I'm getting really sick of being lured into traps.

The man had led me held at gunpoint through a series of mazes and hidden passageways. It got tedious really quickly. He felt like that too, even though he didn't show it.

I'll call him "Jeff" for the sake of repetition.

"You're a strange one," Jeff told me as I handed him my spear. "Most victims don't give up as easily as you."

I shrugged. We were in a basement full of posters and maps with pins stuck around them. It was the New York subway station map.

"I have nothing to give up," I tossed. "Except for, you know, teenage crushes and what's left of my dignity."

Jeff rolled his eyes as he set down my weapon on a nearby table. He reached for two pairs of handcuffs and put one around my wrists and the other around my ankles.

"Safety precautions?" I asked. Jeff nodded, sighing.

"You don't look happy," I said. "Are you?"

"I have to be," Jeff shrugged. "It's my job. I signed a contract."

"A contract for what?"

"This." He motioned towards my cuffs. "I'm supposed to help Master Castellan retrieve the girl who Percy Jackson loves."

"Why?" I asked, swinging my legs under the table I sat on. "I don't see why I'm all that important. Even if I am, is he gonna torture me to see Percy in pain? What does he gain?"

Jeff let out a long sigh. It hung in the air like the final note in a classical piece.

"You're gonna die anyway," he said, "so I don't see any harm in telling you our plan.

"Master Castellan is a greedy guy. He wants what he wants, and he'll always get it. Right now, he wants Percy. The only thing that can stop him is you."

I choked.

"He's in love with my boyfriend?" I coughed. Jeff pat my back since I couldn't do anything in my state. Gods, Percy is mine.

Jeff nodded sadly. "Afraid so," he murmured. "He'll try to force Percy into marrying him or whatever, and they'll rule all of Olympus."

"But Percy won't love him back," I sputtered. "That's not love -- that's lust!"

"Who cares?" Jeff removed his hand from my back. "Master Castellan doesn't have a real heart. He was reincarnated. He doesn't feel love."

"But that's --"

"I know," Jeff intercepted. "But it doesn't matter right now."

I took a deep breath and looked at the cold marble floor.

"Are you gonna take me upstairs now?" I asked quietly. "So that you can kill me in front of Percy?"

Jeff pulled my arm and yanked me off the table. He moved the the back of me, and slid a knife to my neck.

I felt something drop into my boot. My spear.

"Bona fortuna," he whispered as we marched up to the stairs. "I won't be the one killing you. Percy is."

I gasped at the blinding light when Jeff opened the door.

There stood Percy. Beautiful, beautiful, Percy.