look down at my legs for a few seconds before lifting my head up to look at John. He looks back at me and smiles warmly. I rest my head on his chest and smile. It's good to finally have him back.

"Max..." A voice croaks to me. I look down and my smile disappears as I see Ivan looking back up at me with his coal black eyes. He has two bruises on his face and a bloody nose. Good for him.

"Please, Max. I'm sorry," Ivan apologizes. I shake my head and look away from him while John walks over to Adam to talk to him.

"I think you've said that a bit too many times, Ivan," I reply.

"Max!" I hear a voice cry to me. I look in that direction and find it's Reyna who yelled to me. We lock eyes and Reyna points near the river. I look towards the Missouri River and see what looks like a huge bomb hurling my way.

John is next to Adam, whispering to him intensely, and they both look toward the bomb, then everyone is. I hear a familiar voice, probably Percy, scream my name, his voice full with fear and panic. I try to dive out of the way, but I still feel the impact of the explosion.

I'm flying through the air until I hit the solid ground hard. I groan in pain and when the black spots in my vision finally clear after awhile, I look up to see a huge army of Mogs storming towards us.

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