DIVINE » l. valdez

xxix

❝it ain't worth cleaning up your parents' messes ❞

They continued sailing along the Adriatic while Leo worked on repairing the oars.

Hina stood at the masthead, lazily watching the waves splash along the Argo II. Jason was overhead fighting off the last of the storm spirits that had attacked.

She was feeling calmer with the monsters around as the storm spirits became the least troubling part of their quest. She had spent the last few days trying to decipher the Fates message. Follow the sun south, they had told her.

Hina had never spent much time focusing on the geography of the sun. But now, it was all she could think about. The sun most definitely did not go south.

Interrupting her thoughts, Jason was soaring through the sky heading towards the sea too quickly. "Oh, gods! Jason!" Hina yelled, gaining everyone's attention.

The demigods all rushed to the front of the ship, trying to figure out how to stop his descent. There was no time for Frank to shape shift and fly to catch him.

For a split second, Hina's heart stopped beating.

Piper watched in panic, calling out to her boyfriend, "Wake up!"

Jason's eyes flew up and he stopped his fall, the winds carrying him to the ship. Once he was aboard, Jason dragged Leo away from the crew as they headed to the mess hall for lunch. 

At the head of the table, Jason hadn't stopped shaking, his hands drumming on the table and his feet tapping on the floor. He looked like Coach Hedge on a dozen espressos.

Hina picked at her sushi while Jason told them about his midair vision. She drew a frowny face in her wasabi with her chopsticks. Annabeth was alive, or at least was when she sent the note.

The table fell silent long enough for Hedge to down his peanut butter and banana sandwich and the ceramic plate it sat on. The Argo II kept creaking, its remaining oars still out of alignment. Every few minutes Festus would click and whir over the intercom reporting to Leo.

Hina didn't like the thought of Octavian taking control of the Roman legion while Reyna was away any more than she liked the fact that he was a child of Apollo too. She shuddered at the thought of sharing a godly parent with the blood thirsty anemic.

"A note from Annabeth." Piper shook her head in amazement. "I don't see how that's possible, but if it is—"

"She's alive," Leo said. "Thank the gods and pass the hot sauce."

Hina scrunched her nose. Her stomach still felt weak around hot sauce after Festus kept leaking the horrible mixture of hot sauce and motor oil when they first found him.

Frank frowned. "What does that mean?"

Leo wiped the chip crumbs off his face. "It means pass the hot sauce, Zhang. I'm still hungry."

Frank slid over a jar of salsa. "I can't believe Reyna would try to find us. It's taboo, coming to the ancient lands. She'll be stripped of her praetorship."

"If she lives," Hazel said. "It was hard enough for us to make it this far with eight demigods and a warship."

"And me." Coach Hedge belched. "Don't forget, cupcake, you got the satyr advantage."

A small smile grew on Hina's face. She never imagined how important the trigger happy satyr would be to them. Even if he caused more trouble than they needed, he kept the crew together and safe. 

"How could we ever forget you, Coach?" Hina said, popping a piece of sushi into her mouth.

Everyone looked to Jason for direction and hope. Whether he liked it or not, he was the only one the demigods could feel confident to follow.