JAWBREAKER

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣

"We will never make it," Zoe said. "We are moving too slow. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."

Bessie mooed, swimming along next to Percy as they jogged down the waterfront. They'd left the shopping center pier far behind. Next destination: the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was a lot farther than it looked. The sun was already dipping in the west.

"I don't get it," Percy said. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"

"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," Zoe said. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to night."

"What happens if we miss it?"

"Tomorrow is winter solstice. If we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."

Or Annabeth will be dead, Warren thought grimly.

"We need a car," Thalia said.

"But what about Bessie?" Percy asked.

Grover stopped in his tracks. "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"

"Well, yeah," Percy said. "I mean, he was in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped into the water at Hoover Dam. And now he's here."

"So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound," Grover said. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."

"But he was following me. If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"

Bessie mooed forlornly.

"I...I can show him," Grover said. "I'll go with him."

Warren stared at him. Grover was no fan of the water. He'd almost drowned last summer in the Sea of Monsters, and he couldn't swim very well with his goat hooves.

"I'm the only one who can talk to him," Grover said. "It makes sense."

He bent down and said something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound.

"The blessing of the Wild," Grover said. "That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he will grant us safe passage through the seas."

It seemed insane, the idea of swimming back to Long Island from California. But still, Percy bowed his head and prayed.

"Dad," he said. "Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."

"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice," Thalia said. "Something big."

Percy thought for a second. Then he took off his coat.

"Perce," Warren said. "Are you sure? That lion skin could be really useful. I mean, it was good enough for Hercules."

"If I'm going to survive," he said, "it won't be because I've got a lion-skin cloak. I'm not Hercules."