Months had passed since they met Luke's father, the god Hermes. They were taking their time trying to get to New York like Athena had instructed Annabeth so long ago, but it wasn't really on purpose. Three strong demigods such as themselves attracted a lot of monsters, so most of their migration was spent trying to escape their latest pursuer.

After the encounter with his father, Luke was always looking to pick a fight. Instead of trying to sneak around a monster camp in the rare event they caught the monsters unawares instead of the other way around, Luke charged in with his weapon drawn, forcing Annabeth and Thalia to follow him. Annabeth admired his courage and skill, but she didn't miss Thalia's attempts to stop him each time.

Unfortunately, the monsters had gotten the drop on them in this instance. They were cornered somewhere near the border between New York and New Jersey. They were deep in the woods with no sign of shelter, and surrounded by empousai, which Annabeth liked to think of as vampire cheerleaders. It made them less scary.

No matter how many they killed, more followed. Their hunting party had grown each time Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke had escaped them, so by the time they had been cornered there were dozens of them. Annabeth was the smallest, and while she was a skilled fighter, she was still young and inexperienced, and most importantly—tired. Luke and Thalia seemed to have realized that and tried to keep her in between them to protect her, but they were both fighting off three monsters at a time.

Just when Annabeth thought they were about to be overrun, silver arrows appeared and sliced the remaining empousai to bits. One by one, they disintegrated into golden dust, leaving behind arrows that were barely even damaged. Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke gathered in the middle of the clearing they found themselves in, all of them breathing heavily and sporting new wounds, but still unwilling to let their guards down.

Girls emerged from the trees around them, some of them collecting their arrows and others pointing their bows at Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke. Annabeth couldn't help but notice that more were pointed at Luke than her and Thalia. The girls were all dressed in silver parkas over white t-shirts and camouflage pants, with weapons strapped to their belts and tucked into their combat boots. Somehow, they still managed to refrain from making any sound as they moved. All of them seemed to have a silver glow about them. Their ages ranged from about seven, like Annabeth, to sixteen or seventeen.

Without a word, one of the girls walked towards them. She looked to be the oldest, and her long black hair pulled into a tight braid was adorned with a delicate silver crown. Annabeth guessed she was in charge, or at least held more authority than the others.

"I am Zoë Nightshade, lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis. What are thy names?" The girl demanded.

Besides Annabeth letting out a slight giggle at Zoë's old way of talking, neither she nor Thalia moved, both looking to Luke for approval. He lowered his weapon ever so slightly and said, "I'm Luke, this—"

"Males do not speak here!" The girl, Zoë, snarled, and every bow in the vicinity was aimed at Luke. "Silence, filthy pig."

"Hey!" Annabeth said indignantly just as Thalia said, "Don't speak to Luke like that."

Zoë glared at the two of them and repeated, "Names."

Thalia folded her arms. "Thalia. This is Annabeth, and that's Luke."

Zoë sneered at the mention of his name and Annabeth frowned. Why were they being so mean to him?

"It's all right, Zoë." Another girl said, gliding forward. She was about twelve-years-old, with auburn hair and brown eyes that reminded Annabeth of a doe. "I am Artemis," she smiled warmly at Thalia and Annabeth but didn't look at Luke. None of them reacted to being in the presence of a goddess, as they had expected it once Zoë announced who the girls were. "You must be a daughter of Athena, Annabeth."

Annabeth nodded proudly. "I am!"

"And you, Thalia?" The goddess asked.

Thalia's eyes darkened. "I don't know." She lied. "My father left before I was born and he never told my mom who he was."

Annabeth wondered why she was lying, but she trusted Thalia enough to not mention it. Luke seemed to understand too. She had a sinking feeling, though, that Artemis and Zoë already knew who her father was.

"You are both tired and hungry. Let us tend to your wounds and feed you, and we can talk." Artemis offered.

"The boy must leave," Zoë interjected, and Artemis did not disagree.

"We're not going anywhere without Luke," Thalia insisted and Annabeth agreed.

Artemis finally looked at Luke with cold eyes, but motioned to some of her hunters who guided Luke to an edge of the clearing and watched him with careful eyes. They not-so-gently started binding his wounds and gave him only a breakfast bar and a small cup of water, while Annabeth and Thalia were given comfy chairs to sit in that appeared out of nowhere, and ambrosia and nectar along with a hot, hearty stew.

"Do you know who we are?" Artemis asked them, and Thalia nodded while Annabeth shook her head.

Smiling at Annabeth, Artemis explained, "These are my hunters. We travel the country hunting and killing monsters and recruiting young girls like yourself to join our family. With us, you gain partial immortality, and you will never fear for shelter or food. All you must do is swear an oath to me."

"Immortality?" Annabeth was starting to think the offer sounded really good, when Thalia added, "You also have to swear off men forever." A look of judgement colored her face.

Artemis tried to keep a straight face, but Annabeth could tell she was annoyed at Thalia. "Isn't that better? Men are weak, stubborn. They think they can and should control us. With me, you can be free of them forever. They will never think to bother you again, and if they do, you will have our entire family to protect you."

"We already have a family, thanks. And it includes Luke." Thalia growled.

"We could use you, Thalia, daughter of Zeus." Artemis said and thunder rumbled, going along with the murderous look on Thalia's face. "You are a strong fighter. And with us, Zeus' brothers will not harm you or your friends."

Thalia glowered at Artemis and Zoë behind her. "Let's go, Annabeth."

Artemis had a gleam in her eye as if she knew something they didn't, but she let them get up and head over to Luke. Before they reached him, however, they were stopped by Zoë Nightshade. "You are making a mistake, Thalia Grace."

