This Cold Year ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase²

―xv. third time's the charm

BORROWING THE HELICOPTER WAS EASY. Getting the freshly traumatized Hollywood actor on board was not.

When they got him to the bay doors, the pilot came over to help. "What's wrong with him?" she asked.

"Smoke inhalation," Jason suggested at the same time that Naomi said, "Heat exhaustion."

"...Smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion," Leo said helpfully. "Double whammy."

"We should get him to a hospital," the pilot said.

"It's okay," Piper said. "The airport is good."

"Yeah, the airport is good," the pilot agreed immediately. Then she frowned, as if uncertain why she'd changed her mind. "Isn't he Tristan McLean, the movie star?"

"No," Piper said. "He only looks like him. Forget it."

"Yeah," the pilot said. "Only looks like him. I—" She blinked, confused. "I forgot what I was saying. Let's get going."

Finally they boarded the helicopter. The pilot kept getting questions over her radio, asking where she was going, but she ignored them. They veered away from the burning mountain and headed toward Berkeley Hills.

Toward another potential battle.

When this was all over, Naomi was taking an extended vacation, school be damned.

Naomi and the others tried to give Piper and her dad as much privacy and space as the helicopter permitted. Naomi fidgeted with her rings, Enceladus's words echoing in her head.

You fight so eagerly for the gods. Yet I wonder how hard you would fight if you knew what they wanted to do with you.

It wasn't the first time some ancient, immortal being had said something like that. Hades had mentioned something like that, before Naomi's mother shut him down. And before that, her mother had said that some of the gods were angry she existed. Naomi had always thought that was because of the First Great Prophecy—because of her potential to bring Olympus down and all that.

But what if there was more?

Naomi chewed on her lip. Could it have something to do with her father? She'd never heard of a god having a demigod child with anyone who wasn't mortal, and Naomi was fairly certain her father wasn't mortal. Was that the issue?

Daughter of spring, where your ancestors rose. Naomi remembered her dream—the Wolf House throughout the centuries, changing and shifting, but always the home of the wolf. All those people she'd been—could they be her ancestors? Were her dreams trying to give her hints? Or were they just trying to lead her astray, confuse her, scare her?

A meeting's consequence, the past will expose. Was it her mother meeting her father? What was the consequence of that—Naomi? Was that what the prophecy meant? But what could the past expose about her?

The helicopter landed before she could make sense of any of it.

They unloaded onto the tarmac, and everyone looked at Piper.

"What now?" Jason asked her.

Piper looked uncomfortable, but she tried to put on a mask of confidence. Naomi could only see through it because she'd worn the mask herself so many times before.

"First thing," Piper said. "I—I have to get my dad home. I'm sorry, guys."

Naomi was a little surprised by how much the idea of saying goodbye hurt. They'd only known each other for a few days, but they'd been days filled with resurrected ancient beings, free-falls from mechanical dragons, and more than a few near-death experiences. There was nothing like shared trauma to bring people together.