Demons And Angels

(} 6 {)

Not even the Fairies knew what was going on with the Vampires.

Percy's silence since leaving the club was not missed by Annabeth, and he could tell she had questions. And was so damn thankful she didn't ask anything.

But as they got into the Institute and back to their rooms, she stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Tell me." She said simply. Percy ran a hand over his face, rotating his jaw. He nodded and opened his bedroom door.

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His room was much like hers.

The only difference was his bed sheets were blue, and a complete mess. His desk was covered in maps and charts. Different files stacked up, weapons strewn around.

Hers, if she was truthful, only wasn't like this because she had just gotten here. Annabeth tried not to look at anything as Percy paced around. She felt like she was on dangerous ground, one wrong move and she'd be finished.

She always felt like that around him, but she also felt comfortable. So strange these conflicting emotions, she was at easy around someone who understood her skills and didn't look at her as a prized mare but a valuable solider and asset in a fight. However, she felt that neither of them truly understood the appeal between them and that was dangerous.

That was what scared her about him.

Not his skill.

Not his brains.

Not his goddamned face.

But that he seemed as compelled to keep her around as she was to stay by him.

Annabeth subtly pinched her own wrist behind her back, bringing her back to the present. Percy ran a hand through his hair, sighing.

"I keep hearing rumors that there is a group of Vampires, that are planning to over through Nico. And are going to use demons to do it." The words chilled Annabeth to the bone. "My last hunt was so long, because the nests kept refilling." He growled out and leaned back against his desk. "Hazel didn't know anything, and now even the Fairies seem to know nothing."

"Have you tried the Werewolves?" It was a dumb question, of course he had, but it was one she had to ask. Just to be sure.

"Yeah, I talked to Frank when we ran into each other while I was hunting." He didn't scold her for asking, the way her old partner had. She hissed at herself in her mind, this wasn't the time.

"Have you spoken to the Vampires?" Annabeth crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned against one of the posts of his four-poster. It was so easy to talk with him, to compare notes and think things through. Unlike her last partner, he had shoved her to the side and she had let him.

He had been much more experienced than her, in many areas. So it was natural to let him lead her, since childhood it had been very easy. But then it turned cruel and-Not the time.

"I haven't yet, just in case I talk to the wrong ones and they figure out I'm looking into it." His green eyes stared off into the distance, as if he could see some great plan if he only focused hard enough.

"But asking the Fairies and Warlocks won't set off alarms?" Her tone wasn't rude, just curious.

"I talk to them enough it wouldn't raise questions." He held his chin and thought. "Plus none of them would ever tell what I had asked about. They all care about Nico, not just me. So, no it wouldn't, but good question." He smirked and the teasing light to his eyes told her he was fine, just tired and a bit worried.

"It'll be fine." She said, surprising herself. She had never offered words like that to someone, always sticking to the truth even if it hurt. Though . . . It didn't feel like a lie. She really thought it would be okay, they'd get the job done.

Percy's smirk returned and he stuck his hands in his pockets. The leather of his jacket crinkled with the movement, his t-shirt wrinkling. "I never said it wouldn't be." His full lips twisted up and sent a thrill through her blood, like a good hunt or answering a question before anyone else. Excitement and the prospect of winning something.

Annabeth gave a smirk of her own. "You looked pouty, thought I'd give you a confidence booster." She faked frowned and dragged a finger down her cheek, like a tear track.

"I was pouting?" He grinned, pushing off the desk and sauntering towards her. "Really?"

"Looked a bit like a baby seal." She picked at her nails and pushed a hip out to the side, not meeting his sparkling eyes.

He was close enough to share breath now, and she gazed up at him. Her breath snagging at the look of challenge on his face, at the child-like joy at finding a good dance partner. "I've been told that before. I've also been called adorable when I pout." He placed a hand over her shoulder, on the post of the bed and leaned in.

"Well, to each their own, I don't like whiny children though." She waved a calloused hand and raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of which, have you and Calypso ever . . . " She smirked.

He chuckled, low and deep. Like a tumbling wave against the sea floor. It sent Annabeth's skin on high alert and her toes curling in her boots.

"No, I did tell you she was taken." Not saying he wouldn't of liked to. Annabeth's stomach knotted up. "And even if she had offered, I would have said no. Fairies like too much drama." He winked and pushed off the post. He took his jacket off and threw it on his bed. "You should get some sleep, tomorrow we can work during the day, I have one more option before seeking Nico out."

"Can I asked what exactly my role will be tomorrow?" She didn't let her voice waver, even as she started missing the heat of his body and the salty scent that seemed to cling to him.

"Wear whatever you want, I will tell you the brothers we are going to see tomorrow are a handful, one is taken but the other is fair game. If you don't mind playing fetch." He chuckled as he pulled his shirt over his head.

Annabeth walked to the door, keeping her eyes locked on the door knob and not the broad shoulders behind her. "Goodnight."

He chuckled again. "Goodnight." His endlessly amused voice echoed in her ears even as she took a cold shoulder and crawled into bed.