𝓟𝓻𝓪𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓪 - (𝓟.𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓸𝓷)

08.

vol ii
➵ chapter eight ➵

An hour later, they're rumbling west. There's no problem with who drives now because everyone has their own luxury car.
Zoe and Bianca are crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck. Grover is playing race car driver behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. Helia is sleeping soundly in a Porsche. And Thalia has hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she can pick up the alt-rock stations from D.C.

"Join you?" Percy asks her. She shrugs, so he climbs into the shotgun seat.

The radio is playing the White Stripes. Percy knows the song because it's one of the only CDs he owns that his mom likes. She said it reminds her of Led Zeppelin.
Thinking about his mom makes him sad, because it doesn't seem likely that he'd be home for Christmas. He might not live that long.

"Nice coat," Thalia remarks. He pulls the brown duster tighter, thankful for the warmth. "Yeah, but the Nemean Lion wasn't the monster we're looking for."
"Not even close. We've got a long way to go."
"Whatever this mystery monster is, the General said it would come for you. They wanted to isolate you from the group, so the monster would appear and battle you one-on-one."

"He said that?"
"Well, something like that. Yeah."
"That's great. I love being used as bait."
"No idea what the monster might be?"
She shakes her head morosely. "But you know where we're going, don't you? San Francisco. That's where Artemis was heading."

He remembers something Annabeth had said once: how her dad was moving to San Francisco, and there was no way she could go. Half-bloods couldn't live there.
"Why?" Percy questions. "What's so bad about San Francisco?"

"The Mist is really thick there because the Mountain of Despair is so near. Titan magic—what's left of it—still lingers. Monsters are attracted to that area like you wouldn't believe."
"What's the Mountain of Despair?"
Thalia raises an eyebrow. "You really don't know? Ask stupid Zoe. She's the expert."

She glares out the windshield. Percy wants to ask her what she's talking about, but he also doesn't want to sound like an idiot. He hates feeling like Thalia knows more, so he keeps his mouth shut.

The afternoon sun shines through the steel-mesh side of the freight car, casting a shadow across Thalia's face.
Percy thinks about how different she is from Zoe—Zoe all formal and aloof, Thalia with her ratty clothes and her rebel attitude. But there's something similar about them, too. The same kind of toughness. Right now, sitting in the shadows with a gloomy expression, Thalia looks a lot like one of the Hunters.

Then suddenly, it hits him. "That's why you don't get along with Zoe."
Thalia frowns. "What?"
"The Hunters tried to recruit you," he guesses.

Her eyes get dangerously bright. Percy thinks she's going to zap him out of the Mercedes, but she just sighs.
"I almost joined them," she admits. "Luke, Annabeth, and I ran into them once, and Zoe tried to convince me. She almost did, but..."
"But?"
Thalia's fingers grip the wheel. "I would've had to leave Luke."
"Oh."
"Zoe and I got into a fight. She told me I was being stupid. She said I'd regret my choice. She said Luke would let me down someday."

"That's harsh," Percy winces. "Hard to admit Zoe was right."
"She wasn't right! Luke never let me down. Never."
"We'll have to fight him," he reminds her. "There's no way around it."
Thalia doesn't answer.

"You haven't seen him lately," Percy warns. "I know it's hard to believe, but—"
"I'll do what I have to."
"Even if that means killing him?"
"Do me a favour," she says angrily. "Get out of my car."
Percy feels so bad for her that he doesn't argue.