chapter fifty-three
─── i might have gotten myself in trouble
𝕹ow, riding for hours on end left you in a lot of pain, and even more so when you're still soaked with sea water from trying to save a seacow.
To top it all off, it was raining.
We lost the van twice, but I had a pretty good sense that they would go into Manhattan first, so it wasn't too difficult to pick up their trail again.
Traffic was bad with the holidays and all so it was mid morning before they got into the city. I landed Blackjack near the top of the Chrysler Building and watched the white camp van, thinking it would pull into the bus station, but it just kept driving.
"Where's Argus taking them?" I muttered.
Oh, Argus ain't driving, Blackjack told me. That girl is.
"Which girl?"
The Hunter girl. With the silver crown thing in her hair.
"Zoe?"
That's the one. Hey, look! There's a donut shop. Can we get something to go?
I told him no and that Andi would buy him donuts, hoping that wouldn't come back to bite me later. Meanwhile, the van kept snaking its way toward the Lincoln Tunnel.
"Well," I said. "Lets get after them."
We were about to leap off the Chrysler Building when Blackjack whinnied in alarm and almost threw me. Something was curling around my leg. I reached for my sword, but when I looked down, there was no snake. Vines—grape vines—had sprouted from the cracks between the stones of the building. They were wrapping around Blackjack's legs, lashing down my ankles so we couldn't move.
"Going somewhere?" Mr. D asked.
He was leaning against the building with his feet levitating in the air, his leopard-skin warm-up suit and black hair whipping around in the wind.
God alert! Blackjack yelled. It's the wine dude !
Mr. D sighed in exasperation. "The next person, or horse, who calls me the 'wine dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot!"
"Mr D." I nodded at him, before showing him my bag. "Dad wanted me to go and who am I to argue against the will of a god?"
"Did you ask my permission?"
"Uh...no?"
"I should throw you off this building, minus the flying horse, and see how heroic you sound on the way down."
"You'd probably do me a favour," Mr. D shot me a look, as if to ask if I was mentally sound in the head. There was a simple answer to that question; no.
He waved his hand dismissively. "Go. Follow your silly friends."
The vines uncurled around my legs.
I blinked in disbelief. "You're...you're letting me go? Just like that?"
"Go get Andrew..."
"Andromeda."
"...back," Mr. D waved his hand. "I suppose she is somewhat useful and you deserve another shot at that place."
With that, Dionysus snapped his fingers. His image folded up like a paper display. There was a pop and he was gone, leaving a faint scent of grapes that was quickly blown away by the wind.
Too close, Blackjack said.
"You're right there," I murmured. My thoughts had been confirmed from earlier, and I knew exactly where we were going, my stomach twisting and curling as memories of a dragon rattled in my head. "Come on, Blackjack, keep following Zoe."
Zoe drove south like a crazy person, and we were into Maryland before she finally pulled over at a rest stop. Blackjack darn near tumbled out of the sky, she was so tired.
I'll be okay, she panted. Just...just catching my breath.
"Stay here," I told her. "I'm going to scout."
'Stay here' I can handle. I can do that.
I pulled Annabeth's cap of invisibility on and walked over to the convenience store. It wasn't that I didn't trust my own powers of Hermes, I just knew that Zoe would probably recognize me and I needed to be somewhat stealthy.
I thought I'd go inside and warm up, maybe get a cup of hot chocolate or something. I had a little change in my pocket. I could leave it on the counter. I was wondering if the cup would turn invisible when I picked it up, or if I'd have to deal with a floating hot chocolate problem, when my whole plan was ruined by Zoe, Brooke, Bianca, and Grover all coming out of the store.
"Grover, are you sure?" Brooke was saying.
"Well...pretty sure. Ninety-nine percent. Okay, eighty-five percent."
"And you did this with acorns?" Bianca asked, like she couldn't believe it.
Grover looked offended. "It's a time-honoured tracking spell. I mean, I'm pretty sure I did it right."
"D.C. is about sixty miles from here," Bianca said. "Nico and I..." She frowned. "We used to live there. That's...that's strange. I'd forgotten."
"I dislike this," Zoe said. "We should go straight west. The prophecy said west."
"But, Grover's right," Brooke compromised. "D.C is our best bet."
