GOLDEN DAYS |JASON GRACE| {1}

XXII

Piper started to say, "Please, ma'am—"

The female Cyclops grabbed roared and Piper around the waist. "Don't try your pretty talk on me, girl! I'm Ma Gasket! I've eaten heroes tougher than you for lunch!"

Kyra feared Piper would get crushed, but Ma Gasket just dropped her and let her dangle from her chain. Then she started yelling at Sump about how stupid he was.

"Can we at least eat her last, Ma?" Sump asked,

"Idiot!" Ma Gasket yelled,"I should've thrown you out on the streets when you were babies, like proper Cyclops children. You might have learned some useful skills. Curse my soft heart that I kept you!"

"Soft heart?" Torque muttered.

"What was that, you ingrate?"

"Nothing, Ma. I said you got a soft heart. We get to work for you, feed you, file your toenails—"

"And you should be grateful!" Ma Gasket bellowed. "Now, stoke the fire, Torque! And Sump, you idiot, my case of salsa is in the other warehouse. Don't tell me you expect me to eat these demigods without salsa!"

"Yes, Ma," Sump said. "I mean no, Ma. I mean—"

"Go get it!" Ma Gasket picked up a nearby truck chassis and slammed it over Sump's head. Sump crumpled to his knees. He managed to push the chassis off his head. Then he staggered to his feet and ran off to fetch the salsa.

If most families are like this, Kyra was kind of glad she didn't grow up with one.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kyra spotted something running between the robotic arms in the factory. She recognized the curly, lean figure. It was Leo.

Piper must have seen her too, cause she gasped loudly. Kyra swung in the cocoon of chains and smacked into Piper before giving her another glare,

Ma Gasket turned to them, "What's the matter, girl? So fragile I broke you?"

Thankfully, Piper was a quick thinker. She looked away from Leo and said, "I think it's my ribs, ma'am. If I'm busted up inside, I'll taste terrible."

Ma Gasket bellowed with laughter. "Good one. The last hero we ate—remember him, Torque? Son of Mercury, wasn't he?"

"Yes, Ma," Torque said. "Tasty. Little bit stringy."

"He tried a trick like that. Said he was on medication. But he tasted fine!"

"Tasted like mutton," Torque recalled. "Purple shirt. Talked in Latin. Yes, a bit stringy, but good."

Kyra's eyes widened. Wasn't Jason wearing a purple shirt when he arrived at camp. He also knows Latin. Was this someone he knew?

"Purple shirt? Latin?" Piper questioned,

"Good eating," Ma Gasket said fondly. "Point is, girl, we're not as dumb as people think! We're not falling for those stupid tricks and riddles, not us northern Cyclopes."

Piper kept talking, laying on the praise to give Leo time with whatever he was doing, "Oh, I've heard about the northern Cyclopes! I never knew you were so big and clever!"

"Flattery won't work either," Ma Gasket replied, though she sounded pleased. "It's true, you'll be breakfast for the best Cyclopes around."

"But aren't Cyclopes good?" Piper asked. "I thought you made weapons for the gods."

"Bah! I'm very good. Good at eating people. Good at smashing. And good at building things, yes, but not for the gods. Our cousins, the elder Cyclopes, they do this, yes. Thinking they're so high and mighty 'cause they're a few thousand years older. Then there's our southern cousins, living on islands and tending sheep. Morons! But we Hyperborean Cyclopes, the northern clan, we're the best! Founded Monocle Motors in this old factory—the best weapons, armor, chariots, fuel-efficient SUVs! And yet—bah! Forced to shut down. Laid off most of our tribe. The war was too quick. Titans lost. No good! No more need for Cyclops weapons." Ma Gasket ranted,