Percy Jackson and the Curse of Lust

On the plus side, I didn't spontaneously immolate, so that was good. Heat struck the door in a bright wave of raw flames. I hurled myself back, but never hit the floor. The entire car turned sideways with a shriek of metal. Dust from the destroyed monsters churned up and filled the air. I landed against a wall — which had become the floor — with an unflattering noise that I was glad nobody was around to hear.

I just lay there for a moment, resting against the cool metal, before finally forcing myself up. I could still smell smoke somewhere outside. Whatever just happened, I couldn't be certain that it was over just yet.

The door was now sideways and about five feet off of the ground, forcing me to crawl through it after smashing it open. I dropped to the ground on the other side. More good news: the entire train hadn't flipped onto its side, only the car that I'd been in.

With a start, I realized Lamia's cell for me was actually one of the luggage cars. Only one other car was anywhere in sight, and it looked in even worse condition than the one I'd crawled out of.

This car was still upright, but every single one of its windows was busted out. Smoke billowed out of every opening, and molten debris had been spewed out in a wide radius. A country road ran adjacent to the tracks. Beyond that, seemingly-endless seas of corn extended out of sight in both directions. More than a few patches of the green-and-gold plants were being absorbed into rising columns of fire that were still spreading.

I felt as if two hands gripped my throat and squeezed. Before they died, the Telekhines had talked about boobytrapping the train. What if it was my friends that set off this blast?

What if they got caught in it?

I was three steps into a sprint toward the destroyed car when I heard beating wings.

Spinning, I brought the Telekhines 'borrowed' sword around in a deadly arc just in time to catch a dive-bombing harpy. I rolled out of the way of the falling dust…

And immediately got hit in my blindside by another one.

The harpy's clawed hands carried me far enough for us to crash-land in the corn. I felt my skin slicing under her grip. My weapon had fallen from my hand in the collison. Staring into the harpy's deceptively beautiful face, I wondered if the uncomfortable scratchiness of unripe corn against my backside was going to be the last thing I ever felt.

"One taste," the harpy said, leaning in and opening her mouth to give me a too-good view of her nasty teeth. "I muuuust try your flavooor…"

"Percy, catch!"

I wasn't in a position to do to much, but thankfully that was one thing I could manage. Something came hurtling toward us from the side, and I managed to get my hands up in time to snag…

A pair of pants?

No. My pants.

In a flash my hands had found the pocket and what was contained within. Riptide came free in my fingers. I flicked the cap off with my thumb and watched with satisfaction as the blade burst straight through the harpy's feathered back.

My close brush with getting my body 'tasted' didn't stop me from scrambling to my feet. I turned quickly—

And breathed out in relief. All my friends were standing there. They were slightly singed around the edges, but much more rare than well-done.

I was dirty from monster dust and bleeding out of more than a few cuts and knocks, not to mention being completely naked, but that didn't stop Emily from rushing forward and wrapping her arms around me.

"I'm so glad you're alright!"

I patted her back awkwardly. "Hey, this much is nothing. You have no idea how often I deal with stuff like this."

By the time she pulled away, the others had caught up. Annabeth was carrying my shirt that had been left in our cabin. She was the one that threw the hail mary with my pants that most likely saved my life.

Isn't my girlfriend awesome? Not only can she fight, make buildings, and come up with plans simple enough that a guy like I can follow them, she even has one mean arm. If the NFL ever moved on to using articles of clothing instead of balls, she was a shoe-in for a Super Bowl.

"Telekhines booby trapped the train," I said to them.

"Yeah, we figured that out," Annabeth said. "Tripwires, pressure plates, you name it. It took us almost an hour just to evacuate mortals and work our way to the last car."

Clarisse crossed her arms. "We would've made it just fine, too, if it wasn't for someone."

Her side eye made it clear who she was talking about.

"Hey!" Valentina said. "It's not my fault you guys all decided to crawl under the last tripwire! I told you I wouldn't fit. But noooo, let's not listen to the daughter of Aphrodite."

"If you weren't carrying around all that extra weight…"

Valentina twisted so that her ass was facing Clarisse and gave it a slap.

"It's not my fault you don't have this much going on," she said.

"The Telekhines," Annabeth said to me, trying to re-rail the conversation. "Did you get rid of them?"

