CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
VIOLENT DELIGHTS

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AFTER WATCHING PIPER CHARM a pilot into offering them a ride in their helicopter, Kit came to the conclusion that Piper McLean was an absolute powerhouse. Of course, she'd already shown the signs, but this topped everything Kit had seen her do to date. Each word came without hesitation, sickly sweet and unable to be denied. Just five minutes later, they were carrying Tristan towards the bay doors where the bleary-eyed pilot waited.

"What's wrong with him?" the woman slurred, flickers of suspicion breaking through her confused haze.

"Smoke inhalation," Jason said with a not-so-subtle glimpse around the destroyed clearing. He shuddered at the giant-sized crater and turned his back on the scene. "Or heat exhaustion..."

She followed his gaze and grimaced. "We should get him to a hospital."

"It's okay," Piper cut in calmly. "The airport is good."

Kit half-expected the pilot to argue, but she merely smiled and nodded. "Yeah, the airport is good." A brief frown tugged at her eyebrows. She stared at Tristan for a moment, a minute too long to be considered unimportant. "Isn't he Tristan McLean, the movie star?"

"No," Piper denied, her jaw clenching the slightest bit. She held her dad's arm tighter, defensive almost. "He only looks like him. Forget it."

"Right... only looks like him..." As the charmspeak washed over her once again, her frown faded into an unbothered smile. "I forgot what I was saying. Let's get going."

With that, she stepped aside to let them through, merely waiting by the door for her next instructions. Her blank, unexpecting expression sent uneasy chills down Kit's spine, and miserable ones down Piper's. This wasn't something she was proud of, being able to warp people's minds, forcing them into agreeing with decisions they wouldn't have willingly made. If given the opportunity, this pilot wouldn't have hesitated to flee. But under Piper's command, she didn't have a choice anymore. She'd do whatever Piper wanted, her conscience trapped too deep to hear.

Once, Kit would've made a joke about it.

Now, he just felt sick.

The second they had Tristan settled across one of the benches, Piper commanded the pilot to get behind the controls. She did so without question, her knuckles bone white as she death-gripped the wheel. They left the burning mountain behind. The only evidence they'd even been there in the first place was their smoke-scented clothes and the blood slowly drying across Kit's face.

He would've tried to wipe it away, but his limbs felt heavy, weighed down by exhaustion and anticipation.

"Piper," Tristan suddenly gasped, his voice sharp and horrified in the silence. He sounded like he was about to cry. Piper's own eyes went glassy. "It's you? They told me... they told me you would die! They said... horrible things would happen."

Kit's chest tightened when Piper sniffled. "It's me, Dad," she promised the broken man. "Everything's going to be okay."

She couldn't promise him that, but what Tristan didn't know couldn't hurt him more than he already had been hurt.

"They were monsters," he cried, lurching out to grab Piper's arm. His grip was tight but beseeching. "Real monsters. Earth spirits, right out of Grandpa Tom's stories, and the Earth Mother was angry at me... and the giant... Tsul'kalu, breathing fire--" For a second, he went quiet, lost in memories they couldn't have possibly imagined. It was clear he couldn't cope with this. His whole world as he knew it had been ripped out from beneath his feet. "They said you were a... a... a demigod. And your mother was--"

"Aphrodite," Piper murmured, and Tristan nodded eagerly at the familiarity of it. "The Goddess of love."

She caught Kit's eyes then. Kit wanted to look away like Leo and Jason -- and Hedge, who'd sat himself down in a corner to chew on some half-burned grass -- but found himself unable to. This was a look that Kit knew well; one of guilt and self-hatred. If only Piper knew it would only go downhill from there.

"I didn't know about Mum," she said, suddenly wavering under her dad's waiting, expectant stare. "Not until you were taken. When we found out where you were, we came right away. My friends helped me, Dad. No one will hurt you again."

At the mention of her friends, Tristan turned to them and smiled, the first look Kit had seen on his face that wasn't fearful. "You're heroes," he declared, and Kit could tell he truly meant it. "You and your friends, Pipes. I can't believe it. You're a real hero. Not like me, not playing a part. I'm so proud of you." He leaned forward until Piper had no choice but to look at him. "Your mother never told me..."

