Thalia

One thing after another, one moment piled on the last. It was always something. My life was always in danger, someone was always dying, something was always happening.

Peter kept his hand on the small of my back as he led me into the house. He kept glancing behind us and anxiously running his free hand through his hair.

"Guys! Guys, where are you!" Peter called out. "Something has-"

"Peter! Thank God! There's an emergency!" Leo rushed. His eyes met mine and they softened. "It involves Thalia."

My heart stopped and Peter's hand was suddenly in mine and I was holding it tightly. He rubbed his thumb across my knuckles reassuringly and we followed Leo up the stairs.

We walked into what appeared to be an office of sorts, Leo's office perhaps. Everyone was there, including Mrs. Ronan, Ricardo, Rhys, and Corey. I avoided eye contact with Corey the whole time Peter was leading me to a chair. He sat down beside me and Leo took a seat behind the desk.

"What's wrong, Leo?" Peter asked.

Leo sighed and pulled out a small, single box. It was beautiful. It was white with gold embroideries and a single golden bow on top. It had a tag on the side on which someone had written, 'To Thalia' in the most beautiful calligraphy I'd ever seen.

"What...I don't understand." I breathed.

"Someone left this on the bed in your room. There were no signs of forced entry and whoever placed this knew EXACTLY where you were staying in the house." Leo explained.

My heart stopped and I gripped Peter's hand tighter.

"That's not all." Fiona added softly. Slowly, Leo opened the box and I almost fell out of my chair. There was a single bullet placed neatly inside the box. I knew what it meant before Leo explained it.

"Tal, this is from the Don." He stated.

I covered my mouth and tears threatened to spill over from my eyes.

"They know, Thalia. They know about you. They sent this as a message. They're trying to say that-"

"They're after me." I finished. "That's why-"

"Damn it!" Peter hissed. "It was them!"

"Who?" Mrs. Ronan asked, turning to look at her son. "Who did you see?"

Peter ran a hand through his hair and turned to his mother. "Thalia and I went out for ice cream and I saw one of the Don's men watching us from outside."

Mrs. Ronan cursed under her breath. "This is bad. They're already scoping her out, seeing her behaviors, where she likes to go, what she likes to do. It's only a matter of time before-"

"We won't let that happen!" Rhys interjected. "Thalia doesn't deserve to die because of Jason's bullshit!"

Ricardo sighed, standing up. "I told you all! You should have just listened to me and kicked her out when you had the chance. Now we're going to die because you've gone soft."

Peter stood up suddenly, slowly making his way over to Ricardo. "No one in this room has gone soft, Ricardo, and I suggest you remember who you're talking to. We call the shots here and you have no right to challenge our rule. You haven't been married into this family just yet. Until you do, we're still over you." Peter narrowed his eyes and grabbed Ricardo by his shirt. "So watch it." He hissed.

Ricardo shoved Peter away and scoffed, taking his seat instantly.

"Peter." Leo said in a warning tone. Peter sent one last menacing glare towards Ricardo before sitting down beside me once more.

"How are we going to handle this? The Don is after our family, now and this is a fight we'll surely lose." Fiona said.

"We'll do everything in our power to protect Thalia." Leo said. "One of us will have to be with her everywhere she goes. There's no excuses. She has to be watched 24/7. The Don always strikes when his victims are most vulnerable, and we can't allow that to happen to Thalia."

"I volunteer first watch." Rhys said suddenly. Peter gave him a look that I couldn't quite place, but it was gone in an instant.

"Secondly, Thalia, I'm afraid we might have to put you on house arrest until further notice." Leo continued.

"Wait, what?" I demanded. "You mean I have to stay in this house all day?"

"Yes. That's exactly what I mean. Believe me, I know how unpleasant this may seem, but compared to being kidnapped and brutally killed, I'm sure this seems like the better option." Leo stated with a warning tone.

"But what about how they got into her room?" Peter asked. "If they did it once, they can do it again."

"We'll just beef up the security from here on out. We'll hire guards to take shifts patrolling the grounds. No one gets in or out of the estate without us knowing." Peter nodded at Leo's response, seemingly satisfied.

"Also, Thalia will need to learn how to defend herself. Worst case scenario, if one of us aren't there to protect Thalia, she need to know how to do that herself, or at least put up a hell of a fight. So from here on out, in addition to watchman duty, each one of us will set aside a week to teach Thalia proper fighting and defense techniques. Weekends are going to be off days, however. We don't want to stress her out too much."

A murmur of agreement passed across the group.

"Also, Fiona, we're going to have to change to location of your wedding from the beach to the family ballroom." Leo said, glancing over at his sister.

Her eyes widened in shock. "Excuse you?!" She demanded. "Leo, are you kidding me?!" She looked as though she was on the verge of tears and my heart ached. "This...This was supposed to be my special day, Leo! I've had it planned down to the very detail ever since I was a little girl! I-"

"Fiona! This is not up for discussion! If Thalia is going to be one of your bridesmaids, we can't have a wedding that's out in the open like that! It makes Thalia an easy target! I'm sorry, but we have to change the wedding to a controlled environment where we can see everyone attending.

Fiona's eyes met mine and she looked down, taking a shaky breath before sighing. "Okay...That's fine. Thalia's safety is our priority anyway." She said. Ricardo placed a hand on the small of her back and began to whisper softly to her to calm her down. He shot me a look that could kill and I winced. Peter scowled at him in return and I could have sworn I heard him growl.

"Alright then. It's settled. Does everyone know their roles?" Leo asked. Everyone nodded. As we began to disperse, Peter leaned down in my ear. "It's alright." He said. "You're going to be alright." I nodded silently, too afraid to open my mouth in fear of how shaky my voice would sound.

"Hold on one moment!" Everyone stopped and turned around, facing Mrs. Ronan, who stood with her arms crossed confidently.

"Are we not going to address the elephant in the room?" She asked. Everyone looked at her in confusion and she sighed. "Only a selected few people knew that Thalia knew our secret. Do you know what that means?"

Leosuddenly caught on and with a straight face, he said, "One of us is a rat."