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.
.
The war goddess was waiting for us in the diner parking lot.
“Well, well,” she said. “You didn’t get yourself killed.”
“You knew it was a trap,” Perse said.
Ares gave her a wicked grin. “Bet that one eyed blacksmith was surprised when she netted a mortal boy. You looked good on TV.”
I tentatively held her shield out to her. “Here, your shield Lady Ares, do you know how I get this back to Aphrodite?” I asked, holding the shimmering pink scarf in my other hand.
Annabeth and Grover seemed to hold Perse back and cover her mouth.
Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. She slung it across her back, “Keep it, you’ll run into her eventually. See that truck over there?” She pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. “That’s your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas.”
The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which I took me a moment to read because it was reverse-printed: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.
Perse managed to get her mouth free and said, “You’re kidding.”
Ares snapped her fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. “Free ride west, brat. Stop complaining. And here’s a little something for doing the job.”
She slung a blue nylon backpack off her handlebars and tossed it to me.
Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos.
Perse said, “I don’t want your lousy –”
“Thank you, Lady Ares,” Grover interrupted, giving Perse her best red-alert warning look. “Thanks a lot.”
Perse gritted her teeth. It was probably a deadly insult to refuse something from a goddess. Shrugging, I slung the backpack over my shoulder. Then I remembered something, “You said a boon or two.”
Ares chuckled, “Didn't I…” She scratched her chin before nodding, “Yeah… here ya go, since ya did some ice magic, figure you’re a good one to load this- gift this to.” She said before throwing me what looked to be a necklace that had a metal goat head with horns and all made of some type of silver.
“A necklace?” I muttered staring at it. It seemed cold to the touch.
I was so busy staring at the necklace that I didn’t notice back at the diner, which had only a couple of customers now. The waitress who’d served us dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt us. She dragged the cook out from the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of us.
“Is that all?” Perse asked with hostility.
Ares stared at her for a moment before chuckling, “Well I got news for you, not sure you can handle it though. It’s about your mortal mommy.”
“What do you mean?” Perse asked, suddenly interested and a bit weary.
“I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That’s metamorphosis. Not death. She’s being kept.”
“Kept. Why?”
“You need to study war, brat. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else.”
YOU ARE READING
Advisor's Son
FanfictionThe Tome of Fates has guided me far on my goals. A mere drop of blood was all that was needed to unshackle me from my servitude to the cursed book. Though such a goal would require a delicate touch. The winds of magic guided me to the frozen north...