"She thought it was for the best."

Kit couldn't listen anymore. As Piper delved into their 'adventures' the past few days, he leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes, lulled into a state of semi-consciousness with Piper's voice and the hum of the helicopter blades as background noise. In the shadows, he found Luke's face, and reopened his eyes to watch the mountains and trees flicker past down below.

It was as they reached the hills of the East Bay that the air shifted again. Jason sat forward suddenly, leaning out the open doorway to peer into the silence. He pointed at something Kit couldn't see from his angle. "What is that?" he asked, sounding... nervous almost.

"Where?" Piper frowned at him.

"That road," he said, leaning even further forward. Just one push and he would've gone falling. Thank the Gods he could fly then, Kit thought with vague amusement. "The one that goes through the hills."

Piper waited a moment, listening to the pilot's voice relaying her answer through the com helmet. Then, she told him, "She says it's Highway 24. That's the Caldecott Tunnel. Why?"

Jason said nothing in response, an answer in itself. Soon enough, they also had Highway 24 and the Caldecott Tunnel behind, and he forced himself to sit back, his shoulders hunched by tension. The silence allowed reality to sink in again. Kit grimaced as Tristan began to sob.

"Monsters," he whimpered, each jolting cry prompting a wince of pain. "I live in a world of monsters."

And they were much closer than Tristan McLean would ever truly realise.

By the time they reached Oakland Airport, night had well and truly fallen. Kit was one of the last out of the helicopter, trailing behind Leo, Jason and Hedge, who did their best to keep their distance from the silent father and daughter. Piper was watching her father like she expected him to keel over at any second. Tristan was staring at the ground like he couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't anymore. It felt wrong to break the silence between them, even though they had to.

"So," Jason sighed. "What now?"

He was glaring at the private jet waiting for them -- or rather, it was waiting for the McLeans.

Piper frowned, and Kit had a feeling he knew what she was going to say. "First thing, I have to get my dad home." Both Leo and Jason's faces dropped, Kit merely nodded. He would've done the same if his mother was still alive and needed him. He couldn't fault Piper for that. "I'm sorry, guys..."

"Don't be," Kit insisted, Leo adding, "He needs you right now. We can take it from here."

He definitely didn't believe it, though. He grimaced the second the words were out, Tristan catching the expression and forcing himself to stumble to his feet. "Pipes, no, you have a mission, a quest. I can't--"

Much to Kit's surprise, Hedge piped up, "I'll take care of him."

Gleeson Hedge was willingly giving up an opportunity to fight.

Well, there was a first time for everything...

Piper blinked like she wasn't sure she heard him right. "You?"

"I'm a protector," Gleeson shrugged like his answer was obvious. "That's my job. Not fighting." When no one argued, an indignant frown settled on his face. "Of course, I'm good at fighting too."

"Oh, yes," Jason agreed quickly.

"Terrifying," Leo added.

"Eh," Kit smirked. "You could be better."

Fortunately, Hedge didn't seem to hear him. "But I'm a protector, and I can do this. Your dad's right, Piper. You need to carry on with the quest."

Piper's eyes filled with tears again. She looked at her dad hopelessly. "But dad..."

Wordlessly, Tristan held out his arms for her, holding on for dear life when Piper embraced him just as fiercely. Kit had to look away then, Leo and Jason doing the same, just for entirely different reasons.

"Let's give them a minute," he heard Jason suggest.

For once, Kit wholeheartedly agreed.

He was the first to storm across the tarmac, Leo close behind him and Jason reluctantly leaving Piper's side, despite it being his suggestion in the first place. The last thing Kit heard was Tristan telling Piper he'd failed her. Kit felt like he couldn't breathe. Each second seemed to drag on for an hour. The helicopter ride had passed so quickly, but when Kit needed the time to pass; well, the fates just weren't on his side. He was affronted to find Leo in front of him, all of a sudden pressing his thumb to the wrinkle between his eyebrows. He jolted back like the touch of skin-on-skin had burned him.

"What are you doing?"

