Havoc - Piper McLean

15: Piper is NOT attracted to girls

"What's wrong?" Jason asked.

"I just... Why are they toying with us? Who is this lady, and how is she connected to Enceladus?"

"Enceladus?" Jason asked. Camilla mentally cursed Piper. She was really bad at this betraying stuff.

"I mean..." Piper's voice quavered. "That's one of the giants. Just one of the names I could remember."

Leo scratched his head. "Well, I dunno about Enchiladas—"'

"Hey, that's what I said!" Camilla grinned at Piper. Her smile slipped as she saw Piper's arms around Jason's waist. Oh wow, okay. Ew straight people. 

"Enceladus," Piper corrected.

"Whatever. But Old Potty Face mentioned another name. Porpoise Fear, or something?"

"Porphyrion?" Piper asked. "He was the giant king, I think."

"I'm going to take wild guess," Jason said. Despite having a pretty girl's arms around him, he looked like he had tasted something sour. "In the old stories, Porphyrion kidnapped Hera. That was the first shot in the war between the giants and the gods."

"I think so," Piper agreed. "But those myths are really garbled and conflicted. It's almost like nobody wanted that story to survive. I just remember there was a war, and the giants were almost impossible to kill."

"Heroes and gods had to work together," Jason said. "That's what Hera told me."

"Kind of hard to do," Camilla grumbled, "if the gods won't even talk to us."

They flew west, and Camilla became lost in her thoughts—all of them bad. She wasn't sure how much time passed before the dragon dove through a break in the clouds, and below them, glittering in the winter sun, was a city at the edge of a massive lake. A crescent of skyscrapers lined the shore. Behind them, stretching out to the western horizon, was a vast grid of snow-covered neighborhoods and roads.

"Chicago," Jason said.

"One problem down," Leo said. "We got here alive. Now, how do we find the storm spirits?"

"How about we follow that one," Jason suggested, "and see where it goes?"

Camilla followed his gaze. She saw a flash of movement below them. At first she thought it was a small plane, but it was too small, too dark and fast. The thing spiraled toward the skyscrapers, weaving and changing shape—and, just for a moment it became the smoky figure of a horse.

—Camilla was afraid they'd lose their target. The ventus moved like... well, like the wind.

"Speed up!" Jason urged.

"Bro," Leo said, "if I get any closer, he'll spot us. Bronze dragon ain't exactly a stealth plane."

"Slow down!" Piper yelped.

The storm spirit dove into the grid of downtown streets. Festus tried to follow, but his wingspan was way too wide. His left wing clipped the edge of a building, slicing off a stone gargoyle before Leo pulled up.

"Get above the buildings," Jason suggested. He was so adamant about following the ventus, he had leaned forward, against Camilla's back, holding the seat edge right next to her thigh. Camilla wasn't sure what to feel about it so she focused back on the wind spirit, "We'll track him from there."

"You want to drive this thing?" Leo grumbled, but he did what Jason asked.

After a few minutes, Jason spotted the storm spirit again, zipping through the streets with no apparent purpose—blowing over pedestrians, ruffling flags, making cars swerve.