Revenge of the Duchess

Chapter 12

A/N: I own nothing. Enjoy! This chapter is slightly spicy.

Annabeth flung herself through the window to safety. She scrambled to close and lock the window in case anyone was pursuing her. To relief, her attackers were now being overwhelmed by other Black Knights. Perhaps the attackers had infiltrated the ranks of the Black Knights? 

Now that she was safe, Annabeth could feel her heart calming down. But what was this musky smell?

Annabeth gazed the room she was in. The room was quite large, with a coffee table and sofas for people to sit. A small fire crackled cheerfully, warming the room from the chilly autumn weather. A warm bed was just to her left, inviting her with soft pillows and blankets. She had been so tired from wearing heels and standing for so long at the party. Not to mention her feet were scratched up from fleeing her attackers.

Annabeth wrinkled her nose at a incense-burning candle on a nightstand. She had been given a tour of the mansion with instructions to remember every room, but this room must have been one of the few rooms that she didn't go in. This room was on the fourth floor, so Annabeth deduced it must be Percy's bedroom. No other bedroom in the mansion she had seen was as luxurious as the one she was currently in, with the exception of her own.

She frowned as she saw the candle again on the nightstand. There was such a weird fragrance coming from all the candles in the room. The smell was making her head dizzy and her body was heat up. Maybe that was why the window was open to fumigate the room.

Hauling the window up, she took in gulps of the fresh air which helped clear her head. Wait a minute, was that Percy in the gardens below, fighting off the last of the attackers?

Annabeth walked to the door to get out of the bedroom, but the door was locked. She peered at the doorknob but it twisted easily. It was not that the doorknob was locked, but that there seemed to be something heavy placed right outside the door so it prevented the door from being opened. Unbeknownst to her, Percy had the Stoll brothers place a large dresser in front of the door to prevent anyone from entering his bedroom while the aphrodisiac was being aired out.

She pushed with all her might, but the door didn't even budge an inch. Great, she growled. Now she was sure the smell was doing something that was affecting her body.

Heat grew quickly all over her body, particularly pooling in her lower stomach. She was breathing heavily as she pressed her thighs tightly together. This feeling was not totally foreign, since she had experienced similar feelings in her past life. Was this an aphrodisiac?

People seducing others using aphrodisiacs were not uncommon. Here and then, stories would surface of a noble taking on a new concubine or illegitimate child into the family after a woman or man illegally used aphrodisiacs to tempt their prey. Aphrodisiacs were only legal in Cuora with the consent of both parties, and Annabeth was only aware that aphrodisiacs were in edible or powder form, not in fragrances. Since it was the first time Annabeth had encountered the drug, she had virtually no immunity to the drug's fast effects.

But why were the candles here? She doubted Percy would ever use an aphrodisiac since women would be willing to throw themselves into his bed. Therefore, had someone been trying to seduce Percy? That was a gutsy move.

"Hey! Somebody open this door!"

Annabeth banged on the door as loud as she could, but no one seemed to have heard the sounds. Perhaps they were all distracted by the fight going on in the gardens to be in this part of the house.

Running through the options in her head, Annabeth extinguished every candle in the room first. She berated herself for not cutting off the source of the aphrodisiac as soon as she recognized the drug for what it was. She turned to the windows in hopes of clearing out the drug but someone came in just as she turned to it.