Zoe didn't look convinced, but she nodded reluctantly. "Very well. Let us keep moving."
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive? I do have a legal permit," Brooke muttered, both of them walking past me.
"I have been driving since automobiles were invented. Let us go." Zoe nodded her head.
As we got closer to Washington, Blackjack started slowing down and dropping altitude. She was breathing heavily.
"You alright?" I asked her.
Fine, she heaved, huffing and puffing. I could take on an army.
"You don't sound so good." And suddenly I felt guilty, because I'd been running the pegasus for half a day, nonstop, trying to keep up with highway traffic. Even for a flying horse, that had to be rough.
Don't worry about me! I'm a tough one.
I figured she was right, but I also figured Blackjack would run herself into the ground before she complained, and I didn't want that.
Fortunately, the van started to slow down. It crossed the Potomac River into central Washington. I started thinking about air patrols and missiles and stuff like that. I didn't know exactly how all those defences worked, and wasn't sure if pegasi even showed up on your typical military radar, but I didn't want to find out by getting shot out of the sky.
"Set me down there," I told Blackjack. "That's close enough."
Blackjack was so tired she didn't complain. She dropped toward the Washington Monument and set me on the grass. The van was only a few blocks away. Zoe had parked at the curb.
I looked at Blackjack. "I want you to go back to camp. Get some rest. Graze. I'll be fine."
Blackjack cocked his head skeptically. You sure? I can help get Romy.
"You've done enough already," I said. "I'll be fine. And thanks a ton."
A ton of hay, maybe, Blackjack mused. That sounds good. All right, but be careful. I got a feeling they didn't come here to meet anything friendly and beautiful like me .
I promised to be careful. Then Blackjack took off, circling twice around the monument before disappearing into the clouds.
I looked over at the white van. Everybody was getting out. Grover pointed toward one of the big buildings lining the Mall. Brooke nodded, and the four of them trudged off into the cold wind.
I started to follow. But then I froze.
A block away, the door of a black sedan opened. A man with grey hair and a military buzz cut got out. He was wearing dark shades and a black overcoat. Now, maybe in Washington, you'd expected guys like that to be everywhere. But it dawned on me that I'd seen this same car a couple of times on the highway, going south. It had been following the van.
The guy took out his mobile phone and said something into it. Then he looked around, like he was making sure the coast was clear, and started walking down the Mall in the direction of my friends.
The worst of it was: when he turned toward me, I recognized his face. It was Dr. Thorn, the manticore from Westover Hall.
My temper grew foul as I watched him, all the while thinking about Andi struggling under the weight of the dark mass. I followed Thorn from a distance, slipping Annabeth's Yankees cap on.
Thorn kept well back from my friends, careful not to be seen.
Finally, Grover stopped in front of a big building that said NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM.
Brooke checked the door. It was open, but there weren't many people going in. Too cold, and school was out of session. They slipped inside.
Dr. Thorn hesitated. I wasn't sure why, but he didn't go into the museum. He turned and headed across the Mall. I made a split-second decision and followed him.
Thorn crossed the street and climbed the steps of the Museum of Natural History. There was a big sign on the door, closing it off but I followed Dr. Thorn inside anyway. There were voices up ahead, coming from behind a set of closed doors. Two guards stood outside. They opened the doors for Thorn, and I had to sprint to get inside before they closed them again.
Inside, what I saw was so terrible I almost gasped aloud, which probably would've gotten me killed.
I was in a huge round room with a balcony ringing the second level. At least a dozen mortal guards stood on the balcony, plus two monsters—reptilian women with double-snake trunks instead of legs. Scythian dracaenae.
But that wasn't the worse of it. Standing between the snake women—I could swear he was looking straight down at me—was Puck. He looked terrible. His skin was pale and his hair looked almost grey, as if he'd aged ten years in just a few months. His eyes were just as angry as normal, but there was something off about him, and I felt my heart sink.
This was my fault that he was like this. My fault for not telling Chiron about Kronos, and allowing the Titan to move onto another target, who was weaker than me. Who didn't manage to get out.
Next to him, sitting down so that the shadows covered him, was another man. All I could see were his knuckles on the gilded arms of his chair, like a throne.
