The Male Hunter | Olympus' Traitor #1

Chapter 16: Heroes' Last Stand

Apollo was beginning to brighten the sky, meaning the Hunt had been running east for about three hours. When told about Percy's dream, the Hunters had been furious. They may not have liked Jacob much because of his dad - even though he had never flirted with them, he had always been busy making eyes at that Hecate girl - and Hannah had rejected the offer of becoming a Huntress, but they had saved Percy. This made them alright in the Hunter's books.

As Thalia glanced at Percy running next to her, she started blushing furiously as she remembered how she had been woken up that morning. Percy had been shirtless, shirtless for crying out loud! His chest had been so sculpted, and the years of activity had toned his muscles. They weren't bulging and gross like a bodybuilder, but they were clearly there. It was like the slender, yet muscular, build of a swimmer. No, stop it! Thalia scolded herself. Hunters do not think this way, especially about other Hunters!

"Hey, Thals, you okay?" Percy asked, eyebrows knit with concern. "Your face is all red. Are you sick, or do you need a rest?"

"Um,yes, I mean no. I mean-" Thalia stammered, face growing even redder somehow. "Agggh, just leave me alone!" she finally exclaimed before speeding up her run and shoving past him.

Looking to his right Percy saw Atalanta smirking at him. "What was that all about?" he asked her. She just shook her head and rolled her eyes, letting out a small laugh before running after her friend. Am I missing something? Percy thought, extremely confused.

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The campers were gathered in the dining pavilion, sleep deprived after the night they had been through. Chiron and Mr. D were nowhere to be seen, but that was no surprise. They had not exited the bounds of the Big House in months.

"One, or more, of you is a traitor!" Annabeth announced from where she was pacing at the head of the pavilion. "Last night, during the chaos that Valdéz created, two prisoners that we were questioning about Periplanómenos escaped! Now, their whereabouts are still unknown, but we must assume that if we find the traitor Valdéz then we will find them." Annabeth stopped her pacing and faced all the campers. "Jason, Piper, and I will be purposely questioning all of you in order to flush out the traitors," with that said she turned on her heel and marched down to the cabins, her lackys close behind.

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Leo and Calypso had flown through the night, and by his estimate they were somewhere over the Midwest. Of course, the rolling fields and GPS he had installed in Festus helped too. "Just a few more hours buddy," Leo whispered while patting Festus' neck. "We can make it, you can do it." He needed to push through for his friends. Jacob and Hannah were depending on him, and he needed to find Percy so he could give him a nice slap upside the head.

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Jacob and Hannah stumbled along the road. It had been two days since the rescue, and they figured that they were somewhere in Pennsylvania. At first, everything had been fine. They were able to go along at a comfortable pace, taking the chance to recuperate as much as possible. That couldn't last forever though. The day before monsters had started attacking in droves, barely giving them a chance to breath and forcing them to keep moving so that they wouldn't get caught. Both of them knew it was only a matter of time, especially with the Hellhounds tracking them.

"Come on, they're getting closer!" Jacob said frantically as a howl pierced the air behind them.

"Let's hide in there," Hannah said, pointing to a wooded area off the side of the road. "Maybe we can lose them in the trees."