𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 || 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙮 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣¹

033

(chapter xxxiii — jealousy, jealousy)

SELENE WAS NOT jealous.

Or at least, that's what she tried to tell herself.

But the way that Percy explained Rachel's abilities to her yesterday....it almost sounded like he was in awe. It made Selene sour. Her stomach was queasy, irritation suddenly spiked in her mind...it was a foreign feeling, one she hadn't felt before.

She tried to tell herself that she was just concerned about Rachel entering the labyrinth, and that's why she was so bothered but...

She knew the true reason. She just really, really didn't want to admit it.

'Percy can like whoever he wants,' Selene thought. 'It's fine. This is stupid. Stop being stupid —'

"Want one?" Percy asked softly. As he nudged her shoulder slightly, she turned to look at him. He smiled, holding a blue lollipop in his hand, as if to say, I come in peace.

Selene had absolutely no idea how he got that lollipop, as right now they were in the middle of nowhere, in a van with Argus on the way to Manhattan. She didn't argue though — she would never pass up a lollipop.

She let a quick smile get out as she took the lollipop from him. Their hands grazed, and if Selene wasn't focused on that, she probably would've noticed the way Percy's face lit up completely once he saw her smile.

She popped the candy in her mouth — leaning back slightly and trying to relax a little bit more. They had a long drive ahead of them, after all, and a lot to do. She had to at least try to get some rest.

Percy looked like he was exhausted, and Annabeth looked like she hadn't slept at all. Selene was about to joke that she had a great sleep, but she didn't really want to be on the receiving end of Annabeth's glare right now.

Selene decided to test the waters, "Annie? Did you...have a bad dream?"

Luckily for her, Annabeth's dark grey eyes softened slightly as they turned to look at her. "No," She shook her head, "An Iris-Message from Eurytion."

Percy perked up at that. "Eurytion!" He said — his eyes wide and full of concern. "Is something wrong with Nico?"

Annabeth completely ignored him — keeping her eyes solely on Selene instead. "That's what I was wondering, Selene —" (Percy gave her an exasperated look as she said this), "— and that's what I asked him. Apparently, he left the ranch to travel the labyrinth again late last night. Nico was gone before Eurytion even woke up. He sent Orthus out to track him, but...he only followed his scent as far as the cattle guard. Eurytion said he'd been hearing Nico talk to himself lately — only now does he realize he probably started to talk to Minos again."

"Probably," Selene scoffed. "Gods, I hate that guy. Can't he just go away and like...stay dead? It can't be that hard!"

"He's in danger," Percy said.

Selene and Annabeth gave him a look, as if to say, duh, no kidding? Percy held his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, that's not what I meant. I had a dream last night — this Minos stuff can be more dangerous than we've been thinking." Percy explained his dream — the past of Minos, the King of Crete, as well as him revealing that he also saw Luke, traveling the maze and conversing with none other than Mal Toko himself.