Fortunately, Blackjack was on duty.

Percy did his best taxicab whistle, and within a few minutes, three dark shapes circled out of the city. They looked like hawks at first, but as they descended Percy could make out long galloping legs of pegasi.

"Yo, boss." Blackjack landed at a trot, his friend Porkpie and a brown pegasi named Gerald right behind him. "Man, I thought those wind gods were gonna knock us to Pennsylvania until we said we were with you!"

"Thanks for coming," Percy told him. "Hey, why do pegasi gallop as they fly, anyway?"

Blackjack whinnied. "Why do humans swing their arms as they walk? I dunno, boss. It just feels right. Where to?"

"We need to get to the Williamsburg Bridge," he said.

Blackjack lowered his neck.  "You're darn right, boss. We flew over it on the way here, and it don't look good. Hop on!"

Evangeline shadow traveled to the bridge, a heavy knot was forming in the pit of her stomach. She didn't like going into battles the amount of death she could see was overwhelming and she didn't like the migraine she got afterward.

She saw the battle before she was close enough to make out individual fighters. It was well after midnight then, but the bridge was blazed with light. Cars were burning. Arcs of fire steamed in both directions as flaming arrows and spears sailed through the air.

The other three demigods came in for a low pass, and Evangeline saw the Apollo campers retreating. They would hide behind cars and snipe at the approaching army, setting off explosive arrows and dropping caltrops in the road, building fiery barricades wherever they could, dragging sleeping drivers out of their cars to get them out of harm's way.

But the enemy kept advancing. An entire phalanx of dracaenae marched in the lead, their shields locked together, spear tips bristling over the top. An occasional arrow would connect with their snaky trunks, or a neck, or a chink in their armor, and the unlucky snake woman would disintegrate, but most of the Apollo arrows glanced harmlessly off their shield wall. About a hundred more monsters marched behind them.

Hellhounds leaped ahead of the line from time to time. Most of them were destroyed with arrows or swords from the skeletons, but one got hold of an Apollo camper and dragged him away. She didn't want to see what happened to him next. She didn't want to know.

"There!" Annabeth called from the back of her pegasus.

Sure enough, in the middle of the invading legion was Percy's arch nemesis the cowman.

From the waist down, he wore standard Greek battle gear—a kilt-like apron of leather and metal flaps, bronze greaves covering his legs, and tightly wrapped leather sandals. His top was all bull—hair and hide and muscle, leading to a head so large he should've toppled over just from the weight of his horns. He was ten feet tall at least. A double-bladed axe was strapped to his back, but he was too impatient to use it. As soon he saw Percy circling overhead, he bellowed and picked up a white limousine.

"Blackjack, dive!" The son of Poseidon yelled.

The three of them were at least a hundred feet up, but the limo came sailing towards them, flipping Fender over like a two-ton boomerang. Annabeth and Porkpie swerved madly to the left, and Landon and Gerald swerved to the right. Blackjack tucked in his wings and plunged.

Evangeline's eyes widened when she saw the limo sail over Percy's head missing it by maybe two inches. It cleared the suspension lines of the bridge and fell towards the East River.

Monsters jeered and shouted, and the Minotaur picked up another car.

She saw the three pegasus swoop down behind an overturned school bus, where a couple of campers were hiding. She teleported herself there, it was nighttime so it gave her more of an advantage to sneak up on people, people being Landon.

"Stop doing that!" Landon jumped.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

Michael Yew ran up to them. He was definitely the shortest commando she'd ever seen. He had a bandaged cut on his arm. His ferrety face was smeared with soot and his quiver was almost empty, but he was smiling like he was having a great time.

"Glad you could join us," he said. "Where are the other reinforcements?"

"For now, we're it," Percy said.

"Then we're dead," he said.

Evangeline raised a brow slightly offended. He quickly shook his head. "I mean, your dead soldiers are helping but we need more help."

"You still have your flying chariot?" Annabeth asked.

