𐌙/𐌍 Ᏽ𐌵𐌀𐌋𐌄 & 𐌕𐋅𐌄 Ᏽ𐌐𐌄𐌀𐌕 𐌌𐌙𐌕𐋅𐌔 ¹

Chapter 13

  "The stars are out," Zoe said.

  She was right. There were millions of them, with no city lights to turn the sky orange.

  "Amazing," Bianca said. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

  "This is nothing," Zoe said. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

  "You talk like you're not human," I said.

  Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I am a Hunter. I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can the same be said for thee, brother?"

  "For you," Thalia corrected. "Not thee"

  "But you use you for the beginning of a sentence."

  "And for the end," Thalia said. "No thou. No thee. Just you"

  Zoe threw up her hands in exasperation. "I hate this language. It changes too often!"

  I giggled.

  Grover sighed. He was still looking up at the stars like he was thinking about the light pollution problem. "If only Pan were here, he would set things right."

  Zoe nodded sadly.

  "Maybe it was the coffee," Grover said. "I was drinking coffee, and the wind came. Maybe if I drank more coffee…"

  I was pretty sure coffee had nothing to do with what had happened in Cloudcroft, but I didn't have the heart to tell Grover. I thought about the rubber rat and the tiny birds that had suddenly come alive when the wind blew. "Grover, do you really think that was Pan? I mean, I know you want it to be."

  "He sent us help," Grover insisted. "I don't know how or why. But it was his presence. After this quest is done, I'm going back to New Mexico and drinking a lot of coffee. It's the best lead we've gotten in two thousand years. I was so close."

  I didn't answer. I didn't want to squash Grover's hopes.

  "What I want to know," Thalia said, looking at Bianca, "is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them."

  Bianca shook her head. "I don't know. I just stabbed it and it went up in flames."

  "Maybe there's something special about your knife," I said.

  "It is the same as ours," Zoe said. "Celestial bronze, yes. But mine did not affect the warriors that way."

  "Maybe you have to hit the skeleton in a certain spot," I said.

  Bianca looked uncomfortable with everybody paying attention to her.

  "Never mind," Zoe told her. "We will find the answer. In the meantime, we should plan our next move. When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas."

  I was about to protest that Grover, Percy and I had had bad experiences in that town, but Bianca beat us to it.

  "No!" she said. "Not there!"

  She looked really freaked out, like she'd just been dropped off the steep end of a roller coaster.

  Zoe frowned. "Why?"

  Bianca took a shaky breath. "I… I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were traveling. And then, I can't remember…"

  Suddenly I had a really bad thought. I remembered what Bianca and Nico had told me about them staying in a hotel for a while. I met Grover's eyes, and I got the feeling he was thinking the same thing.