annais min had everything to prove and no time to do it. as one of the five children of the underworld destined to lead the seven on their journey of death and destruction, annais had the fate of the universe resting on her shoulders, holding her do...
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CHAPTER FOUR: BY THE DEVIL
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TO SAY THE LEAST, Drew was not pleased when Annais came to relieve her of her tour-guide duties.
"But Annabeth said--" she protested, a whiny tinge to her voice that had Annais clenching her teeth in annoyance.
"Annabeth changed her mind," she cut her off with a glare. "Piss off, Drew, I'm warning you."
Drew rolled her eyes and stomped her foot again, but she wisely chose not to fight as she disappeared back the way they'd come. Annais watched her go before turning to look at Jason, who was standing there confused with his hands in his pockets. Neither of them spoke for a moment. It was clear at first that Annais hadn't trusted him -- still didn't, if she was being brutally honest -- so the tension between them was nothing if not awkward. Either way, Annais knew that he needed to see Chiron; she could put that above her uneasiness for the time being.
"Come on," she muttered. "I'll give you a brief tour before taking you to The Big House."
Jason wanted to ask what The Big House was but he thought better of it as he nodded and followed Annais down the pathway. If she didn't scare him so much, he'd say whole-heartedly that she was one of the prettiest girls he'd seen (or, at least, remembered seeing.) Earlier that day, her hair (now a wet mess of curls) was pin-straight to her shoulder blades, a dark chestnut brown that glinted with lines of gold in the afternoon sun. Her skin was pale, pulled taut over a short frame and strong muscles. Beautiful, but in a rough kind of way. She wouldn't hesitate to put a dagger to his throat if he stepped out of line, was one of the first into the fighting ring and one of the last out. Dylan was an easy fight, but Jason knew Annais Min would give him a run for his money.
"You don't trust me, do you?" he asked after several minutes spent pointing out the different areas of Camp. He couldn't resist asking, having watched the way she kept a hand on her ring and her paranoid eyes on him in fear he'd attack.
Annais gave a bitter laugh at his question, head thrown back to reveal a tense jaw. "You've given me no reason to trust you." When Jason raised an eyebrow for her to continue, she sighed. "You show up out of nowhere with no memories and suddenly everyone but Gleeson and I know who you are. You'll learn quickly that when you're on a quest, shit like that is suspicious."
"I promise I'm not going to attack you," he insisted. "I just want to figure out who I am."
Annais huffed through pursed lips. "You can say that as much as you want but words mean nothing."
The rest of the tour was spent in silence unless Annais was explaining something to him. Jason listened, nodded where needed, and soon enough they were arriving at the infamous Big House. It didn't look threatening, just a four-story manor painted a soft shade of baby blue with a white trim. The wrap-around porch had long chairs pushed neatly up against the walls, a card table between them and an empty wheelchair. Wind chimes shaped like nymphs turned into trees as they spun down from the wooden roof, their crystals glittering in the warm sun. But where Annais looked up at the building with something akin to a smile, Jason stared as if the windows held snipers, a guilty man awaiting his death sentence.