"Nah," Michael said. "Left it at camp. I told Clarisse she could have it. Whatever, you know? Not worth fighting about anymore. But she said it was too late. We'd insulted her honor for the last time or some stupid thing."

"Least you tried," Landon said.

Michael shrugged. "Yeah, well, I called her some names when she said she still wouldn't fight. I doubt that helped. Here come the uglies!"

He drew an arrow and launched it toward the enemy. The arrow made a screaming sound as it flew. When it landed, it unleashed a blast like a power chord on an electric guitar magnified through the world's largest speakers. The nearest cars exploded. Monsters dropped their weapons and clasped their ears in pain. Some ran. Others disintegrated on the spot.

"That was my last sonic arrow," The son of Apollo said.

"A gift from your dad?" Percy asked. "God of Music?"

Michael grinned wickedly. "Loud music can be bad for you. Unfortunately, it doesn't always kill."

Sure enough, most monsters were regrouping, shaking off their confusion.

"We have to fall back," Michael said. "I've got Kayla and Austin setting traps farther down the bridge."

"No," Percy said. "Bring your campers forward to this position and wait for my signal. We're going to drive the enemy back to Brooklyn."

The Yew boy laughed. "How do you plan to do that?"

The son of Poseidon drew Riptide.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "Let us come with you."

"Too dangerous," He said. "Besides, I need you three to help Michael coordinate the defensive line. I'll distract the monsters. You group up here. Move the sleep mortals out of the way. Then you can start picking off monsters while I keep them focused on me. If anybody can do all that, it's you three."

Michael snorted. "Thanks a lot."

He kept his eyes on the daughter of Hades. Evangeline nodded reluctantly. "All right. Get moving."

Before Percy could lose his courage, he said, "Don't I get a kiss for luck princess? It's kind of a tradition, between us, right?"

She raised a brow. Percy figured she was about to stab him in the eye with her sword but all she said was. "Come back alive, pretty boy then maybe I'll take you up on that."

"Leslie, did you hear that?" He asked.

"I heard it dude."

Percy stepped out from behind the school bus. He walked up the bridge in plain sight, straight toward the enemy.

Percy used the whole 'I'm invincible' thing to the fullest.

He sliced through armor like it was made of paper. Snake women exploded. Hellhounds melted to shadow. He slashed, stabbed, and whirled, and he might have even laughed once or twice—a crazy laugh that scared him as much as it did his enemies. He was aware of the Apollo campers behind him shooting arrows, disrupting every attempt by the enemy to rally. Finally, the monsters turned and fled—about twenty left alive out of two hundred.

He followed with the Apollo campers at his heels.

"Yes!" yelled Michael Yew. "That's what I'm talking about!"

They drove them back toward the Brooklyn side of the bridge. The sky was growing pale in the east. He could see the toll stations ahead.

"Percy!" Evangeline yelled. "You've already routed them. Come back!"

Some part of him knew she was right, but he was doing so well, he wanted to destroy every last monster.

Then he saw the crowd at the base of the bridge. The retreating monsters were running straight toward their reinforcements. It was a small group, maybe thirty or forty demigods in battle armor, mounted on skeletal horses. One of them held a purple banner with a black scythe design. The lead horseman trotted forward. He took off his helm, and he recognized Kronos himself, his eyes like molten gold.

"Oh no," He heard the brunette mumble.

The children of Hades, Hermes, Athena, and the Apollo campers faltered. The monsters they'd been pursuing reached the Titan's line and were absorbed into the new force. Kronos gazed in their direction. He was a quarter mile away, but Percy swore he could see him smile.

"Now," Percy said. "we pull back."

The Titan lord's men drew their swords and charged. The hooves of their skeletal horses thundered against the pavement. The archers shot a volley, bringing down several of the enemy, but they just kept riding.

"Retreat!" Percy told them. "I'll hold them."

In a matter of seconds, they were on him.

Landon, Annabeth, Michael, and his archers tried to retreat, but Evangeline stayed right beside him, fighting with her sword as they slowly backed up to the bridge.

