love is embarrassing | j. grace

xi. booby traps (not fun)

eleven. booby traps (not fun)

IVY WAS PLAGUED. And not by the bubonic plague, or the plagues of the bible, rather it was her own kind of plague. A disease in her mind. Despite how hard she tried not to think about it, she couldn't forget the way she felt in the department store. She'd felt all of Medea's maddening emotions, her head felt like it was oozing from her ears, and she couldn't see. Why? The minute they were out of the department, Ivy prayed to her dad. She has a feeling she did that a lot (but he probably never answered). She begged him for any sort of answer. Why was she feeling like she was going mad? Being consumed by the voices. It wasn't like the voices were saying anything helpful to her, no they rightfully annoyed her. They weren't bad. Or at least, not yet.

Ivy kept her arms wrapped tightly around Jason's waist, her face smooshed into his back. Piper had whispered to her, asking if she was alright but Ivy couldn't answer.

She thought about the cyclopes, thought about Piper's secret she was still hiding. It had something to do with her dad, Ivy remembers.

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

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

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

It's quiet for a long while, Piper had gone silent. Ivy clears her throat, "Piper's dad," She speaks, "Something has happened to him, right Pipes?"

"Look, Medea said you would both — Leo and Jason — die in the Bay Area."

Ivy feels her stomach plummet at that, her arms tighten around Jason's middle.

"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," Piper explains.

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

"You mean you don't see it?" Jason asks and Ivy laughs nervously.

"Um, what?" She and Leo ask in unison. 

"That . . . whatever that is," Jason retorts pointing straight ahead, "In the air."

"Great, you're seeing things, I'm hearing things. What a pair we make," She pats his middle and he shakes his head.

"Right," Leo drawls, "Could you be more specific on the whatever-it-is part?"

"Like a vapor trail," Jason explains, "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 says and Ivy snorts, "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 speaks.

"Okay, thank you Miss Optimism," Ivy grumbles.

"Pipes, you all right?" Leo questions, glancing back to the girl.

"Don't call me that."

"Okay, fine. You don't like any of the names I make up for you. But if your dad's in trouble and we can help —"

"You can't —" Piper's voice shakes, "Look, I'm tired. If you don't mind . . ." She slumps forward against Ivy's back, signaling the end of the conversation.