At the mention of her full name, Thalia's shoulders tensed and electricity crackled at her fingertips. "Don't say my last name," she threatened, a sharp edge to her voice.

Ignoring the question, Zoë said, "You cannot trust this son of Hermes. You are being stupid. He will betray thee."

"You don't even know him," Thalia seethed, her hand inching towards her bracelet where the aegis was stored.

"I know his kind. They will always let thee down. He will let thee down." Zoë warned. "You will regret this choice."

"We're done here," Thalia insisted, grabbing Annabeth's hand and storming off—literally. Lightning sparked in the sky above them and a non-existent wind ruffled Thalia's hair. Luke scrambled after them after escaping the hunters that had kept a close eye on him.

"Why were they mean to Luke?" Annabeth asked as she struggled to keep pace with Thalia.

"Because they're ignorant and arrogant." Thalia explained. "They've all had bad experiences with men so they can't recognize a good one when they see one." She smiled softly at Luke, her cheeks tinged slightly red.

"Thanks for, uh . . . Sticking with me and not joining them, I guess." Luke said when they finally slowed down to catch their breath.

"We're family." Annabeth said.

"That's right," Thalia agreed. "Nothing will change that. Not even the promise of immortality."

"What about what Artemis said about Zeus's brothers?" Annabeth wondered.

Thalia sighed. "Something I've worried about for a while. I'm the daughter of Zeus, which means I'm one of the strongest demigods alive. Monsters find me more than any other demigod. And something Zeus told me when I first ran away—not directly of course, he couldn't be bothered to show his face to me. He said I would have a difficult time because he had made an oath with Poseidon and Hades not to have any demigod children because we're too powerful, since they're the original sons of Kronos. But Zeus broke that oath—lucky me—so his brothers are angry. That's why I won't go underground or in water. They would try to kill me."

"We won't let that happen," Luke promised and Thalia gave him a small smile.

"We're family," Annabeth echoed from before.

"We're family," Luke agreed.

"Family," Thalia repeated.

*

Even though they had finally made it to New York, Manhattan even, there was no sign of whoever the "right people" were that Athena said would find them. It just the same as usual—fighting monster after monster and scrounging for food and shelter. They were running low on the ambrosia and nectar they'd gotten from their last safe house.

They had made pretty good time getting to Manhattan, something Annabeth didn't understand. Before they encountered the Hunters of Artemis, monsters attacked them left and right. They still did, but somehow it seemed less frequent.

One night when Luke and Annabeth were setting up shelter, Thalia had left to find food. She returned an hour later with sandwiches they couldn't understand how she could have found, and she refused to tell them. She looked angry, like she had when they left the Hunters.

All she would say was, "We have to thank the lovely Hunters of Artemis for the decreased frequency of monster attacks lately," her voice thick with sarcasm. "But now it'll be back to normal, so keep your guard up."

And she was right. The monster attacks increased and they barely had time to rest between each one. They started a watch rotation, with two of them staying at whatever camp they had set up, one of them sleeping and the other keeping watch. The third went out to draw away the monsters and fight them off, and eventually they regrouped, moved on to the next location, and switched roles. Annabeth was never allowed to draw off the monsters alone.

This time the monsters had ambushed them, five hellhounds surrounding them near the Hudson River. They were all tired and dirty and hungry, and Luke's arm had been injured recently so he wasn't fighting as well.

Annabeth was fighting the smallest hellhound, but she had been running nonstop and her last good meal had been days ago. The creature snarled and lunged at her, and she ducked and rolled underneath it. She raked her knife across the hound's belly, but it didn't go deep enough and only angered it. The hellhound growled and swiped at her, and she was too slow this time. The monster's claws dragged across her back, opening three identical gashes that stung like fire.

"Annabeth!" Thalia shouted, but she was too busy fighting two hellhounds to help. Luke had been knocked to the ground and was holding off the other two hellhounds on top of him, so he couldn't get to her either.

Before the hellhounds jaws closed around Annabeth's head, however, a sound like a flute floated through the air and suddenly the hellhound was held back by vines creeping up from the grass below it.

Without wasting any time, Annabeth stabbed the hellhound in the head and it exploded into dust. She glanced at Thalia and Luke to see that their hellhounds were being attacked by nature as well, making it easy for the two demigods to kill them.

When the dust cleared, Annabeth noticed a young boy in front of them, holding a set of ancient-looking pipes near his mouth. He wore a Jaimacan rasta cap on his head, baggy jeans and Converse, and a t-shirt that read: "Save the trees!"

Thalia and Luke helped Annabeth to her feet, putting pressure on her back to try to stop the bleeding. "Who are you?" Luke demanded.

"Grover Underwood. I'm a satyr," he kicked off one of his shoes, revealing a goat hoof that made Annabeth's eyes go wide. "Chiron sent me to escort you to Camp Half-Blood." He grunted as he shoved his shoe back on.

"Camp what?" Luke asked.

"Camp Half-Blood." The satyr repeated. "It's a safe place for demigods like you. No monsters can hurt you there. Hermes told Chiron, our activities director, about you three and sent me to find you. Looks like it's a good thing I did. Do you want me to look at that?" He gestured to Annabeth's back.

Luke pulled her closer protectively. "It's okay," Thalia reassured him. "Satyrs are good with nature healing magic, right?" Grover nodded. "He's telling the truth. He can help us."

"Come on," Grover said as they came closer. "I know a place where we can camp for the night. It's about a mile away. Tomorrow we'll go to Camp Half-Blood."