Kronos's cavalry swirled around them, slashing and yelling insults. The Titan himself advanced leisurely like he had all the time in the world. Being the lord of time, Percy guessed he did.

Percy tried to wound his men, not kill. That slowed him down, but these weren't monsters. They were demigods who'd fallen under Kronos's spell. He couldn't see their faces under their battle helmets, but some of them had probably been his friends. He slashed the legs off their horses and made the skeletal mounts disintegrate. After the first few disintegrate. After the first few demigods took a spill, the rest figured they'd better dismount and fight him on foot. 

The children of the Big Three stayed shoulder to shoulder, facing opposite directions. A dark shape passed over him, and he dared to glance up. Blackjack, Porkpie, and Gerald were swooping in, kicking their enemies in the helmets and flying away like very large kamikaze pigeons.

They'd almost made it to the middle of the bridge when something strange happened. Percy felt a chill down his spine—like that old saying about someone walking on your grave. Behind him, Evangeline cried out in pain.

"Evangeline!" He turned to see her fall, clutching her arm. A demigod with a bloody knife stood over her.

In a flash, Percy understood what had happened. He'd been trying to stab him. Judging from the position of his blade, he would've taken the son of Poseidon—maybe by sheer luck—in the small of his back, his only weak point.

Evangeline had intercepted the knife with her own body.

But why? She didn't know about his weak spot. No one did.

He locked eyes with the enemy demigod. He wore an eye patch under his war helm: Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis, Evangeline's old friend. Somehow he'd survived the explosion on Princess Andromeda. Percy slammed him in the face with his sword hilt so hard he dented his helm.

"Get back!" He slashed the air in a wide arc, driving the rest of the demigods away from the brunette. "No one touches her!"

"Interesting," Kronos said.

He towered above him on his skeleton horse, his scythe in one hand. He studied the scene with narrowed eyes as if he could sense that he'd just come close to death, the way a wolf can smell fear.

"Bravely fought, Percy Jackson," he said. "But it's time to surrender...or the girl dies."

"Percy, don't," She groaned. Her jacket was soaked with blood. He had to get her out of there.

"Blackjack!" Percy yelled.

As fast as light, the pegasus swooped down and clamped his teeth on the strap of Evangeline's armor. Porpkpie landed next to Landon and Annabeth and the two got on the pegasus. They soared away over the river before the enemy could even react.

Kronos snarled. "Some day soon, I am going to make pegasus soup. But in the meantime..." He dismounted, his scythe glistening in the dawn light. "I'll settle for another dead demigod."

Percy met his first strike with Riptide. The impact shook the entire bridge, but he held his ground. Kronos's smile wavered.

With a yell, he kicked his legs out from under him. His scythe skittered across the pavement. Percy stabbed downward, but Kronos rolled aside and regained his footing. His scythe flew back to his hands.

"So..." he studied the son of Poseidon, looking mildly annoyed. "You had the courage to visit the Styx. I had to pressure Luke in many ways to convince him. If only you had supplied my host body instead... But no matter. I am still more powerful. I am a TITAN."

He struck the bridge with the butt of his scythe, and a wave of pure force blasted Percy backward. Cars went careening. Demigods—even Luke's men—were blown off the edge of the bridge. Suspension cords whipped around, and the son of Poseidon skidded halfway back to Manhattan.

Percy got unsteadily to his feet. The remaining Apollo campers had almost made it to the end of the bridge, except for Micheal Yew, who was perched on one of the suspension cables a few yards away from him. His last arrow was notched in his bow.

"Michael go!" Percy screamed.

"Percy, the bridge!" he called. "It's already weak!"

At first, the raven-haired boy didn't understand. Then he looked down and saw fissures in the pavement. Patches of the road were half melted from Greek fire. The bridge had taken a beating from Kronos's blast and the exploding arrows.

"Break it!" Michael yelled. "Use your powers!"

