Sinners (PJO/HoO)(Lukercy/Perluke)

I. Part Eleven ~Δ

Luke Castellan / Alpha Upsilon 's POV

I woke up to a hand running through my hair and what sounded like a dog yapping in the distance, the slight breeze making the leaves on the trees flutter.

"Well, look who's awake," I heard a voice mutter above me, the hand running through my hair pulling away.

I sat up, grimacing as my eyes adjusted to the light. "What time is it?" I questioned, my voice hoarse as I stretched.

"About ten," Percy answered.

I looked over at him, noticing his usual messy hair was ruffled and sticking up in places. His sea-green eyes were scorching as he stared at me, painfully reminding me of Omega.

"What's on your mind?" he murmured, picking up on my thoughts immediately.

I moved to rest against the tree trunk with him. "I had another dream," I admitted. I decided not to elaborate, the feeling of the overwhelming pleasure from Omega's feeding still lingering in my mind. "I didn't know Alpha and Omega were soulmates."

Percy shifted next to me, drawing his legs to his chest. He honestly looked rather cute sitting there with his messy hair, far-away expression, and glittering eyes.

"Yeah," he muttered, sounding somewhat bitter. "Neither did the rest of the universe."

That's when I noticed the pink poodle sitting in Grover's lap, conversing with the satyr in loud barks. Annabeth was standing next to them, munching on corn chips and looking, overall, very unhappy.

"What did I miss when I was asleep?" I questioned, eyeing the poodle in curiosity.

"Gladiola is willing to help us get to Los Angeles on the Amtrak train," explained Percy. "He comes from a rich family, and they're offering two hundred dollars for his return."

"That's great!" I exclaimed, relieved to hear some good news. "That means this quest will be over in no time."

He grimaced, as if tasting something extremely sour. "No, not really," he sighed. "The Fates have several obstacles along the way, including an annoying god of war and too much time being wasted in a hotel. If my calculations are correct, which they are, we'll have to finish our quest and retrieve the stolen items a day before and on the Summer Solstice, the day we need to be at Olympus."

Before I could reply, Annabeth called out, "Come on, guys! We have a train to catch!"

***

We managed to buy tickets as far as Denver, per Percy's request (he claimed the rest of our money would be needed for other things, but I had a feeling that was a lie). We couldn't get berths in the sleeper car (as there was no room), so we simply slept in our seats, Percy next to me and against the window, Grover and Annabeth on the other side.

The night after we got on the train, I was reading a magazine that I had snagged from another passenger when I heard Percy sigh next to me. I looked up at him, finding him staring out of the window and up at the night sky, dark bags under his drooping eyes (I swore I saw little flecks of red in his eyes, which reminded me heavily of Omega when he was angry, but I pushed that aside).

"Percy," I murmured, worry making its way into my bloodstream, "why are you still up?"

"I could ask you the same," he shot back, sighing again afterword. "Sorry, Luke. I'm just hungry."

I rose an eyebrow. "Didn't you just eat an hour ago?"

"Human food can only satisfy my hunger for so long," he replied, his voice quiet. "I've been running off of it for the past twelve years, and my body doesn't exactly like that."