This Dark Night ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase¹

―viii. a council meeting with cheez-whiz and death

There was heavy silence around the table.

Something like dread settled in Naomi's stomach. Could an Olympian parent really turn against their half-blood child? It didn't seem possible, but gods were violent, and even some mortals killed their children. What would stop a god from doing the same?

"One shall greet death as an old friend," Miranda recited. "That could go two ways, couldn't it?"

"It could mean death as in the god of death, Thanatos," Thalia pointed out.

"Or it could mean death in the literal sense," Mr. D spoke up.

Another heavy silence. Chiron shot the god an exasperated look.

"Well... here's to hoping for the first one," Travis said.

"There will be deaths," Chiron decided. "That much we know."

"Oh, goody!" Dionysus said.

Everyone stared at him. He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur magazine. "Ah, Pinot Noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."

"Percy is right," Silena said. "Three campers should go. Naomi's already going, so that leaves two more spots to fill."

"Oh, I see," Zoë said sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"

Silena blushed. "I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoë scoffed. "What would thy mother say?"

"That's it, you little—" Silena started to get out of her chair, but Naomi and Connor grabbed her arms, pulling her back down.

"Stop it," Beckendorf said. He didn't talk much, but when he did, people listened. "Let's start with the Hunters. Which three of you will go?"

Zoë stood. "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."

"The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis asked cautiously.

Zoë nodded.

"The one who put the arrows in my helmet?" Connor asked.

"Yes," Zoë snapped. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Travis said. "Just that we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store." He held up a big silver T-shirt that said ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR 2002, with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath. "It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?"

Naomi knew the Stolls were up to no good—they always were. But Zoë didn't know them that well. She just sighed and took the shirt. "As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I wish Bianca to go."

Bianca looked stunned. "Me? But... I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good."

"You will do fine," Zoë insisted. "There is no better way to prove thyself."

Bianca closed her mouth. Naomi felt bad for her—she remembered her first quest, barely a week after she showed up at camp. That kind of responsibility at such a young age was terrifying.

"And for campers?" Chiron asked.

"Me!" Grover stood up so fast he bumped the Ping-Pong table. He brushed cracker crumbs and Ping-Pong ball scraps off his lap. "Anything to help Artemis!"

Zoë wrinkled her nose. "I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood."

"But he is a camper," Naomi said, jumping at the chance to have her friend along. "And he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic. Can you play a tracker's song yet, Grover?"