It was a desperate thought—no way it would work— but he stabbed Riptide into the bridge. The magic blade sank to its hilt the asphalt. Saltwater shot from the crack like he'd hit a geyser. Percy pulled out his blade and the fissure grew. The bridge shook and began to crumble. Chunks the size of houses fell into the East River. Kronos's demigods cried out in alarm and scrambled backward. Some were knocked off their feet. Within a few seconds, a fifty-foot chasm opened in the Williamsburg Bridge between Kronos and him.

The vibrations died. Kronos's men crept to the edge and looked at the hundred-and-thirty-foot drop into the river.

Percy didn't feel safe, though. The suspension cables were still attached. The men could get across that way if they were brave enough. Or maybe Kronos had a magic way to span the gap.

The Titan lord studied the problem. He looked behind him at the rising sun, then smiled across the chasm. He raised his scythe in a mock salute. "Until this evening, Jackson."

He mounted his horse, whirled around, and galloped back to Brooklyn, followed by his warriors.

Percy turned to thank Michael Yew, but the words died in his throat. Twenty feet away, a bow lay in the street. Its owner was nowhere to be seen.

"No!" Percy searched the wreckage on his side of the bridge. He stared down at the river. Nothing. Guilt washed over him as he swallowed harshly.

The son of Poseidon yelled in anger and frustration. The sound carried forever in the morning stillness. He was about to whistle for Blackjack to help him search when his mother's phone rang. The LCD display said he had a call from Finkelstein and Associates—probably a demigod calling on a borrowed phone.

Percy picked it up, hoping for some good news. Of course, he was wrong.

"Percy?" It was Landon's voice, he sounded like he was eating something. "Can you come to the Plaza Hotel, quickly? Evangeline's yelling at everybody."

Percy grabbed Will Solace from the Apollo cabin and told the rest of his siblings to keep searching for Micheal Yew. They borrowed a Yamaha FZI from a sleeping biker and drove to the Plaza Hotel at speeds that would've given his mom a heart attack. He'd never driven a motorcycle before, but it wasn't any harder than riding a pegasus.

Along the way, he noticed a lot of empty pedestals that usually held statues. Plan twenty-three seemed to be working. Percy didn't know if that was good or bad.

It only took them five minutes to reach the Plaza—an old-fashioned white stone hotel with a gabled blue roof, sitting at the southeast corner of Central Park.

Tactically speaking, the Plaza wasn't the best place for a headquarters. It wasn't the tallest building in town, or the most centrally located. But it had an old-school style and had attracted a lot of famous demigods over the years, like the Beatles and Alfred Hitchcock, so Percy figured we were in good company.

The raven-haired boy gunned the Yamaha over the curb and swerved to a stop at the fountain outside the hotel.

Will and he hopped off. The statue at the top of the fountain called down, "Oh, fine. I suppose you want me to watch your bike too!"

She was a life-size bronze standing in the middle of a granite bowl. She wore only a bronze sheet around her legs, and she was holding a basket of metal fruit. He'd never paid her too much attention before.

Then again, she'd never talked to him before.

"Are you supposed to be Demeter?" he asked. A bronze apple sailed over his head.

"Everyone thinks I'm Demeter.'" she complained. "I'm Pomona, the Roman Goddess of Plenty, but why should you care? Nobody cares about the minor gods. If you cared about the minor gods, you wouldn't be losing this war! Three cheers for Morpheus and Hecate, I say!"

"Watch the bike," Percy told her.

Pomona cursed in Latin and threw more fruit as the sons of Apollo and Poseidon ran toward the hotel.

Percy had never actually been inside the Plaza. The lobby was impressive, with the crystal chandeliers and the passed-out rich people, but he didn't pay much attention. A couple of Hunters gave them directions to the elevators, and they rode up to the penthouse suites.

Demigods had completely taken over the top floors. Campers and Hunters were crashed out on sofas, washing up in the bathrooms, ripping silk draperies to bandage their wounds, and helping themselves to snacks and sodas from the minibars.

A couple of timber wolves were drinking out of the toilets. Percy was relieved to see that so many of his friends had made it through the night alive, but everybody looked beat up.

