Chapter Fourteen:
Half-Bloods Forced to Grow.
— Darlin', don't you stand there watchin', won't
you come and save me from it? Darlin', don't you join in, you're supposed to drag me away from it !
Somehow, they'd spent five days in a casino without knowing how quickly time was moving.
After they'd seen the date and just how close their deadline was, there was a new tension in the air — one that didn't belong to arguing or secret feelings. They'd all made a mistake by not realizing something was wrong in the casino. While she was growing anxious, Colette Victoire couldn't stop thinking about the siblings she'd left in the hotel. The more she thought about it, the more she grew upset. They'd never once mentioned a parent, they were alone in the hotel as children. Could they possibly have been—? It didn't matter. She needed to keep her head in the game. Her grandfather needed his bolt and they only had a day to get it to him. They needed to get his weapon back to him, war amongst the Olympians wasn't something she wanted to witness and if his bolt wasn't back to him by the Summer Solstice, only Apollo and the Fates would know how it all would end.
Let us get it back to him, dad, she prayed silently as she walked.
Then Annabeth had an idea.
The brunette had loaded their group into the back of a Vegas taxi, ignoring Colette's spluttered protests. She had money, but definitely not enough to pay for a taxi all the way to California from Nevada. "Los Angeles, please," Annabeth told the driver, shifting a bit so the blonde was on her lap more comfortably, a hand on her thigh that told her to extend her legs over the boys' laps.
The cab driver chewed his cigar, nearly sneering as he sized up the group. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front."
"Do you accept casino debit cards?"
He shrugged. "Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first." Annabeth patted Colette's thigh silently. The blonde blinked, waking herself up. She felt like she'd been in a daze the second she'd been sat on her best friend's lap. She felt like her arms were made of lead, but she managed to get her casino card out of her pocket. She knew it was in the pocket opposite of the Mythomagic card Nico had given her. She handed it to the driver. He looked at it skeptically, but swiped the card when Annabeth told him to. His meter machine started rattling. The lights flashed. Then an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign. The cigar fell out of his mouth. He looked back at the four of them, eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles ... uh, Your Highnesses?"
"The Santa Monica Pier," Annabeth sat up a little straighter, clearly liking the title. She draped her left arm around Colette's waist instinctively, lips quirking up into a devious smirk. "Get us there fast and you can keep the change."
Colette's breath had caught in her throat. She'd never expected for the brunette to be so blatantly bold with her. Usually it was her making the first move when it came to affection. She wondered if their moment in the hotel had changed something between them. It was all she could think about while the car raced down the Mojave Desert. The car's speedometer never dipped below ninety-five through the entire drive to L.A.
The car ride should've been silent, but it gave them plenty of time to talk.
Percy told them about his latest dream, but they grew more skeptical when he tried to remember all the details; He was forgetting them. The Lotus Casino had messed with all of their memories. He told them about an invisible servant, but he couldn't remember their name anymore. The voice had been familiar, oddly so.