"Not exactly," I said. "Actually, I might not have survived if it wasn't for them. Or at least, my innocence wouldn't have."

Before I could explain further, the day got slightly darker. That was a real problem, because it was only like noon. All of us turned toward the horizon.

Turns out, the pair of harpies that we fought off must've been an advance party. Hundreds more were flapping toward us, their bodies blocking the sun like a swarm of oversized locusts. I hadn't seen so many monsters in one place since the last war.

"Run," Annabeth said.

"Can we outrun that?" Lou asked, looking pale.

"Better to find out than to stand here waiting," I said. "Let's go!"

We scrambled off the tracks and toward the road. That surface would be easier to run on. Emily quickly started falling behind, so Clarisse scooped her up bridal-style. Even though she was a demigod Lou wasn't much faster, so I picked her up the same way.

"There's a car up ahead!" Valentina shouted.

She pointed, even though we could all see it. It was parked on the shoulder. That seemed strange, because there was nothing around here except corn and bloodthirsty harpies that a mortal wouldn't be able to see. Still, it was worth checking out.

As we got close I was able to make out the details. It was a big tye-dye van that looked like something you grandmother might've driven in the sixties. It had a Virginia license tag, despite the fact that we were hundreds of miles from Annabeth's home state. The plate was a vanity one with FLOWERS for its seven-digit code. Beneath the license, on a dented and slightly bent back bumper, was a huge yellow sticker with "Make Love, not war!" in bold black text.

We sprinted up to the car and Annabeth banged on the window. Nobody answered. That made sense, because a quick glance showed that the car was empty.

"Should I bust in?" Clarisse asked. 

Click!

As the driver side door swung open, Valentina turned to her and raised a single eyebrow, hand still on the handle.

Annabeth wasted no time in jumping inside. I looked behind us and immediately wished I hadn't. The harpies had covered over half the distance to us, and I could see now that they weren't alone. Stymphalian birds flapped around the edges of the swarm. Something was running along the ground, because I could see dust rising up as if an army was approaching. In the middle of the swarm, I swore I could see a titanic dark shape looming, larger than even a hundred harpies put together.

"Please tell me you know how to hotwire a car," I told Annabeth.

"No need." She turned something and looked back as the engine guttered to life. "The key was in the ignition. Get in— we're getting out of this place."

I grinned ear to ear. Finally, something I could get behind!

Clarisse set Emily down and jumped in the passenger side. The rest of us crawled into the back. The seats were wooly, like the carpet you'd find in an old person's house. A cassette tape already in the sound system came to life, blasting pop music at least three decades out of date. As the screeches of the first harpies tickled our ears, Annabeth smashed the gas pedal to the floor.

We shot into motion… at a blistering fifteen-miles-per hour.

"Faster!" Clarisse roared.

Annabeth smacked the top of the steering wheel. "I'm trying!"

With bigger things to worry about, none of us had fastened our seat belts. When the car started moving, even at its disappointingly slow speed, we were all jostled slightly. My clothes were still in my hand, along with riptide, now returned to pen form.

Valentina thumped into my shoulder, one hand reaching down instinctually to steady herself.

As it so happened, the best spot for her to do that was directly between my legs. Her fingers accidentally wrapped around my dick like it was a handle.

This might sound crazy, but that was actually pretty far from the most attention grabbing thing I was dealing with. A harpy appeared in the window, flying parallel with the car. She flew through corn, knocking stalks flat with every beat of her wings. She reached out and brought her claws against the window, eliciting a high-pitched wine. Lou made a couple of gestures with her hands. One of the corn stalks in the harpy's path turned to steel, just in time for her face to meet it. She disappeared into the rearview mirror with a squawk and a spray of feathers.

She was far from the only one, though. Three more harpies had gotten ahead of us. They banked around, flying directly toward our windshield.

Suddenly, something down in my crotch really did get my attention. Rather than let go, Valentina's hand had started moving back and forth. She was jerking me off.

"Are you serious?" I said.

"Sorry!" she apologized. "Muscle memory!"

Before she could let go, the van jumped from twenty miles per hour all the way to sixty. We accelerated fast enough to pin us back in our seats. The harpies flying toward us were blasted aside like bowling pins while the corn out THE windowS became the colorful blurs it should've been.

Valentina and I traded looks.

"You don't think…?"

"One way to find out!" she said happily.

