𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲.

Eyes cold enough to kill

"Mooo!"

Bessie lurched forward. He started to submerge and Grover said, "I can't breathe underwater! Just thought I'd mention " Glub!

Under they went, and Lilia just hope Percy's dad would provided them with safety.

"Well, that is one problem addressed," Zoe said. "But how can we get to my sisters' garden?"

"Thalia's right," Percy said. "We need a car. But there's nobody to help us here. Unless we, uh, borrowed one."

"Wait," Lilia said. She started rifling through her backpack. "I know some in San Francisco who can help us. I've got the address here somewhere."

"Who?" Percy asked.

Lilia pulled out a crumpled piece of notebook paper and held it up. "Professor Chase.

Annabeth's dad." Thalia said.

➳

Lilia had met Annabeth's dad a number of times, before she stopped coming home. He was a sweet man but him and Annabeth had their issues. She nocked on the familiar door and waited.

"Hello," he said in a friendly voice, "Are you delivering my airplanes?" Thalia, Zoe, and Percy looked at each other warily.

"Um, no, sir," she said.

"Drat," he said. "I need three more Sopwith Camels."

"It's Lilia Monroe, Annabeth's friend, we've met a few times." He looked at her in recognition.

"Annabeth?" He straightened as if she'd just given him an electric shock. "Is she all right?
Has something happened?"

None of them answered, but their faces must've told him that something was very wrong.

He took off his cap and goggles. He had sandy-colored hair like Annabeth and intense brown eyes. He was handsome, for an older guy, but it looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days, and his shirt was buttoned wrong, so one side of his collar stuck up higher than the other side.

"You'd better come in," he said.

It didn't look like a house they'd just moved into. There were LEGO robots on the stairs and two cats sleeping on the sofa in the living room. The coffee table was stacked with magazines, and a little kid's winter coat was spread on the floor. The whole house smelled like fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies. There was jazz music coming from the kitchen. It seemed like a messy, happy kind of home the kind of place that had been lived in forever.

"Dad!" a little boy screamed. "He's taking apart my robots!"

"Bobby," Dr. Chase called absently, "don't take apart your brother's robots."

"I'm Bobby," the little boy protested. "He's Matthew!"

"Matthew," Dr. Chase called, "don't take apart your brother's robots!"

"Okay, Dad!"

Dr. Chase turned to us. "We'll go upstairs to my study. This way."

"Honey?" a woman called. Annabeth's stepmom appeared in the living room, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She was a pretty Asian woman with red highlighted hair tied in a bun.

"Who are our guests?" she asked.

"Oh," Dr. Chase said. "This is Annabeth's friend Lilia, and..." He stared at the others blankly.

"Frederick," she chided. "You forgot to ask them their names? Hello Lilia it's nice to see you again." she smiled, pulling her into a polite hug.

Thalia, Percy and Zoë introduced themselves a little uneasily, but Mrs. Chase was really nice. She asked if they were hungry. They admitted they were, and she told them she'd bring up some cookies and sandwiches and sodas.