"Percy!" Jake Mason clapped him on the shoulder. "We're getting reports—"

"Later," Percy said, hurriedly. "Where's Evangeline?"

"The terrace. She's alive, man, but..."

The son of Poseidon pushed past him.

Under different circumstances, Percy would've loved the view from the terrace. It looked straight down onto Central Park. The morning was clear and bright—perfect for a picnic or a hike, or pretty much anything except fighting monsters.

Evangeline lay on a lounge chair. Her face was paler than usual and beaded with sweat. Even though she was covered in blankets, she shivered. Annabeth was wiping her forehead with a cool cloth.

Will and he pushed past the crowd of Hermes kids. Will unwrapped her bandages to examine the wound, and Percy wanted to faint. The bleeding had stopped but the gash looked deep. The skin around the cut was a horrible shade of green.

"Evangeline..." He choked up. She'd taken the knife for him. How could he have let that happen?

"Poisonous dagger," she mumbled. "No need to thank me, I know I'm amazing for saving your ass."

The son of Apollo exhaled with relief. "It's not so bad. A few more minutes and we would have been in trouble, but the venom hasn't gotten past the shoulder yet. Just lie still. Somebody hand me some nectar."

Percy grabbed a canteen. Will cleaned out the wound with the godly drink while Percy held Evangeline's hand.

She gripped the son of Poseidon's fingers so tight they turned purple and were on the verge of being snapped, but she stayed still, as Will asked.

Silena muttered words of encouragement. Will put some silver paste over the wound and hummed words in Ancient Greek—a hymn to Apollo. Then he applied fresh bandages and stood up shakily.

He looked almost as pale as Evangeline. "That should do it," he said. "But we're going to need some mortal supplies."

He grabbed a piece of hotel stationary, jotted down some notes, and handed it to one of the Hermes kids.

"There's a pharmacy on Fifth. Normally, I would never steal—"

"I would," Travis volunteered.

The son of Apollo glared at him. "Leave cash or drachmas to pay, whatever you've got, but this is an emergency. I've got a feeling we're going to have a lot more people to treat."

Nobody disagreed. There was hardly a single demigod who hadn't already been wounded...except Percy.

"Come on, guys," Travis said. "Let's give Eve some space. We've got a drugstore to raid—"

Landon smacked his brother. "He means to visit."

The demigods shuffled back inside. Jake Mason grabbed Percy's shoulder as he was leaving. "We'll talk later, but it's under control. Annabeth's using her shield to keep an eye on things. The enemy withdrew at sunrise; not sure why. We've got a lookout at each bridge and tunnel."

"Thanks, man," Percy said.

He nodded. "Just take your time."

He closed the terrace doors behind him, leaving Silena, Evangeline, and him alone.

Silena pressed a cool cloth to the brunette's forehead. "This is all my fault,"

"How is that your fault?" Evangeline said.

"I've never been any good at camp," she murmured. "Not like you or Percy. If I was a better fighter..."Her mouth trembled.

Ever since Beckendorf died she'd been getting worse, and every time Percy looked at her, it made him angry about his death all over again. Her expression reminded him of glass—like she might break any minute. The son of Poseidon swore to himself that if he ever found the spy who'd cost her boyfriend his life, he would give him to Mrs. O'Leary and Sam as a chew toy.

"You're a great camper," Percy told her. "You're the best pegasus rider we have. And you get along with people. Believe me, anyone who can make friends with Clarisse has talent."

She stared at him like he'd just given her an idea. "That's it! We need the Ares cabin. I can talk to Clarisse. I know I can convince her to help us."

"Whoa, Silena. Even if you could get off the island, Clarisse is pretty stubborn. Once she gets angry—"

"Please," Silena said. "I can take a pegasus. I know I can make it back to camp. Let me try."

He exchanged glances with the daughter of Hades. She nodded slightly.

Percy didn't like the idea. He didn't think Silena stood a chance of convincing Clarisse to fight. On the other hand, Silena was so distracted right now that she would just get herself hurt in battle. Maybe sending her back to camp would give her something else to focus on.