She bent over and engulfed my length, tongue working quickly to keep it hard.

I groaned, leaning back in my seat. My hands extended and grasped whatever happened to be beside me as I grappled with the rush of pleasure.

On my right, that meant Lou Ellen's thigh.

The Hecate counselor had been waving her hands in intricate patterns, casting spells to keep the harpies off our trail, but her efficacy dropped as I unintentionally groped her upper thigh.

Not that I stopped. As crazy as it was, this was working. I could see the proof.

It wasn't just our speed. What I'd originally mistaken for a gas gauge on the dashboard was steadily filling. Considering there wasn't a station or pump anywhere in sight, that meant something else was filling this car with juice. As Valentina's mouth worked, I watched it creep closer to full. I slid my hand higher up Lou's leg into sensitive territory, giving firm squeeze. The girl squeaked. The gauge's growth rate jumped.

"Whatever you're doing back there, do it more!" Annabeth shouted.

I looked at Lou. "Forget the magic. This'll do way more to help us escape."

My other hand reached across, sliding up her shirt and grasping her perky breasts. My mouth found hers. As we kissed, my member finally reached full-mast inside Valentina's mouth. Her gag reflex-less throat caressed me with its warm ridges.

Lou clumsily and urgently unbuttoned her jeans. As soon as they were loose my fingers were under her panties, digging into her. She moaned against my mouth. I could feel the car speeding up around us, climbing past seventy as monsters continued to give chase.

My view of the speedometer was cut off suddenly as I got a faceful of something warm or soft. A weight hit my lap.

Emily, missing her top, had jumped over Valentina in order to straddle me. Her breasts hung in my face, and I'm not the kind of guy to turn down an invitation. I pulled away from Lou to bite down on those wide dark nipples.

Emily caressed the back of my head, pulling me tighter to her bust.

"I may be useless at all this fighting business, but I know what I can do!" she declared. "Suck as much as you want, Percy!"

So I did. My teeth worked like I was Tantalus digging into an all-you-can-eat buffet. Emily moaned, unconsciously moving her hips— which considering they were hovering over Valentina's head, repeatedly shoved her down so far that her lips brushed my balls.

I was slightly worried about her… but I should've known better. When I pulled one of my hands away from Lou, reaching over to shove it down Valentina's yoga pants, I found her pussy slick and gushing.

With her mouth unoccupied, Lou quickly busied herself by leaning over and suckling on my neck. Valentina's blowjob was quickly becoming more than I could handle. At the same time, my assault on Emily's chest was so intense that the woman had thrown her head back, shuddering. Both my hands worked deep inside of Lou and Valentina simultaneously.

Emily came first. That set off a chain reaction.

Just from the stimulation of my teeth, she reached a climax that ruined the pair of panties she was wearing under her pants… if she had any on at all. That orgasm saw her stiffen, pressing Valentina's head down harder than ever. The daughter of Aphrodite really had discovered a new kink. She came immediately as she was shoved against my groin. With my cock buried so deep in her, the sensations were on a completely different level. My head mashed back on the headrest as I fought to hold on. The way that I tensed made my fingers go stiff inside Lou, and that was enough to put her over the edge with the other three.

Then, as my willpower gave out, I came too. I felt it pour out into Valentina, following mere seconds after the others' orgasms.

Bing!

The soft, bell-like chime was the only warning we got as the false fuel gauge hit 'Full'.

The car exploded into motion.

I couldn't see the speedometer anymore, but I was certain we were doing a hundred and twenty at least. Thank the gods we were on a straight country road. My gums were flapping, and my head bent backwards all the way over the headrest, giving me an upside-down view out the rear window.

The harpies were being left behind, completely out raced by the blur we called a car. That wasn't what caught my eye. Something else had emerged at the forefront of the swarm. It was the shape I'd noticed earlier. The one far larger than everything else.

A dragon the size of a ship flew impossibly fast on majestic wings. Its yellowish scales shone in the light, and its enormous white fangs glinted. Intelligent serpentine eyes refused to leave us, tracking our van even as we zoomed toward the horizon.

Maybe I imagined it — I really hoped I did — but I could've sworn I saw someone was standing on the dragon's head.

Soon it was too far back to make out details. Our car was still speeding up, even now. Nothing could keep up.

We raced off into the midwestern afternoon.