"You're scowling," Leo defended, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. "You alright? Is your head sore?"

It took Kit a second to realise he meant the wound on his temple. In all honesty, Kit barely felt it until he was reminded of it. His head started to pound, prompting Kit to let out a sigh.

"No," he lied, and Leo frowned. "I can't even feel it."

"Guys..."

At Jason's abrupt interjection, the two boys turned to look at him. He hadn't said a word since they left Piper, merely watching the girl from across the tarmac. When she handed her father a familiar vial of bubbling pink liquid, he jolted forward uneasily, only moving when Tristan's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped forward in Piper's arms.

The others quickly followed, helping Hedge support his weight. "I already asked our ranger friend to call up his plane," the satyr informed Piper, who was barely keeping it together now. "It's on the way. Home address?"

Piper struggled to get the words out at first, merely searching through Tristan's jacket pockets until she pulled out his phone. "Everything's on here," she blurted, and Hedge eagerly took the phone like it was a new weapon he had to master. "Address, his chauffeur's number. Just watch out for Jane."

"Who's Jane?" Hedge questioned with a hungry sense of eagerness.

Just because he was going to protect Tristan didn't mean he had to miss an opportunity for a fight if one presented itself.

Five minutes later, Tristan had been carried on board by Hedge and the flight attendant, his memories wiped by the vial Piper had given him, leaving Hedge with nothing else to do but say his goodbyes. Kit blinked in surprise when the satyr pulled Piper into a fearsome hug, shooting him, Leo and Jason a warning glare over her shoulder. It was odd seeing him so protective, caring even, of a demigod.

"You cupcakes take care of this girl, you hear? Or I'm gonna make you do push-ups." Before they had the chance to so much as nod, his eyes met Kit's. "If I hear you so much as thought about doing anything treacherous--"

"Alright, dad," Kit scoffed at him. "I know. You'll make me do push-ups."

"Oh, push-ups will be the least of your worries, Dempsey."

Some of Kit's amusement began to fray at the edges, leaving Piper to quickly intervene with one last hug for the satyr. "Thank you, Gleeson," Kit heard her sniffle. "Take care of him please."

"I got this, McLean," he grinned, with all the confidence in the world. "They got root beer and veggie enchiladas on this flight, and one hundred percent linen napkins! Yum! I could get used to this."

With that, he disappeared back inside and the flight attendant was quick to close the doors behind him. As the plane started heading down the runway, Kit was rather affronted to find that Piper was crying -- no, sobbing, and turning to the closest person for a hug of comfort. She just so happened to latch onto his torso, her tears soaking through his jacket.

"Uh..."

Leo began to snicker, Jason rolling his eyes as Kit wormed his way out of the hug and guided Piper's sniffling form towards him instead. Jason didn't hesitate to throw his arms around her waist, soothing down her hair with one of his hands while murmuring, "Your dad's in good hands, Piper. You did amazing."

He shot another look at Kit, as if to say this is all you had to do, dumbass.

Kit glared back. Did he look like the type who participated in emotional heart-to-hearts on the daily? Kit could barely comprehend his own emotions, let alone someone else's...

After several more awkward beats of crying, Piper pulled back to wipe her eyes. Her sobs died down into small sniffles, then silence. It was almost like she hadn't cried at all. "Thank you, guys. I--"

She smiled then, but before she could say anything else, the air beside Jason began to shimmer like a rainbow. An iris message. Kit recognised it before anyone else, taking a step closer to see Thalia Grace's bloodied figure sharpen into focus.

Jason let out a shocked but elated gasp of her name. "Thalia!"

"Oh, thank the Gods," the girl in question sighed in relief. "Jason, we've found her! Where are you?"

"Oakland," the blonde boy answered, listening warily to the sounds of yelling, metal clashing, explosions and thunder that were coming from Thalia's end. To Kit, it sounded like a warzone. "Where are you...?"

"The Wolf House! Oakland is good. You're not too far. We're holding off the giant's minions, but we can't hold them forever. Get here before sunset or it's all over!"

"Then it's not too late?" Piper smiled, too hopeful.

