Deathly Bonds (Slytherin's Heir Book 2)

Chapter Three

Exhausted, Percy had been escorted to the doorstep of his room and dropped, door slamming shut behind him. Without their eyes on him he could finally inspect his arm. The last vestiges of pain still lingered as a bad memory and the slimy feeling of the spell remained apparent.

Relief rushed through him and his body sagged against the doorframe when Percy noticed his SPQR tattoo still proudly displayed on his forearm. Thank gods it wasn't removed. Suck on that, asshole.

However, he saw the tail of something dark twisting up his arm and rolled his sleeve up further. The tail was really the head of a snake looped around itself as it slithered from a skull's mouth. Disgust pooled in the bottom of his stomach and settled like a weight. How fitting for a bunch of slimy bastards.

At least Percy could find some form of consolation that Voldemort hadn't succeeded at putting the Dark Mark where he wanted it. In fact this way probably made it easier to hide. He couldn't help but notice that his appeared smaller than the marks on other follower's arms. Regardless, once all of this was over he'd have to find a way to rid himself of it.

Percy recalled their oaths on the River Styx that night. He'd vowed to become a Death Eater in return for Voldemort and his associate's complete avoidance of all other demigods. Now that he'd fulfilled his half of the bargain, he was safe. Of course, Percy never agreed to be a good Death Eater but that was besides the point. Now all he had to do was make Voldemort break his vow and suffer the repercussions and kill him. Only then would Percy be free and the Wizarding World be safe.

But that seemed like a problem for tomorrow. As of now, Percy was far too tired to put any more consideration into it. He crawled into bed and lapsed into a fitful sleep.

~~~~

Annabeth, for once, was at a lack for words. Ironic, given there were so many she could use to describe this situation. Percy's still kidnapped, Nico's potentially with him, Marcus is a demigod and we're utterly screwed.

With a frustrated sigh she pinched the bridge of her nose as she thought. We need to pick up our plans a lot quicker than we thought, especially if Marcus has been reporting to the enemy. Frankly, she was tempted to turn over the uncovered Death Eater to the Hogwarts staff and advance with their loosely formed plans. Being a demigod didn't absolve her anger towards him, but to some degree she could understand. Being a demigod wasn't easy, not when you didn't know what you were and after Marcus had stormed out Isa adamantly yelled at them and not long after, Zaiden had taken off after him and nobody stopped him.

What do I do?

Her problem wasn't coming up with a choice, it was choosing one from the multitude.

Will placed a hand on her shoulder and muttered, "At least we know now. We can keep an eye on him. Nobody can deny he's been helpful."

"But he's also the reason we're in this situation. If they're so scared of their father what's to say they weren't turn on us out of fear?" Annabeth growled. She didn't like the facts presented. She didn't like the risks.

"We'd have to go rescue Nico anyway, and that wasn't his fault. You can't blame them for being scared." Of course she couldn't. Her pride just didn't like knowingly leaving a traitor in their ranks.

Isa stepped up to the two. What was the point of speaking the truth when nobody was going to acknowledge it? "While you're busy planning to exile my brother, I'm going to actually go find him."

"We're not..." Annabeth hesitated. Are we? "We're not going to kick him out," she sighed.

"What!?" The explosive reaction for the others was instant.