𐌙/𐌍 Ᏽ𐌵𐌀𐌋𐌄 & 𐌕𐋅𐌄 Ᏽ𐌐𐌄𐌀𐌕 𐌌𐌙𐌕𐋅𐌔 ¹

Chapter 17

Seventeen
ꕤ

I Lounge On A God's Trophy

"What were you thinking?" Clarisse cradled Silena's head in her lap.

  Silena tried to swallow, but her lips were dry and cracked. "Wouldn't ... listen. Cabin would ... only follow you."

  "So you stole my armor," Clarisse said in disbelief. "You waited until Chris and I went out on patrol; you stole my armor and pretended to be me." She glared at her siblings. "And NONE of you noticed?"

  The Ares campers developed a sudden interest in their combat boots.

  "Don't blame them," Silena said. "They wanted to ... to believe I was you."

  "You stupid Aphrodite girl," Clarisse sobbed. "You charged a drakon? Why?"

  "All my fault," Silena said, a tear streaking the side of her face. "The drakon, Charlie's death ... camp endangered—"

  "Stop it!" Clarisse said. "That's not true."

  Silena opened her hand. In her palm was a silver bracelet with a scythe charm, the mark of Kronos.

  A cold fist closed around my heart. "No... Please tell me it's not real!"

  Silena tried to nod. "Before ... before I liked Charlie, Luke was nice to me. He was so ... charming. Handsome. Later, I wanted to stop helping him, but he threatened to tell. He promised ... he promised I was saving lives. Fewer people would get hurt. He told me he wouldn't hurt ... Charlie. He lied to me."

  I met Annabeth's eyes. Her face was chalky. She looked like somebody had just yanked the world out from under her feet.

  Behind us, the battle raged.

  Clarisse scowled at her cabinmates. "Go, help the centaurs. Protect the doors. GO!"

  They scrambled off to join the fight.

  Silena took a heavy, painful breath. "Forgive me."

  "You're not dying," Clarisse insisted.

  "Charlie ..." Silena's eyes were a million miles away. "See Charlie ..."

  She didn't speak again.

  Clarisse held her and wept. Chris put a hand on her shoulder.

  Finally Annabeth closed Silena's eyes.

  "We have to fight." Annabeth's voice was brittle. "She gave her life to help us. We have to honor her."

  Clarisse sniffled and wiped her nose. "She was a hero, understand? A hero."

  I nodded. "Come on, Clarisse."

  She picked up a sword from one of her fallen siblings. "Kronos is going to pay."

🌙🏹࿏

I

'd like to say I drove the enemy away from the Empire State Building. The truth was Clarisse did all the work. Even without her armor or spear, she was a demon. She rode her chariot straight into the Titan's army and crushed everything in her path.

  She was so inspiring, even the panicked centaurs started to rally. The Hunters scrounged arrows from the fallen and launched volley after volley into the enemy. The Ares cabin slashed and hacked, which was their favorite thing. The monsters retreated toward 35th Street.