The Old Jackson Twins Book 2

Chapter Ten

The tent was designed to house four, so sleeping arrangements for Percy and Annabeth weren't a problem. And since they had the dogs, there was no need to set up a watch rotation.

They were camped just outside Asgard's city limits, a stone's throw from the edge of the water. Reyna had done that on purpose - she hoped being near the water would help keep the twins calm and from murdering each other.

Of course, it also had the potential to rile them up even more.

But she was taking the optimistic view, okay?

And to her credit, it worked. Aria even managed to hold it together long enough for the twins to help a hippocampus trapped in a broken fishing line - whenever they were near water, underwater creatures always seemed to have something they needed help with - which ended up taking nearly an hour.

In the meantime, the Avengers continued discussions with the queen. The half-bloods were invited to join, but they declined, because none of them wanted to fight another war. They were just waiting for Director Fury to show up, interview them, update SHIELD's files, and then they were out of there.

"You know," said Annabeth one morning, out of the blue, "my cousin, Magnus, is a Norse demigod. Son of Frey." She was sketching on some blueprint paper, probably for a corner of Olympus. Percy sat next to her, working on homework.

"Well, how is that possible?" Aria asked. She and Reyna were playing Trash, and Reyna was winning by a long shot. As she spoke, Aria pulled a Queen from the deck and sighed dramatically.

"We should ask the Asgardians," Annabeth said thoughtfully. "Maybe they know."

Percy abruptly closed his book. "I'm done with homework. I've already got a headache. Annabeth, can we go for a walk?"

She blinked and set aside her designs. "Uh, sure?"

The two of them left, and just seconds later, Reyna pulled a five and won the round.

"Okay, so, I'm at four and you're at nine," she summarized as Aria reshuffled the cards.

"Or..." Aria set the deck aside. "We could take advantage of them being gone for a bit."

Reyna pulled her into her lap, and Aria dug her fingers into Reyna's hair. "Sounds good to me."

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"I've missed her so much, and now she's barely talking to me."

Annabeth watched Percy, who was staring out to sea with a wistful expression. "Well, you did the exact thing you said she shouldn't two hours after telling her she shouldn't."

"She's overreacting."

"She's just intense sometimes. You know that."

Percy opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"What?"

"D'you think she's replaced me?" he asked in a small voice.

"What are you talking about?"

"You saw the way she and Reyna act around each other, like they can practically guess what they're thinking. They're a team now, the way she and I used to be." He still wouldn't look at Annabeth.

"Well, yeah. It's already December, and they haven't been separated since May. Of course she and Reyna are close, even closer than they were before." She hesitated. "And, honestly? She probably thinks it serves you right."

"What?"

"When we were sixteen, she came home again, and then the first thing you did was kiss me in the lake, and it hurt her so badly. Couldn't you tell? She felt so abandoned those few weeks at camp. It was obvious. And now your positions are reversed. She's got a girlfriend that she wants to spend every second with, and you've been left behind."