Percy’s POVThe next day, around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, just as I was preparing to get into my car, Rue rushed towards me.She didn’t slow down.The moment she reached me, she collided into my chest, her hands gripping my shirt like she needed something, anything, to hold onto.“Percy...”Her voice broke before she could finish.She cried. Her shoulders trembled violently, her breath uneven as she buried her face against me.“Iris… she’s missing…”The words came in fragments, barely held together. And for a second, my mind went completely blank. This was the one thing neither of us had prepared for.I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer to hold her together.“I’ve got you,” I said quietly. “We’ll find her.”She shook her head against me.“I should have been there… I should have—”“No.” I cut her off gently. “This isn’t your fault.”Her grip tightened. Like she didn’t believe me. Like she couldn’t. And I understood that because when something like this happened, blame a
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