Under the Water(Fem. Percy)

Chapter 20

Dad stays there for a moment, daring me to protest. He sits next to me, and we stare out at the storm in silence. One of the blankets ends up tucked over his lap. I don't know how. It's absence leave me shivering, and I resist the urge to cuddle against him again. He sighs and sinks down.

"I never wanted you to have to be a soldier," he says. "We--your mother and I-- made a deal when she found out she was pregnant with you. She knew she wouldn't be able to afford raising a child, much less a demigod. So we agreed that on your fourth birthday, she'd give you to me."

Suddenly the air room and the bedroom make more sense. Not a lot of it. Because why would he have...

"But she married Gabe," I say. It's the only thing that makes sense. The only reason he'd have for not taking me away from Mom, and another reason for Mom to never try to leave Gabe after things got bad. It would be one thing to lose your child when you knew you sold them away, but an entirely different one to have them taken away once you think everything will turn out fine.

"I wasn't going to rip you from her arms. Not when she was so sure everything would work out."

"It really, really didn't."

"I should have taken you the moment you were born. You were so tiny and-- and helpless. So cute in the little onesie." A smile pulls at his lips, and he glances at me. "I got you that one. The one she brought you home in. And I was going to pluck you out of the bassinet. Break every promise I'd made to your mother because you're mine."

I stare at Dad. Half of his scales disappear as arranges a blanket around me. He briefly chatizes me, tells me I should tell him when I'm cold, but all I can do is lean towards him with large eyes.

He wanted me.

He wanted me.

He wanted me.

Not--Not a soldier. Me. Just whatever I ended up being, because I'm his, and that's all that matters to a sea god.

"I'm surprised you had that much self-restraint," I say instead of voicing anything else.

"Oh, I stole plenty of moments with you. Most of them were when you were alseep, but your visits to the beach were always intended with the purpose of letting me see you. Your mother's a smart woman. Seeing how happy you were with her made me far less likely to lure you into the water with fish. And the glimpses were just enough to satiate the part of me that wanted you close."

"Is that why I always found really pretty shells?" One of my hands presses against him as I lean in.

He chuckles and nods. His eyes light up."Do you want me to get you some for your room?" I can almost picture him doing the same thing when I was younger. Eager and excited to spoil me. He's...not stingy when it comes to offering me things even now. But--sweet turns sour and bitter-- it doesn't make up for the other things. If I'd grown up with him, maybe those things wouldn't exist. Does he forget we don't live in that perfect world?

Even if I'd been raised in those rooms, things would never be perfect.

"Um. The--The air rooms," I stutter. "Shouldn't those not be there? Cyreus said they were built before this palace, so that means..." His face darkens. "Nevermind."

"Guess I'm getting you shells then." His words are mumbled, but I still make them out. He sighs and cups my face. "The only reason that section survived the battle was because I knew there was a possibility, a very high one, of you dying.

"I'd thought you would die, and the only thing I would have left of you would be those rooms, even if you'd never set foot in them yourself. Everything else could be replaced. You cannot be. You're my little hatchling, and I just want you safe. And I want you to talk to me instead of doing things that will put you in danger."