Twins of the Hunt - Book 3: The Rescue ✔️

Chapter 11: We Visit The Dam Snack Bar

1975 words

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Ainsley P.O.V.

There was a searing pain in my heart, as though someone had pressed a white-hot knife over it. I gasped with pain, and one of my hands almost slipped out from under the burden I was holding.

Chief! Agro strained to get to me, but she was still being held back at sword-point by Aidan. Let me go!

I wanted to help my wolf, but I could do nothing but glare at my twin brother.

"You're a monster," I croaked in a barely audible voice.

"That's your opinion, sis," said Aidan with a sadistic grin, digging his sword deeper into Agro's neck. "Let's hope you still have one by Winter Solstice."

"Please hurry, Raiden," I whispered.

Raiden P.O.V.

We discovered an abandoned, very ancient pickup truck at the edge of the junkyard. It had a tank full of gas and was functional enough to move. Thalia drove the car, and I rode shotgun. Orion stubbornly insisted that he sit in the back with Zoë, leaving Percy and Grover to sit in the pickup bed. We trundled along the desert road in silence.

I looked back at Zoë and Orion occasionally; her head was on his shoulder, and tears were still streaming down her cheeks. Snow was playing the role of therapy dog and getting Zoë to forget her misery somewhat by repeatedly pawing her leg and looking adorable, demanding attention.

"So," said Thalia, glancing sideways at me, "what's it like?"

"Hm?" I'd been gazing out of the window, staring at the bright dunes and endless blue sky. "What did you say?"

Thalia repeated her question.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what's it like being a demigod daughter of Kronos?"

"The correct word to describe me would be 'demititan,' not demigod. And to answer your question, it's brutal and very traumatic."

I didn't say anything more after that. My past and the scars I bore on my arms were not her business; the only person who knew the extent of it was Ainsley.

The pickup truck's gas supply ran out at the edge of a canyon.

"What do we do now?" Percy glanced down into the river canyon. "There's no way down."

"If we jump," I said, "I can slow time down, and we'll land safely."

"No way," said Thalia. Her voice was oddly shaky. "There's gotta be a path or something."

"There is." Grover pointed at a small ledge descending into the canyon. "We can take that."

"That's a path for goats," Percy pointed out.

"I know, but we can make it work," Grover insisted.

"Grover," said Percy, "we're humans. Our feet are too small to fit on that little ledge. We'll fall to our deaths!"

At the son of Poseidon's words, Thalia shuddered and backed away further canyon's edge.

"Make up your minds!" I said impatiently, as Orion, Snow, and Zoë walked up to stand next to me at the edge of the canyon. "I don't care what the rest of you do, but we're jumping. It's the quickest way down, and my best friend and my patron need to be rescued."

The four of us stepped off the canyon in unison and free-fell. I willed the time to slow down, and we landed safely next to the river.

"Hey," Percy called down as I stopped the time dilation, "we're going to find an easier way down."