"Not yet," Thalia shook her head. She didn't return the other girl's smile, her expression grim and all-knowing. "But Jason, it's worse than I thought. Porphyrion is rising. You need to hurry!"

"But where is the Wolf House?" the son of Jupiter sighed, rubbing at his temples with frustration.

Surprise, surprise. He couldn't remember.

"Our last trip," Thalia quickly prompted as the Iris Message began to run out of time. "The park. Jack London. Remember?"

Jason's expression suddenly went stricken. Kit eyed him suspiciously as the Iris Message cut off and prevented him from answering. Leo caught Kit's look and reached over to shake Jason's arm.

"Bro, you alright? You know where she is?"

"Yes," Jason nodded slowly. "Sonoma Valley. It's not far. Not by air..."

Wordlessly, Kit and Leo turned to look at Piper. The daughter of Aphrodite grimaced and folded her arms over her chest, but knew what she had to do.

"Ma'am?" She turned to the pilot with what looked to be a pleasant smile. Deep down, the increasingly familiar thrum of power made her feel nauseous. "You don't mind helping us one more time, do you?"

The pilot, robotic in her movements, simply shrugged. "I don't mind."

Her screaming eyes said otherwise.

"We can't take a mortal into battle," Jason exclaimed, sounding displeased that Piper even suggested it. "It's too dangerous!"

"Then what are we gonna do?" Kit scoffed, sparing a pointed glimpse at the watch on his wrist. "Are you gonna fly this thing?"

"Not me," Jason shook his head. He turned to Leo. "Do you think you could?"

"Uh..."

"Well, that's not concerning at all," Kit deadpanned at Leo's obvious hesitation.

"Hold on," the other boy insisted, making his way over to the helicopter. For a second, he gripped the metallic wall, feeling the grooves beneath his fingers, his brows furrowed in thought. At last, he turned back to them and recited, "Bell 412HP utility helicopter. Composite four-blade main rotor, cruising speed is twenty-two knots, service ceiling twenty-thousand feet. The tank is nearly full. Sure, I can fly it."

"That's..."

"Hot?" Leo grinned at Kit's affronted -- but somewhat impressed -- expression. "I know."

Kit rolled his eyes. "Get in the helicopter, Leo."

"Sir, yes, sir." He hopped up to balance on the edge of the aircraft, grinning down at Piper and Jason, who were standing side-by-side while Piper convinced the ranger to let them take her helicopter. Any closer and they would've been holding hands. Kit found himself looking down at Leo's hand and cursed himself. "Hop in, kids! Uncle Leo's gonna take you for a ride."

"Never say that again," Kit's nose scrunched up in distaste.

His momentary lapse in judgement left as quick as it came.

"Right. Got it. Never again."

Kit fought back a smile.

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"GOING OKAY?" PIPER ASKED from the row of seats behind the pilot's section. She and Jason were crammed into the small space, kneeling between the pilot's seat and the passenger's seat that held Leo and Kit in place.

"Aces," Leo nodded, cutting over whatever snide insult Kit opened his mouth to say by adding, "So what's the Wolf House?"

Instinctively, Jason replied, "An abandoned mansion in the Sonoma Valley. A demigod built it. Jack London."

The name went right over Kit's head, doing the same for Leo, who asked, "He an actor?"

"Writer," Piper corrected. "Adventure stuff, right? Call of the Wild? White Fang?"

"Yeah," Jason nodded. "He was a son of Mercury -- I mean, Hermes." Kit didn't even know why Jason bothered correcting himself at this point, but whatever. "He was an adventurer, travelled the world. He was even a hobo for a while. Then he made a fortune writing. He bought a big ranch in the country and decided to build this huge mansion; the Wolf House."

"Named that 'cause he wrote about wolves?" Leo presumed.

"Wow," Kit deadpanned. "You genius."

"Partially," Jason agreed with Leo. "But the site, and the reason he wrote about wolves, was that he was dropping hints about his personal experience. There're a lot of holes in his life story; how he was born, who his dad was, why he wandered around so much. Stuff you can only explain if you know he was a demigod."

