[h2]Esme Stirling[/h2]

Esme continued to hold her head and chest as Sam and Samael went back and forth. She was growing tired of the way Samael spoke about Annabeth and acted like a big shot. Her eyes cut over to Natalia when she snapped at Samael, then slowly landed back on him. She could see just how bad Natalia wanted to rush and punch him, but now was not the time for rash decisions, especially when they had no idea what this guy was. From where she stood, she couldn’t really see much of Cason, but saw a bit of his fidgeting and knew Samael had him scared.

Hell, he had her a little scared, mostly because she wasn’t sure what he was. At the sudden appearance of Benjamin, it diverted her attention to him. She watched him with wide eyes as he confronted Samael. [i]He’s crazy![/i] she thought to herself as he launched Cason out the window. Samael didn’t seem to be fazed by Benjamin’s appearance, which didn’t come as a surprise, but seemed to be amused by him. After Samael made his comment, and forced Benjamin to sit in a chair, she realized this guy was a force all his own. 

She barely had time to process anything when her arms had suddenly pinned to her sides after he made a comment and looked at her. She tried to fight against the hold, but it was no use. All she could do was watch as he touched Annabeth’s forehead to resurrect her, which shocked her greatly. She knew what Samael was telling Annabeth was a lie. She knew it wasn’t Sam’s fault that he had died. She watched him act as if he was her savior for bringing her back from the dead, then cut a glare over at Sam. She could see this was all to get at Sam, to push him to his limit. 

But what happened next, she didn’t see it coming and she should have. Torture. Annabeth's scream cut through the air like a warm knife through butter. Esme clinched her teeth and shut her eyes as the scream rang in her ears, along with Sam’s screams and begging. It was all she could do not to scream along with Annabeth as tears now streamed down her face. She heard the ceiling cracking above her and glass shattering, but she dared not open her eyes and look at that moment. The next scream to leave Annabeth felt as it was ripping through her entire body as the room's temperature changed. 

Esme felt as if her head were going to explode and her chest was on fire and she was shaking. It was all getting to be too much for her, and she felt absolutely helpless to do anything to stop it. She finally forced her eyes open when Samael stopped his torturing of Annabeth to speak to them once again. What happened next caused her eyes to go wide in horror as well as her face go pale. She watched helplessly as Samael placed his hand on Annabeth's forehead and light shone from her face. Esme couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She completely missed Cason slamming his hand down on the table. 

At the blinding light and Samael’s scream, she closed her eyes tight till it faded and she could move once more. She slightly stumbled forward as she looked around trying to process what happened and listened to the talk in the room. “Angel?” she softly whispered, not expecting anyone to hear her. “So, they really do exist.” she continued in a whisper. She brought her right hand to her still burning chest, her eyes now landing on Sam, Annabeth, and Cason. When she saw the poor girl's state, she had to hold back her gasp. 

She winced at the girl's pain and as blood escaped the wounds on her chest. She slowly walked over to the foot of the bed to the three of them. “If neither of you are able.” she spoke to Sam and Cason in a light tone. “I can do my best to stitch her up.”