Daughter of Poseidon •{Nico di Angelo}• [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

Chapter 15: THE DANGER

I woke up in the morning and peered out my window. The sun was just coming up over the horizon. I glanced at my clock and saw that it was 6:30 a.m. and I guessed that I was the only one up.

I decided that I would go outside and get some fresh air. I pulled on some clean jeans, a Camp Half-Blood shirt and some converse before slipping downstairs and sneaking out the front door.

I sat down on the front porch steps and took a deep breath. I remembered the danger that I had put everyone through the day before. Nico could have died, and it would have been my fault.

I heard the door creak behind me. I spun around and found myself face to face with Nico. I sniffed and smelled his familiar mint scent and instantly relaxed.

"Good morning." I managed to say. He held my gaze for a moment longer before sitting down next to me on the steps.

"Morning." He stifled a yawn. He looked exhausted. I took another deep breath and smelled the mint scent again.

"I'm so sorry about yesterday. I almost got us all killed." I looked down at my hands feeling guilty. "How's your side doing?"

"The ambrosia helped. It's completely healed now. Don't blame yourself for what happened yesterday. You were just doing what you were told to do. To track down all the remaining giants and send them to Tartarus." He lifted my chin and looked me straight in the face. His face was inches from mine. Then he shuddered and looked away.

I felt my face grow hot with embarrassment. Had he been about to kiss me? There was an awkward silence.

Finally I had to ask the question. "Why do you smell like mint?" It was a stupid question, but I'm always curious about stuff.

"I honestly-" He got cut off by a loud shriek. We both instantly hopped to our feet and drew our swords. I heard a flapping sound coming from above us. I looked up.

"Gryphons." My voice barely came out as a whisper. Their sleek black heads shined in the rising sun and their wings beat strongly. They shrieked loudly.

Nico and I backed slowly into the house and slammed the door shut.

"What are those gryphons doing here?" I looked out the window and saw some black dots on the horizon.

"I don't know, but there are more coming. Let's wake the others." He looked over my shoulder and watched the black dots on the horizon.

"What's coming?" I spun around and saw Natasha standing in the door way to the kitchen. She walked over to the window and looked out. I swear for a second she looked smug then her expression changed to surprise.

"What are those? Are they monsters?" She sounded slightly worried. I could tell Nico wasn't buying her act. We exchanged a glance.

"Those are gryphons. They are sometimes poisonous, but only if they bite you." I looked Natasha right in the eyes, looking for any signs of recognition of the gryphons, but there was none. "Come on. Let's wake the others."

About thirty minutes later everyone was awake and in the living room.The gryphons were still circling the house, and more had been arriving. At least ten gryphons were now circling the house.

Christina stuck her head out the door for a second before jerking back and slamming the door. "There are two more gryphons on the horizon. Someone or something must really want to kill us."

"Well, if two more are coming, that means when they get here, we'll have to fight a dozen gryphons instead of ten. I think we should attack them now." Leo said thoughtfully. I was surprised that he suggested this. I could easily tell he wasn't really into fighting and stuff. But he had a point.

"If we attack now, then when those two get here, we'll have to fight them when we are tired from fighting ten gryphons." Natasha pointed out. "And if they really are poisonous," Natasha glanced at me doubtfully, "then we would probably all have cuts and scratches before we take on the other two. So not only will we be hurt, we might be slower and more likely to go hurt easier." She cast a worried glance at Nico.

I rolled my eyes. "Let's take a vote. Then we will either attack the griffins now, or wait till the ones on the horizon get here. Okay?" I met each of their gazes. I didn't need to take a vote to see what they wanted to do. I could see it in their eyes.

Natasha, Nico, and Christina wanted to wait, and Leo wanted to attack. I decided that even though I disliked Natasha, I had to admit she had a point.

"Well, majority wins, so I guess we'll have to wait until those other two get here." I sighed and went back to the window. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Natasha sit down in the couch next to Nico, who immediately jumped up from the couch and walked over to stand beside me.

"Those two gryphons are getting closer. I wonder how they found us..." His voice trailed off.

"Maybe we can find out how they find us if we don't all die of poisoned wounds first." I muttered under my breath. Nico just looked back at me calmly.

"If we can fight and defeat a giant with only one minor injury, I think we can handle a dozen gryphons. At least they don't spit fire and kill everything they touch like those snake things." He smiled warmly at me. My heart skipped a beat when I realized that he probably didn't smile at many people like that.

"Those 'snake things' are basilisks." I met his gaze for a second and quickly looked away. "Come on. Let's get ready to fight. Those two gryphons will be here soon."