²Olden Crown.

024.

               Piper's mouth parted slightly. "You mean ... Silena was the spy?"

               Elisa nodded. "We didn't find out until—Well, it's a long story. But Silena pretended to be Clarisse La Rue, cabin counselor for Cabin Five, and led Cabin Five into battle. To fight a drakon. Silena was a good talker; she was amazing with pegasi, but ... there was no way she could fight a drakon."

               Piper watched Elisa carefully, who was blinking tears back determinedly. "Despite knowing this, Silena still tried to fight the drakon. She, um, admitted everything as she was dying. Luke Castellan—"

               "The guy who sided with Kronos?" asked Piper.

               Elisa nodded. "He tricked Silena into believing that if she helped, she would be doing good. He did that to a lot of people. But once Silena figured out that wasn't the case, Luke threatened to tell everyone. He convinced Silena she was saving lives ... Then he used Beckendorf as a bargaining chip to keep Silena under control."

               She took a shuddered breath, interlocking her fingers to stop them from shaking. "I'm telling you this, Piper, so you understand. There's a lot of trauma here. Everyone has some sort of issue. It comes with the territory of being a half-blood."

               "You're saying don't be so hard on Drew." Piper pursed her lips.

               "I'm saying put yourself in Drew's shoes for a moment," said Elisa. "Sure, Drew was a bitch to you—and that doesn't excuse what she did—"

               "But it can explain," nodded Piper.

               Elisa chewed on her inner cheek. "Yeah."

               "Now, you and Drew can brawl it out, if you want," Elisa continued. "But I won't be stepping in anymore."

               Piper's cheek twitched. "No, I don't think I will."

               Elisa smiled back. "I don't think Drew will either. But if she does ..." she shrugged, "you can tell her off. She'll probably deserves it."

               "How'd you know I was here?" asked Piper, standing up from the pinochle table.

               "Saw you on the front porch," answered Elisa. "Besides, I'm trying to get out of climbing the lava wall, so I told Castor and Pollux I needed to talk to Chiron," she whispered the last part, like it was a deadly secret.

               Piper grinned. "You want to join me? I'm actually here to talk to Chiron—sort of. I'm here for a video conference with Gleeson and my dad."

               Elisa raised her eyebrows. "You sure?"

               "We've been on a deadly quest together, I think we're past the stage of over-stepping." Piper pulled Elisa out of her seat as Chiron rolled out onto the front porch in his wheelchair.

               "Come inside, my dear." He ushered Piper forward. "The video conference is ready."

               Then he spotted the daughter of Dionysus. "Elisa," he greeted. "You need to speak with me."

               She winced. "If that's what my brothers ask, yeah. Truthfully, I just wanted out of climbing the lava wall."

               Chiron gave her a stern look, but there was some humor behind it. "I will not cover up for you, Elisabet."

               She shrugged. "Figured as much."

               "Just tell her brothers she's here for me," Piper broke in. "I want her there during the video conference."