"So Jack London went to Camp Half-Blood?"

Kit shook his head. "Surely, I'd recognise his name, right?"

"What Kid said," Jason disputed as he met Leo's confused stare. "He didn't."

"Bro, you're freaking me out with the mysterious talk," the son of Hephaestus huffed. "Are you remembering your past or not?"

"Pieces," Jason admitted. He seemed frustrated with himself, like his memories were merely behind a door that he had the key for, he just couldn't figure out where the lock was. "Only pieces. And none of it good."

"Of course not," Kit sighed, because when was a demigod's backstory ever good?

"The Wolf House is on sacred ground. It's where London started his journey as a child, where he found out he was a demigod. That's why he returned there. He thought he could live there, claim that land, but it wasn't meant for him. The Wolf House was cursed. It burned in a fire a week before he and his wife were supposed to move in. A few years later, London died, and his ashes were buried on the site."

"So," Piper drawled, shifting around uncomfortably as the mood of the story began to sour. "How do you know all this?"

"I started my journey there too," Jason told them, blue eyes bright in the shadows of the helicopter. "It's a powerful place for demigods, a dangerous place. If Gaea can claim it, use its power to entomb Hera on the solstice and raise Porphyrion, that might be enough to awaken the earth Goddess fully."

"Look, we're thirty minutes out," Leo sighed, his grip tight on the joystick. At some point, any traces of amusement had left his face, leaving his eyes cold and hollow as silence settled over the group. Kit wanted to reach out and take one of his hands, pry his fingers open until some of the tension left his body. He didn't. "If you want to get some rest, now's a good time."

No one argued. Jason and Piper each took half the bench in the back of the helicopter and went to sleep almost immediately. The weight of the day had really taken a toll on them, all of them. Soon enough, it was just Kit alone with Leo, his heart pounding away in his chest, his mind begging for a break that he just couldn't allow himself.

"Kit?" Leo frowned, gaze lingering on the side of his face, just waiting for Kit to look back. "You're not going to sleep?"

"Can't," Kit shook his head and sighed. "My mind's racing."

"It does that a lot," Leo mustered a small grin. Kit barely returned it. "Is that an Ares thing?"

"Maybe," he shrugged. He certainly wouldn't know if it was. "But my mum was stubborn too."

"Was?"

Kit shot him a deadpan stare, waiting for realisation to sink in. As suspected, Leo's eyes went wide seconds later. "Oh, fuck," he cursed, and Kit would've laughed if the situation hadn't been so awkward. "I'm sorry... I didn't--"

There was a lot Leo didn't, and in all honesty, probably would never know about Kit Dempsey. This was just one of the many things that made the list. But Kit didn't acknowledge it. He merely sighed, the sound lingering for the shadows to take.

"I was eleven," he said, hesitating like the thought was taboo.

Kit didn't often think of his mother, but there was this isolated feeling festering in his chest that reminded him of the days after she died, those first moments of waking up in Camp Half-Blood and feeling like a visitor rather than a resident.

And thinking of her death lead to thinking of... well, her. The strong scent of the rose perfume she used to wear. The way she laughed and Kit felt lighter. How her blue eyes turned grey as claws struck her chest and stopped her heart. 

"I knew something was off, but I didn't question it. I should've."

Kit didn't know why he was telling Leo this. Maybe it was the constant brush with Death, or knowing that if he really did end up dying, his mother's memory would die with him now that there was no one else to honour it. Kit was so tired, he barely comprehended the words and how they knocked the breath from his lungs.

"She was skittish, and she kept looking over her shoulder like we were being chased. I thought it was just a game when she told me to run. But then I watched a monster rip her heart from her chest, and I realised it wasn't. She and Luke were the only ones I've ever cried for, Valdez, so don't expect me to make a habit of this."

Was it tears or blood? Kit wasn't sure.

"Luke," Leo repeated, unusually sober. "I recognise that name."

"I'd be surprised if you didn't."

"You called Jason that at Monocle Motors. I heard his name around camp too, but no one liked to talk about him."

