𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐄𝐓𝐇 》 LEO VALDEZ ¹

―nine. there goes the prom date

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𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐋𝐒? 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐈𝐒
𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐔𝐆𝐋𝐘 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐍
𝐌𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐎?
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UNFORTUNATELY, CHARLIE DIDN'T GET TO SEE THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS. Leo had been looking forward to pointing her out when she descended the stairs so they could gape in awe together, but Zethes had flew back over to them, sulking slightly. Apparently, his father was in a willing mood, (Charlie suspected it was because of Piper), and had granted her a room in the mortal's side of the hotel, so long as she left the next morning. That meant that the two of them had left Leo all alone, and though it had been amusing to watch Charlie turn down every single one of Zethes's lines, once she had fully gone he was bored out of his mind.

In the space of time where Charlie had left and the others had returned, a valet service had come through and dusted him off like he was a statue, somehow though, he was squeaky clean. He was looking forward to seeing the Princess again, especially now that he looked presentable.

As Khione led Jason and Piper back down the stairs, Leo's eyes followed her, sub-consciously combing his hair back with his hands. At the bottom, Khione turned to Piper. ''You have fooled my father, girl, but you have not fooled me. We are not done. And you, Jason Grace, I will see you as a statue in the throne room soon enough.''

''Boreas is right,'' Jason said. ''You're a spoiled kid. See you around, ice princess.''

Khione's eyes flared pure white. For once, she seemed at a loss for words. She stormed back up the stairs — literally. Halfway up, she turned into a blizzard and disappeared.

''Bad sister,'' Cal grunted.

''She's the goddess of snow,'' Jason said. ''What's she going to do, throw snowballs at me?'' But even as he said it, Jason had a feeling Khione could do a whole lot worse.

''Women are power,'' Cal said, frowning at Jason's words, he knew Khione could do a lot worse than that, but he didn't seem to catch on that Jason had been joking. ''Jason don't like women.''

''I— what?''

Choosing to ignore Jason's sudden crisis as Cal glared at him and Piper raised a very amused eyebrow that came across more judgmental than teasing, Leo threw his hands into the air with a huff. ''What happened up there?'' He looked and sounded devastated. ''You made her mad? Is she mad at me too? Guys, that was my prom date!''

''We'll explain later,'' Piper promised, but when she glanced at Jason, he realized she expected him to explain.

What happened up there? Jason wasn't sure. Boreas had turned into Aquilon, his Roman form, as if Jason's presence caused him to go schizophrenic. The idea that Jason had been sent to Camp Half-Blood seemed to amuse the god, but Boreas hadn't let them go out of kindness. Cruel excitement had danced in his eyes, as if he'd just placed a bet on a dogfight.

'You will tear each other apart', he'd said with delight. 'Aeolus will never have to worry about demigods again'.

Jason looked away from Piper, trying not to show how unnerved he was. ''Yeah,'' he agreed. ''We'll explain later.''

''Something's telling me that the storm winds aren't the worst of our problem, are they?'' Piper said, ominously staring up at the hole in the roof, already preparing for them to leave.

''Worse,'' Cal echoed.

''Can you tell me?'' Piper gave them a smile.

Charm speaking didn't work this time. The purple-winged Boread shook his head. Festus stomped his feet as the hangar doors finally opened wide enough for him to fly through, eager to leave.