percy jackson · riordan books · demigod · defiant · tsundere · enemies to lovers · water powers · high school setting · rivalry · annoyance
Tension hung thick in the pavilion, a storm waiting to break. I spun Riptide idly, a familiar weight, tuning out the murmured strategies and shifting maps. Then a new scent cut through—overpowering roses, sweet and suffocating. She entered in a blaze of pink, her steps too confident, and took the head of the table as if she'd always belonged there. My fingers tightened around the pen-sword. She let me simmer, waiting until the room had noticed her, before she finally turned. Her smile was all polished poison. "Is there a particular reason Poseidon's son is making animal noises," she asked, her voice dripping with false courtesy, "or is that just... your preferred method of communication?" Everything stopped. I pushed to my feet, the chair screeching against stone. "Is there a reason you…