"All right," Percy told her. "I can't think of anybody better to try."

Silena threw her arms around him. Then she pushed back awkwardly, glancing at Evangeline. "Um, sorry. Thank you, Percy! I won't let you down!"

Once she was gone, Percy knelt next to the brunette and felt her forehead. She was still burning up.

"I'm fine Percy." She told him.

"You could have died."

"If I died because Ethan the Hobbit Nakamura stabbed me then that would be the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me." 

The son of Poseidon frowned.

"Come on that was funny," she said.

"No, it wasn't." He grumbled and she rolled her eyes.

"You're worrying too much," She sat up and winced a bit. "I've survived much worse than a poisoned knife, you know that."

He stared at her, watching her every move. He rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand, not letting go of it. He didn't want to let go, he wasn't going to. Percy didn't have words to explain the panic that spread throughout his mind when he saw her get stabbed.

She smiled as she looked at him. "You're cute when you're worried,"

"You are not going to die while I owe you a favor," He said.

"You owe me five favors," she corrected.

He shook his head. "Why did you take that knife?"

"Don't act like you wouldn't have done the same."

It was true. He would have done more than take a knife for her. They both knew it. Still, he felt like somebody was poking his heart with a cold metal rod. "How did you know?"

The brunette knitted her eyebrows together. "Know what?"

He looked around to make sure they were alone. He leaned in close and whispered: "My Achilles spot. If you hadn't taken the knife, I would've died."

She got a faraway look in her eyes. "I don't know, I just had a feeling you were in danger. Where...where is it?"

He wasn't supposed to tell anyone. But this was Evangeline. If he couldn't trust her, he couldn't trust anyone.

"The small of my back."

She lifted her hand. "Where? Here?"

The daughter of Hades put her hand on his spine, and his skin tingled. He moved her fingers to the one spot that grounded him to his mortal life. A thousand volts of electricity seemed to arc through his body.

"You saved me," he said. "Thanks."

She removed her hand but he kept a hold of it.

They watched the sun come up over the city. The traffic should've been heavy by now, but there were no cars honking, no crowds bustling along the sidewalks.

Far away, Percy could hear a car alarm echo through the streets. A plume of black smoke curled into the sky somewhere over Harlem. He wondered how many ovens had been left on when Morpheus's spell hit; how many people had fallen asleep in the middle of cooking dinner. Pretty soon there would be more fires. Everyone in New York was in danger—and all those lives depended on them.

"Percy," she spoke up. "I have to tell you something."

"Hey, you need to rest—"

"No, shut up, okay?" She held a hand up. "This important,"

"Okay," he murmured.

"Annabeth told me something before we had gone into the labyrinth," she started. "She told me Luke had visited her, he had come under a flag of truce that he only wanted five minutes to talk. Annabeth said he looked scared, Percy. She said he told her Kronos was going to use him to take over the world. He said he wanted to run away, like the good old days that he wanted her to go with him."

Percy swallowed harshly. "What did she say?"

"She thought it was a trick and told him no, she said that he got mad. He told her she might as well fight him right there because it was the last chance she'd get."

Evangeline took a deep breath as her forehead broke out in sweat again. "Luke said Kronos would use him like a stepping stone. Those were his exact words apparently. Kronos would use Luke, and become even more powerful."

"He did that," Percy said. "He possessed Luke's body."

"But what if—"

Before she could finish, Evangeline's tall and large hellhound barged through the terrace door, shrunk to the size of a puppy, and hopped onto her lap, licking the hand that had dried up blood on it while whimpering sadly.

Conner walked in after Sam. "Percy," he glanced at Evangeline like he didn't want to say anything bad in front of her, but Percy could tell he wasn't bringing good news. "As you can see Mrs O'Leary and Sam just came back and with Grover. I think you should talk to him."

------✧------

A/N: Sam is the ultimate therapy dog I tell you, cause he could sense that Evangeline got hurt and just rushed over. Now I miss my dog.

Also Percy being protective>>>>

What song do you think would fit Perceline the most? Cause I can't decide which one.