First Lie || Deception Book I ||

Hunting Pt. 1

"Okay, Blackfire," I said. "Meet me behind that giant rock at Central Park. We'll rendezvous with Grover there." I checked my watch. It was now five in the afternoon. Just then, a paper airplane flew in out of nowhere. I snatched it out of the air, unfolding it. I quickly scanned the lettering on it and burned it with the mist.

"Bad news?" Ally asked. I looked at her.

"Percy's missing."

Ally almost fell off Blackfire's back. "What?"

"He ditched Grover at the terminal. When he went to Percy's apartment, neither he nor his mother was there. Gods dammit," I snapped. "Can't Grover keep an eye on him make sure he doesn't do anything stupid for more than a minute?"

Ally blew air out of her nose. "Rianna, it's not necessarily his fault. From what you've told me, this Percy has a knack for doing stupid things and getting in trouble."

I shook my head. "What's done is done. We're still going to Central. Just not for the same purpose anymore. We need to find him."

"Okay," Ally said. "Meet you there."

I nodded and climbed onto Avalanche. Avalanche could shadow-walk for some weird reason. I guess it was because of the spell or something Hecate had put on her when she'd given me the little bundle of white fur that was Avalanche for my eighth birthday. I nodded to Blackfire and he took off towards the clouds with Ally clinging on for dear life.

"Okay, girl," I said to Avalanche. "Ready?"

"Of course," she yipped, and dissolved into shadow with me on her back.

We rematerialized in a cloud of black smoke under the giant outcropping of rock in Central Park, right next to Grover, making him yelp and jump. Maybe I should have told Avalanche to appear behind a tree, seeing that Grover was a satyr and only ended up banging his head on the rock.

"Ow," he said ruefully. "Maybe a warning next time? I thought Hades was after me." He shivered.

"Sorry," I responded, too busy scanning the sky for Ally and Blackfire. I hope nothing happened to them, I thought.

"Don't worry," Grover soothed. "Blackfire can't fly over fifty miles in the time it takes for Avalanche to shadow-travel, Rianna. Give him about forty minutes."

Shadow-walk, I corrected him mentally in my head but kept my mouth shut. No one could know.

I glared at him. "For someone well versed in nature, you greatly underestimate the speed of pegasi."

Grover held up his hands in surrender. "In my defence, I've never flown. How fast are they, anyway?"

"Well, the top speed of a running horse is around eighty-eight miles per hour. Pegasi fly, so it's faster than that, so the average is about maybe a hundred to a hundred fifty miles per hour. Then you have Blackfire, who can beat some of Artemis' peregrine falcons in a race. That's over two hundred miles per hour, Grover. But then, he's carrying Ally. So I'd say he'd be here in about ten minutes."

Grover gaped at me. "Holy Pan's pipes, that's fast!"

I nodded, glancing at the sky. "They should be here in. . . . . now."

I pointed at the sky, where a black speck was descending, becoming larger and larger.

A few seconds later, Blackfire was landing in the copse of trees next to the rock, Ally still clinging on to his mane. The second his hooves touched the ground, she leaped off. I chuckled. "Still not liking the sky?"

"No, it's not that," she gasped. "Your pegasus flies way too fast. I felt like the skin on my face was being ripped off."

"Oh," I smirked at her. "I'll make sure to get you a slower one." I walked up to Blackfire and patted him.

"Tired," he huffed into my palm. "Apples."

"I already gave you one!" I said in exasperation out loud.

"How can you talk to him?" Grover asked curiously. "I thought only Poseidon's children could speak to horses and pegasi."

I shrugged. "My mother placed some sort of spell on Avalanche and Blackfire. Also, Artemis blessed me. Oh, and Grover, this is Ally. Ally, Grover."

Ally nodded at Grover, who nodded back.

Blackfire nudged me again, and I handed him an apple.

"Okay, Grover," I said. "How are we going to find Percy?"

Grover told us everything that had happened after their exam since I'd been there. He told me about the bus ride and the three Fates, which made me wince. This was bad. He continued to where Percy had ditched him at the terminal, to which I'd mentally slapped myself in the face repeatedly. He also told us about how he'd rushed to Percy's house, only to find him and his mother missing.

"And now I have no idea where they are," Grover finished.

"Why didn't you just ask his stepdad?" Ally butted in, confused. "Isn't that the easiest way to find out?"

"Oh yeah. . ." Grover murmured. "Let's go."

"No," I said. "Normally, that would be a great idea. However, not only would he not tell us, because that's how much of a prick Gabe is, it would also draw suspicion as to why two girls and a boy would be looking for his stepson. We're better off tracking him."

Ally sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that."

"Grover," I asked. "Do you have anything with Percy's scent?"

***
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