It's Me (Second book of Call me Omega)

Chapter 62

Luke's POV

I didn't know if this was right.

Commander looked more ill in the morning. His face was yellowish and the dark circles under his eyes were darker. We were eating our breakfast silently till Zoe spoke up.
"Commander. Maybe we should go back atleast now and-"
"No." he cut in. "We don't have much time." he looked up at me with dark eyes. "Tartarus knows we're coming. I had a dream last night."
Now I understood about the dark circles under his eyes.
"We're just walking into a trap."
"Thats better than dying." he said, eating the last scraps of his eggs. He stood up.
"We should get moving. We're nearly there. I know Tartarus has a garrison around here."
We packed and came out of the hotel. The sweltering heat made the air shimmer and made us sweat like crazy. Commander didn't seemed bothered. We walked into a shaded ally. Commander walked straight ahead like he was being controlled by someone. I grabbed his arm and stopped him and was suprised by how cold he was. He shook his head.
"About here....." he muttered.
He walked towards the wall and traced his fingers along the brick wall. He found a loose brick and pulled it out forcefully. A cold gust of wind made me shiver. Commander narrowed his eyes and punched the wall hard and it made a hole big enough for one of us to go through. A big hole in the ground awaited us, letting out cold air and a dark aura.
He took a deep breath.

"I guess we have to jump."

~

Zoe cusioned our fall with the winds.

We landed on our feet in the dark stone hallway. I could see Commander tensing. It was like the place where Annabeth and he was tortured. I couldn't blame him. He took out his sword and it glowed softly in the dark. We walked a few steps foward and Commander stopped in place.
His grip on his sword became tighter.
"Tartarus!" his voice was loud and clear, so confident it felt like the dark was creeping back. "Come out!"

"Well if you insist...."

We all whipped around to see Tartarus's grotesque smile.

"Boo."

And everything went black.

~

I woke up in a stone room.

I was alarmed when I saw the seven and Zoe all chained to the same wall. They all had cuts, and were gagged, and everyone exept Zoe had their eyes wide open. Zoe was still out cold. Jason's eyes met mine and they widened, his eyes pointing to somewhere. I focused and saw Commander in front of Tartarus. We watched in horror as he huntched over, clutching his chest.
"Boring." Tartarus muttered. He put two fingers on his forehead and he gasped, and I thought something happened to him, but he seemed to straighten up.
"You must do as I please if you want me to let them go." Tartarus ordered.
It looked so weird, seeing someone command Commander. His sword was in hand.
"Don't do it!"
I looked at Leo. He had burned through his gag and was looking at Commander.
"You know he's using you Omega." he pleaded.
Suddenly, Tartarus was next to him with his sword to Leo's neck. He yelped as it got closer.
"Drop your sword."
"Swear on the River Styx." Commander snarled.
Tartarus shrugged. "I swear on the River Styx that I will let them go if you do what I say. Now drop your sword."
He dropped it and it clattered to the ground.
"Good." Tartarus smiled. "Kneel."
He didn't hesitate. He kneeled before Tartarus, and Piper looked like she was about to cry. His hands were shaking.
Tartarus took out a knife and it skittered in front of Commander.