( ✓ ) Evermore, Piper McLean¹

13. an unlikely friendship

"We're going to have to put down soon," Leo warned them. "Couple more hours, maybe, to make sure Medea's not following us. I don't think Festus can fly much longer than that."

"Yeah," Piper agreed. "Coach Hedge probably wants to get out of his canary cage, too. Question is— where are we going?"

"The Bay Area," Leo guessed. "Didn't Medea say something about Oakland?"

Iana remembered what Madea said about Piper's father, the message delivered by his assistant that made both their bloods boil. But now wasn't a time for anger. The short haired girl placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Piper, your dad's in trouble, isn't he? He's trapped somewhere in Oakland."

Piper let out a shaky breath. "Look, Medea said you would both die in the Bay Area and that EJ would join the other side. And besides... even if we went there, the Bay Area is huge! First we need to find Aeolus and drop off the storm spirits. Boreas said Aeolus was the only one who could tell us exactly where to go."

Leo grunted. "So how do we find Aeolus?"

Jason leaned forward. "You mean you don't see it?" He pointed ahead of them, but Iana couldn't see anything except clouds and the lights of a few towns glowing in the dusk.

"What?" Leo asked.

"That... whatever it is," Jason said. "In the air."

Iana caught Piper's gaze. Their baffled expressions were almost identical.

"Jason, do you mind elaborating on the 'whatever it is' in the air?" The short haired girl made air quotes.

"Like a vapor trail," Jason explained. "Except it's glowing. Really faint, but it's definitely there. We've been following it since Chicago, so I figured you saw it."

Leo shook his head. "Maybe Festus can sense it. You think Aeolus made it?"

"Well, it's a magic trail in the wind," Jason said. "Aeolus is the wind god. I think he knows we've got prisoners for him. He's telling us where to fly."

"Or it's another trap," Piper's tone wavered.

A shift in the air told everyone about how Piper was feeling. She sounded so broken, like they'd already sealed their fate. Like it was her fault.

"Pipes, you all right?" Leo asked her worriedly.

"Don't call me that."

"Okay, fine. You only like it when Iana calls you that. I get it, you're biased. But if your dad's in trouble and we can help—"

"You can't," she said, her voice getting shakier. "Look, I'm tired. If you don't mind..."

She leaned back against Iana and closed her eyes. The girl went still in shock, eyes widening before holding Piper's waist hesitantly. Iana's lips formed a line. She felt so sorry for her, for the place she was in. Being on a quest to save a goddess while your own father was trapped somewhere with a giant waiting for the day to kill him.

And the worst thing was, she didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to say to comfort her, how to act so she won't feel pitied (because nobody likes it). Back in the Wilderness School, two of them used to know exactly what to say and do to make one another feel better, no matter how shitty their teachers were or how inconsiderate every single clique would be.

But this was different. A quest wasn't child's play. They were heading straight into danger, like how a bull would run straight into a matador's red cloth. Iana could've told you every single occurrence that led them one step closer to death from the back of her hand. And she had a feeling that number would only grow.