"Dammit, Chris! Again!"

"Clarisse…we've been at it all day."

By the intense glare his girlfriend was shooting at him, Chris knew she didn't like his response.

Clarisse jabbed her spear at him for the thousandth time that evening. If he had known what training was going to be like — on the verge of dying at Clarisse's spear every five minutes — he would have said no. As it was, he was stuck with his lovely and very violent girlfriend and her shocking spear.

"That was a slow dodge!" she scolded.

Clarisse moved so fast Chris didn't anticipate her next move. He was far too exhausted. Her spear hit home and nicked him on the side, sending a jolt of electricity up his chest.

A jumble of Greek curses escaped Chris. "What was that for, Clarisse?!"

"Too. Slow."

Chris threw the sword he'd been using to defend himself to the ground. "You're out of control. I'm done."

Clarisse's face expression tightened. "You need to train, Chris." She bent down and picked up a disk she'd used earlier as part of training. "You have to get stronger, faster. You…" Her voice cracked. "If Luke or Kronos…if they…You need to be stronger this time."

It suddenly dawned on Chris that Clarisse wasn't purposely kicking his ass for no reason. Sure, torturing others with her abilities was one of Clarisse's favorite pass times, but this wasn't it. She was afraid. Clarisse la Rue was afraid he'd be swayed back to Kronos's side, and she was making sure he'd come back in one piece.

Chris's heart fluttered.

"Clarisse," he said, reaching for her hand.

She resisted, but after a second allowed him to pull her close. "I'm not leaving. I'm staying right here. With you."

Clarisse's eyes were cast on the ground and for a moment Chris thought she was crying, but when she looked up at him, her eyes glowed with determination.

"The hell you are." She smiled with that aggressive glint in her eyes he's come to appreciate — his reassurance doing the trick. "I'll strangle Luke and lock him up in Kronos's sarcophagus and thrown them both into the Atlantic ocean."

Only his Clarisse would think up something like that.

"Sounds like a plan," Chris said, planting a swift kiss on her forehead.

Clarisse raised her eyebrows at him. "Is that all I get for a great training session today?"

"Um—"

Clarisse bunched her hands on Chris' shirt, pulled him to her, and gave him the best crushing kiss in the universe of crushing kisses.

She pulled away and patted his chest. "Time to hit the showers, Rodriguez," she announced.

Chris followed her out of the training arena, smiling like an idiot and looking forward to more training sessions with his girlfriend.