Piper's POV

We're escorted from the ballroom to our bedrooms. The other girls whisper nervously. A few were eliminated, then the power outage, and now the Prince has gone, disappeared from the ballroom in the blink of an eye. Annabeth and Thalia are also gone.

I hold my head high as others around me cry. If anyone is watching, I never fell apart. Shouldn't that count for something?

I trip and almost fall over a small girl. She looks to be much younger than sixteen. What startles me the most about her is her luminous golden eyes. Tears are collected in them.

"Sorry," she sniffles.

"It's not your fault," I say quickly, not wanting to make her even more sad.

"I don't know why I'm like this, I'm just worried about him," she spills.

"Who? The Prince?" I ask her gently, but I'm confused. I don't know her all that well, and gossip travels fast in the Selection. If she was close to him, I would know.

"What?" she asks bluntly. If possible, she seems more confused than I.

"Um, never mind," I reply quickly. "What's your name again?"

"Hazel Levesque," she says simply.

"I am Piper," I say, starting to walk again.

"I know that. I've seen you around before."

"Oh."

"Piper, can I talk to you?" a new voice asks. I turn and see Jason standing there. There's a rip in his normally spotless uniform and a scratch on his face. I notice Hazel glide away, and I'm left standing there with him.

"Yes?"

He looks at me for a few minutes, his blue eyes connecting with mine. I feel myself blush, but I force it down and keep looking. Finally, Jason looks back to the ground. I follow his suit and we stay that way, no words coming from either of us.

"People were killed tonight," he says softly.

I gasp before I can stop myself. "Is Annabeth alright? And Thalia?" If anything happened to Annabeth, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I could have done something. I was near her, yet I couldn't move. I heard the voice of my step-sister and I completely froze.

"No, they're both fine. Two guards, both whom I know. Or used to know. And then another guard died, one who betrayed us. He was working with Willow-"

"Is that who's behind this? I should have known it was her, and that Drew would blindly follow her into anything. She's not smart enough to have planned this all, of course someone was ordering her around," I talk more to myself than to Jason.

"Yes, it was Willow. And Drew was helping her, and we suspect a few others helped them. Luke, the guard who betrayed us, was one of them."

Jason's voice sounds different. Something sounds off, misplaced. "But that isn't what's bothering you. There's something else."

He laughs, a sound with no joy. "How do you know me that well already?"

"Jason, what's wrong?"

He releases a sigh, like he's sharing something important.

"I found my sister today."

"You have a sister? And what do you mean by you found her?"

Jason runs his fingers through his short hair. "A long time ago, the palace took me away from my home for me to become a guard. I hadn't seen my sister since, but she's apparently in the Selection. How could I not have known that?" He asks helplessly.

I open my mouth to speak, then close it again. I'm not good at comforting people, especially people like Jason.

"Who is she?" I ask gently.

He looks up at me, his blue eyes wide and innocent. "Thalia. Thalia Grace."

I know her. Not specifically close to her, but I could recognize her from a crowd.

"I just can't believe that I didn't know she was here," he says helplessly.

I take his hand in mine and look into his eyes.

"Hey, at least you found her now. It's not too late, she's not eliminated yet. You can talk to her still."

"I'm not sure that she wants to talk. She's not the nicest person."

"Neither am I," I say with a laugh. "But she'll talk to you."

"Thanks, Pipes," Jason says with a soft smile.

I blush, but I don't know why. I watch Jason leave down a hallway. Why do I blush around Jason? I'm supposed to be competing for the prince, not one of his guards.