"Well?" asked the man in the chair. His voice was just like the one I'd heard in my dream—not as creepy as Kronos's, but deeper and stronger, like the earth itself was talking. It filled the whole room even though he wasn't yelling.
Dr. Thorn took off his shades. His two-coloured eyes glittered with excitement. He made a stiff bow, then spoke in his weird French accent: "They are here, General."
"I know that, you fool," boomed the man. "But where?"
"In the rocket museum."
"The Air and Space Museum," Puck corrected irritably.
Dr. Thorn glared at Puck. "As you say, sir"
I got the feeling Thorn would just as soon impale Puck with one of his spikes as call him sir.
"How many?" Puck asked.
Thorn pretended not to hear, which caused the sixteen year old to bristle with anger.
"How many?" the General demanded.
"Four, General," Thorn said. "The satyr, Grover Underwood. And the girl with brown hair and runes on her weapons."
"Brooke," Puck's eyes widened as he thought of his sister.
"And two other girls—Hunters. One wears a silver circlet."
"That one I know," the General growled.
Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably.
"What about Luke Castellan? The one with the scar?" I wondered why Puck was asking if I was there. "He's one we've got to watch out for."
"That scum didn't show up," If I wasn't trying to be sneaky, Dr. Thorn's head would be removed from his body for kidnapping my girls and then insulting me.
"Let me take them," Puck said to the General. "We have more than enough—"
"Patience," the General said. "They'll have their hands full already. I've sent a little playmate to keep them occupied."
"But—"
"We cannot risk you, my boy."
"Yes, boy ," Dr. Thorn said with a cruel smile. "You are much too fragile to risk. Let me finish them off."
"No." The General rose from his chair, and I got my first look at him.
He was tall and muscular, with light brown skin and slicked-back dark hair. He wore an expensive brown silk suit like the guys on Wall Street wear, but you'd never mistake this dude for a broker. He had a brutal face, huge shoulders, and hands that could snap a flagpole in half. His eyes were like stone.
"You have already failed me, Thorn," he said.
"But, General—"
"No excuses!"
Thorn flinched. I suppose Thorn could be considered scary, but now, standing before the General, Thorn looked like a silly wannabe soldier. The General was the real deal. He didn't need a uniform. He was a born commander.
"I should throw you into the pits of Tartarus for your incompetence," the General said. "I send you to capture two children of the elder three gods, you brought me one sarcastic daughter of Poseidon and a scrawny daughter of Athena."
"But you promised me revenge.'" Thorn protested, as I grinned. Trust Andi to be annoying them. "A command of my own!"
"I am Lord Kronos's senior commander," the General said. "And I will choose lieutenants who get me results! It was only thanks to Puck that we salvaged our plan at all. Now get out of my sight, Thorn, until I find some other menial task for you."
Thorn's face turned purple with rage. I thought he was going to start frothing at the mouth or shooting spines, but he just bowed awkwardly and left the room.
"Now, my boy." The General turned to Puck. "The first thing we must do is isolate the half-blood Brooke. The monster we seek will then come to her."
"The Hunters will be difficult to dispose of," Puck looked uncomfortable at the mention of his sisters name. "Zoe Nightshade—"
"Do not speak her name!"
Puck swallowed. "S—sorry, General. I just—"
The General silenced him with a wave of his hand. "Let me show you, my boy, how we will bring the Hunters down."
He pointed to a guard on the ground level. "Do you have the teeth?"
The guy stumbled forward with a ceramic pot. "Yes, General!"
"Plant them," he said.
In the centre of the room was a big circle of dirt, where I guess a dinosaur exhibit was supposed to go. I watched nervously as the guard took sharp white teeth out of the pot and pushed them into the soil. He smoothed them over while the General smiled coldly.
The guard stepped back from the dirt and wiped his hands. "Ready, General!"
"Excellent! Water them, and we will let them scent their prey."
The guard picked up a little tin watering can with daisies painted on it, which was kind of bizarre, because what he poured out wasn't water. It was dark red liquid, and I got the feeling it wasn't Hawaiian Punch.
The soil began to bubble.
"Soon," the General said, "I will show you, Puck, soldiers that will make your army from that little boat look insignificant."
