Hey guys, here it is!!! Hope you guys like it! Next chapter will be in Carry the Flame....hope you guys enjoy this and feedback would be great!

Rissy

Leo held Tara tightly in his arms as he rocked back and forth. Tara sobbed on his shoulder. “Oh, why does he have to be dead?” She said, almost choking on the words.

Leo knew how much Tara was hurting; he felt the same way. He felt like his heart was frozen in time, and no one could unthaw it. He felt like he wanted to run away from it all, but he couldn’t. It was a pain that was numbingly cold, a pain that stabbed and stung. It hurt so much to lose the ones you loved. It was like losing a part of yourself, the best part of yourself. The part that made you happy and kept you going. Once that part was gone, it felt like nothing else mattered. He wanted that part back for himself and Tara, but it was somewhere they could not go.

He squeezed her in his arms, trying to fight back his own tears that wanted to pour down his face. But he would not let them overflow. He had never cried much, but here with Tara, he could not keep from crying. Seeing her crying and in so much pain that he could do nothing about made him want to cry. He slowly pushed away from the embrace and took her small hands in his larger scar-covered ones. He then looked into her beautiful amber eyes, they were filled with nothing but sadness, devoid of any other emotion besides heartache.

He gently laid one of his hands on her face that was soaked with tears. He then wiped the tears from her eyes as she spoke. Her voice cracked, and she choked on every word, “Leo who’s going to look after me? My father was the only one that kept Percy away. I’m scared. I don’t want him to take me. I don’t want to marry him.”

Leo laid his head against her’s and whispered, “I will look after you, Tara, and I won’t let Percy lay a hand on you. I won’t let him hurt you or anyone else. I will be your shield; I will be your everything.” He kissed her gently on the forehead.

Tara threw her arms around him, crying more as she said, “I love you. I love you so much!”

“I love you,” Leo whispered back.

Tara fell asleep in his arms, and Leo thought about Percy and her father. When he saw Percy again, he was going to make Percy pay for what he had done to Tara. He would make sure Percy never hurt Tara again. If Leo didn’t know better, he would assume that Percy was behind the death of Tara’s father. But at the moment, it wasn’t important. Right now, he needed to get some rest. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept well, so maybe tonight would be different. He was about to go to sleep when he heard Marcellos say, “We needed to keep moving. Now that everyone is warmed up, it's time to go.”

Leo shook his head and yawned, so much for sleeping. He turned toward Marcellos. “We just got here, and I think everyone is ready to rest,” Leo said, his words coming out a bit meaner than he meant them to.

Marcellos stepped forward and said, “Don’t play games with me, Leo. We have been here longer than we should have. And remember if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be here, and neither would Tara and Julia. So, therefore, I’m in charge. And I say let’s go, now.” Marcellos then stalked out of the cave, not even taking the time to put out the fire.

Leo sighed, of course, he would have to do everything himself. He looked down at Tara, who was still sleeping in his arms. He gently shook her awake and watched as her eyes slowly came open. He smiled at her then said, “Sorry, we have to go, right now Marcellos says.”

She nodded her head and sat up.

Leo went and quickly put the fire out. He looked toward the cave entrance and saw Marcellos pacing and being impatient. Marcellos then called back for them to hurry along. He sighed and rolled his eyes as he nodded to Tara, and walked to the mouth of the cave.

Julia was there with Marcellos, she smiled at Leo as he came, and Leo smiled back. Something about Julia’s smile felt fake, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t know why he didn’t like it, and he didn’t know why he didn’t like her. Who was she anyway? He knew that she knew Tara, but he didn’t know who she was exactly but did it even matter right now.

“Good you're done, let’s go,” Marcellos said, looking around nervously as if he expected Percy to jump out of the bushes, and maybe he did. Marcellos then walked off into the snow, and Julia followed him.

Leo looked over at Tara and took her hand in his. She smiled at him, and they started walking in the cold, harsh snow. The wind blew through their fur and their clothes, causing a chill to creep up their backs. Before long, the rabbits were tired and hungry, but that didn’t make them stop. They had to keep going. They had to get as far away from Percy as possible.