heavy bones [jason grace]

15. we attend the grace family reunion

Leo hurls fire at any wolf that dares to come close, but he's quickly getting tired and the gasoline is dying down.

"I can't summon any more gas!" he exclaims. His face flushes red. "Wow, that came out wrong. I mean the burning kind. Gonna take the tool belt a while to recharge. What you got, man?"

"Nothing," Jason says. "Not even a weapon that works."

Piper is soaked with sweat from the strain of standing. "Lightning?"

Jason concentrates but to no avail. "I think the snowstorm is intervening, or something."

"Unleash the venti," Piper suggests.

"Then we'll have nothing to give Aeolus," Jason replies. "We'll have come all this way for nothing. Dee-Dee?"

I'm trying to look strong, but I'm waning. "I-I can try to blast them, but I'll probably pass out and the last thing we need is dead weight."

Lycaon cackles. "I can smell your fear. A few more minutes of life, heroes. Pray to whatever gods you wish. Zeus did not grant me mercy, and you will have none from me."

"You fucking fed him human flesh!" I cry out. "I'd be pretty pissed too, my dude!"

"Can you please not call the guy about to kill us 'my dude?'" Leo requests, his voice shrill. The flames sputter out. Jason tosses his sword aside and crouches down into a fighting stance like he's going to go fisticuffs with Lycaon. Leo pulls his hammer out, Piper raises her dagger, and Coach hefts his club. My body is begging me to just sit the fuck down and accept my fate, but I focus on summoning that warmth to my palms.

Then, just when it seems like all hope is lost, we hear the familiar sound of an arrow slicing through the air. Surely enough, a silver arrow finds itself embedded into the neck of the nearest wolf. The wolf promptly melts into a puddle. Wait. Silver arrows. Hadn't Piper mentioned the Hunters were in the area?

I smirk. "Oh, your asses are grass."

More arrows. More wolves die. The pack breaks apart, confused. An arrow nearly strikes Lycaon, but he catches it just in time. Then he screams and drops it. Where he'd grasped the arrow in his hand is a charred gash. Another arrow hits him right in the shoulder and he stumbles back.

"Curse them!" he yells. He growls at his pack and they run off. He glares at Jason. "This isn't over, boy."

And then he's gone.

Nearby, the Hunters' wolves bay. Three small white wolves waltz into the cave. They look us over as if deciding whether we were worth their time.

"Kill it?" Hedge grunts.

"No!" I cry out. "They're friendly."

The wolves are closely followed by the Hunters themselves. They're wearing this dope white-and-gray winter camouflage. Their quivers are full of glowing arrows. I'm rocking back and forth on my heels, too excited to remember my legs are still pretty much broken.

Thalia steps forward and snatches up the arrow that had hurt Lycaon's hand. "So close." She turns back to her troop. "Phoebe, stay with me. Watch the entrance. The rest of you, follow Lycaon. We can't lose him now. I'll catch up with you." The other Hunters sound their agreement and then follow after Lycaon and his pack.

Thalia turns to us. "We've been following that demon's trail for over a week. Is everyone all right? No one got bit?" Her gaze finally reaches me and she does a double-take. "Dee-Dee?"

Jason is frozen in place. Piper's eyes are wide with awe. "You're her. You're Thalia."

Thalia chuckles and pulls down her hood, revealing her signature spiky black hair and her silver lieutenant's circlet. "Dee-Dee, you've been telling your new friends stories about me?"