Puck clenched his fists. "I've spent a year training my forces! When the Princess Andromeda arrives at the mountain, they'll be the best—"
"Ha.'" the General said. "I don't deny your troops will make a fine honour guard for Lord Kronos. And you, of course, will have a role to play—"
I thought Puck turned paler when the General said that.
"—but under my leadership, the forces of Lord Kronos will increase a hundredfold. We will be unstoppable. Behold, my ultimate killing machines."
The soil erupted. I stepped back nervously.
In each spot where a tooth had been planted, a creature was struggling out of the dirt. The first of them said: "Mew?"
It was a kitten. A little orange tabby with stripes like a tiger. Then another appeared, until there were a dozen, rolling around and playing in the dirt.
Everyone stared at them in disbelief. The General roared, " What is this? Cute cuddly kittens? Where did you find those teeth ?"
The guard who'd brought the teeth cowered in fear. "From the exhibit, sir! Just like you said. The sabre-toothed tiger—"
"No, you idiot! I said the tyrannosaurus! Gather up those...those infernal fuzzy little beasts and take them outside. And never let me see your face again."
The terrified guard dropped his watering can. He gathered up the kittens and scampered out of the room.
"You.'" The General pointed to another guard. "Get me the right teeth. NOW!"
The new guard ran off to carry out his orders.
"Imbeciles,' muttered the General.
"This is why I don't use mortals," Puck said. "They are unreliable."
"They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent," the General said. "I love them."
A minute later, the guard hustled into the room with his hands full of large pointy teeth.
"Excellent," the General said. He climbed onto the balcony railing and jumped down, twenty feet. Where he landed, the marble floor cracked under his leather shoes. He stood, wincing, and rubbed his shoulders. "Curse my stiff neck."
"Another hot pad, sir?" a guard asked. "More Tylenol?"
"No! It will pass." The General brushed off his silk suit, then snatched up the teeth. "I shall do this myself."
He held up one of the teeth and smiled. "Dinosaur teeth—ha! Those foolish mortals don't even know when they have dragon teeth in their possession. And not just any dragon teeth. These come from the ancient Sybaris herself! They shall do nicely."
He planted them in the dirt, twelve in all. Then he scooped up the watering can. He sprinkled the soil with red liquid, tossed the can away, and held his arms out wide. My insides curled further in fear. This didn't look like it was going to end well.
The dirt trembled. A single, skeletal hand shot out of the ground, grasping at the air.
The General looked up at the balcony. "Quickly, do you have the scent?"
"Yesssss, lord," one of the snake ladies said. She took out a sash of silvery fabric, like the kind the Hunters wore.
"Excellent," the General said. "Once my warriors catch its scent, they will pursue its owner relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapons known to half-blood or Hunter. They will tear the Hunters and their allies to shreds. Toss it here!"
As he said that, skeletons erupted from the ground. There were twelve of them, one for each tooth the General had planted. They were nothing like Halloween skeletons, or the kind you might see in cheesy movies. These were growing flesh as I watched, turning into men, but men with dull grey skin, yellow eyes, and modern clothes.
One of them looked straight at me, regarding me coldly, and I knew that no cap of invisibility would fool it.
The snake lady released the scarf and it fluttered down toward the General's hand. As soon as he gave it to the warriors, they would hunt Zoe and the others until they were extinct.
I didn't have time to think. I ran and jumped with all my might, ploughing into the warriors and snatching the scarf out of the air.
"What's this?" bellowed the General.
I landed at the feet of a skeleton warrior, who hissed.
"An intruder," the General growled. "One cloaked in darkness. Seal the doors!"
"It's Luke Castellan!" Puck yelled. "It has to be."
I sprinted for the exit, but heard a ripping sound and realized the skeleton warrior had taken a chunk out of my sleeve. When I glanced back, he was holding the fabric up to his nose, sniffing the scent, handing it around to his friends. I cursed inwardly, before squeezing through the door just as the guards slammed it shut behind me.
And then I ran. I really, really hated quests.
∘☽༓☾∘
Hiya,
Luke's just not a happy bunny. That's the theme of the next couple of chapters at least, and I love that for him. Anyhow, fun times ahead for all involved.
Let me know what you think,
Love Li xx