Percy wasn't happy about it either, knowing there was a collar encircling Vex's slender neck, already beginning the slow process of squeezing the life from her unless she gave adequate tribute. That she would have to do what it took to survive, just as he had. Vex had felt the touch of death, too--a briefer touch than his own, a less traumatic touch, but she knew what the dark and the cold felt like.

He certainly wouldn't let that happen to her. Whatever it took. Even if that meant swallowing his emotions and smothering his own feelings of jealousy and longing.

"We'll have each other's back, darling," Percy assured her, taking her hands in his and squeezing them reassuringly. "As we always do."