Walk With the Shadows [ Percy Jackson OC ]

TWENTY-SIX | Kitty

'I SPY' COULD ONLY DISTRACT THEM for so long. Kitty had started the game about an hour after they left the Hunters, noticing that Ophelia looked to be still in pain and Alex kept quiet. It worked for about half an hour. I Spy didn't work well when the only change to the environment was passing another new tree with each step forward.

Oak trees. Always. And a black asphalt road with one lane in each direction. And yellow dividing lines. And partly cloudy blue skies. And unbelievable humid heat—except they couldn't see that one. Just feel it.

Kitty took another drink of her water bottle. They'd found a partially stocked vending machine in a campsite of Patuxent Research Refuge. That's what Thalia had called the large forested area they'd been chased into by the Colchis Bull.

She shivered, and definitely not from the weather. That thing had been massive. She knew Alex had seen one before in New York, and Percy Jackson had killed a couple alongside Tyson and the Ares cabin years ago. But she'd never seen one. And she never wanted to see one again. Why did Hephaestus make such horrible things? He must've been so consumed by the desire to make that he didn't think about if he should.

Which Kitty supposed she could respect. Though not if it had gotten her killed. Alex had this vendetta against Daedalus for his bronze creations. If that thing had landed her in Elysium she might've tried for reincarnation just to mess with Hephaestus the second time around.

Her side still ached. A shredded piece of shrapnel from their car had slashed across her abdomen. If it hadn't been for the Hunters, Elysium had been a distinct possibility. Ophelia hadn't been any better off. The bull had hit her side of the car first. Kitty remembered dragging her out of the wreckage. Once she'd seen Alex awake, confident he could fight the thing better than either she or Ophelia, Kitty had helped her stand and started running.

It all blurred from there. She remembered a lot of pain. She remembered blood soaking her shirt. Glancing down, Kitty appreciated even more the replacement grey camo tee a hunter had given her. Wandering into Washington, DC soaked in blood seemed like a bad gamble. That wouldn't go over well.

Next thing she remembered was waking up next to Alex and Ophelia in a silver tent listening to morning birds singing. Thalia and Artemis offered them breakfast before they departed with simple instructions: follow Alex.

He knew what to do. He always did.

Kitty glanced up. Their tall, blond, athletic leader dragged his feet as he marched forward. She had to hand it to him—didn't matter how exhausted he felt, Alex led from the front. He might've been the disgraced son of Hermes, but he had the heart of a true king. She'd always liked him more than Luke for that very reason.

Ophelia brought up the rear a few paces back. While the roads were lined with oak trees, that hardly helped with the sun directly overhead. Why didn't Apollo lay off on the whole blazing hot ball of gas thing for a while. He had a million other duties to attend to. And they were on a quest to reclaim his lyre.