The Lost Hero

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Elsa's Evil Twin

IT SEEMED HE SLEPT ONLY FOR SECONDS, but when Vivian shook him awake, the daylight was fading.

"We're here," she said.

Leo rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Below them, a city sat on a cliff overlooking a river. The plains around it were dusted with snow, but the city itself glowed warmly in the winter sunset. Buildings crowded together inside high walls like a medieval town, way older than any place Vivian had seen before. In the center was an actual castle—at least Leo assumed it was a castle—with massive red brick walls and a square tower with a peaked, green gabled roof.

"Tell me that's Quebec and not Santa's workshop," Leo said.

"Why? Scared that we are going to make you work there?" Vivian teased.

"Oh haha," Leo said.

"Yeah, Quebec City," Piper confirmed. "One of the oldest cities in North America.

"Founded around sixteen hundred or so?" Vivian completed. "And before you joke about me being a nerd, I'm not. Annabeth loved architecture, so I know facts."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Your dad do a movie about that too?" he asked Piper.

She made a face at him, which Leo was used to, but it didn't quite work with her new glamorous makeup. "Iread sometimes, okay? Just because Aphrodite claimed me, doesn't mean I have to be an airhead."

"PREACH!" Vivian said, turning around to high-five Piper.

"Feisty!" Leo said. "So you know so much, what's that castle?"

"A hotel, I think."

Vivian made a bell noise, like in those game shows when you get an answer correct. "You are again, correct."

Leo laughed. "No way."

But as they got closer, Leo saw she was right. The grand entrance was bustling with doormen, valets, and porters taking bags. Sleek black luxury cars idled in the drive. People in elegant suits and winter cloaks hurried to get out of the cold.

"The North Wind is staying in a hotel?" Leo said. "That can't be—"

"Heads up, guys," Jason interrupted. "We got company!"

Vivian looked below and saw what Jason meant. Rising from the top of the tower were two winged figures—angry angels, with nasty-looking swords.

Festus didn't like the angel guys. He swooped to a halt in midair, wings beating and talons bared, and made a rumbling sound in his throat that Leo recognized. He was getting ready to blow fire.

"Steady, boy," Leo muttered. Something told him the angels would not take kindly to getting torched.

"Easy there buddy," Vivian muttered, pulling out the compass out of her pocket.

"I don't like this," Jason said. "They look like storm spirits."

At first Vivian thought he was right, but as the angels got closer, she could see they were much more solid than venti. They looked like regular teenagers except for their icy white hair and feathery purple wings. Their bronze swords were jagged, like icicles. Their faces looked similar enough that they might have been brothers, but they definitely weren't twins.

One was the size of an ox, with a bright red hockey jersey, baggy sweatpants, and black leather cleats. The guy clearly had been in too many fights, because both his eyes were black, and when he bared his teeth, several of them were missing.