"He was a traitor," Kit shrugged like it was obvious. Leo grimaced. "He brought Kronos back, let him use his body as a weapon. Luke was the villain, but in the end, he still died a hero's death." Silence. Oh, how the tables had turned. For once, Leo was speechless, and Kit couldn't stop talking. He should've stopped. It would've made what was to come so much easier. "You know, he's the reason I'm even here. As in this prophecy. I betrayed everything for him. Well, not that I had much to begin with. But I lost what I could've had because he asked me to."

"Why?" Leo cut in.

Perhaps he was too curious for his own good, but he wanted to know everything about Kit Dempsey, even the darkest parts that people often shunned.

"Because I was an idiot and he knew that," Kit laughed. "He promised me he'd take care of me. Was my brother when the only family I had was either ripped to shreds by monsters or willingly shutting me out. Luke... he knew how isolated I felt by Ares. My dad. He'd paint these two pictures for me, of a life where it was different. One where Ares had claimed me sooner, where he'd saved mum, and I wasn't stuck for years in a cabin not meant for me. Another where instead of her dying, I was the monster who got to take out his heart. I don't know which one it was that I wanted more. But it was enough for Luke. He used it against me to bring me to his side. The perfect soldier. And I ate it all up, felt like I'd finally found someone who wanted me around."

It was sad, but Kit believed had no one to blame for it but himself. 

"I should hate him. Part of me does. But he's gone and I'm stuck here, and I know I'm never going to die like him, so what's the point?"

Leo made a noise of protest, like he wanted to disagree, but Kit wouldn't let him. Instead, he laughed again, then shuffled around so he was facing away from where Leo sat. He knew he couldn't see his face anymore, but he felt vulnerable in the worst of ways. So he'd turn to sleep, even if sleep was only meant to taunt him.

"I'm tired," he declared, though he sounded wide awake. "Nighty-night, Valdez. Wake me up when we're almost there."

Leo didn't reply at first. A beat of tense silence passed. Finally, he sighed, a ghost of warm breath on the back of Kit's neck. "Night, Kit," he murmured, and nothing more came of it.

Kit dreamed of Luke tearing out his heart, the chase dangerously exhilarating. Each time, Luke would overpower him, as Kit knew he would, always.

When he woke, the helicopter was plummeting towards the ground. Kit thought they'd left this bullshit behind with Festus. Turned out he was wrong.

"An ice storm?" Piper shouted over the engine and the wind. She'd lurched awake the second the helicopter began to shudder, clutching the seats in front of her for dear life. "Is it supposed to be this cold in Sonoma?"

How was Kit supposed to know? He'd never been to Sonoma.

Jason was the last to wake up, craning his neck around Leo's chair to see through the sleet-covered windshield. "We've got to be getting close," he insisted, though Kit had no idea how he knew. Suddenly, light melted through the snow and he pointed into the distance. "There!"

Way beneath them, a valley opened up with the murky shadow of a building towering in the very middle. Leo aimed the helicopter right for it, struggling with the controls as red lights began to flash on the panels. The closer they got to the ground, the more they gained speed, alarms joining the sea of red as it touched down in the snow.

"Out!" Leo suddenly shouted, and Kit didn't think twice before leaping out of his chair.

He wasn't about to make the same mistake twice. The second his feet hit the ground, the whole world seemed to erupt into flames. A dark shadow collided with the rotors, creating an explosion that would've been heard for miles. Kit's chest smacked against the ground as he stumbled, though he managed to push himself back up with no additional injuries, just a pounding heart and a ringing in his ears that would eventually subside.

"Everyone alright?" Jason asked as he helped Piper up.

"Yeah," Leo nodded. "Guess we owe that ranger lady a new helicopter."

"I doubt she even remembers letting us take it," Kit grumbled, dusting snow off his jacket. He took the hand Leo held out for him and allowed Leo to tug him up. "So what now?"

"Well, the fighting's over there," Piper pointed towards a cluster of burning trees in the South. "Wait, no... it's all around us..."

Kit Dempsey would do what he did best. He unsheathed his sword with a grin.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

The next fight, the final fight, had officially begun. 

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A/N: I can't decide if I love or hate this chapter lol