Home|| Leo Valdez

38

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By the time they sent Coach Hedge and Piper's dad home, Alex thought just maybe everything was going to be alright. 

Then, right next to Jason, the air began to shimmer. An image appeared in the air-a dark-haired girl in silver winter camouflage, holding a bow, that's when Alex realised it was an iris message.

Jason stumbled back in surprise. "Thalia!"

"Thank the gods," said the Hunter. The scene behind her was hard to make out, but Alex heard yelling, metal clashing on metal, and explosions.

"We've found her," Thalia said. "Where are you?"

"Oakland," he said. "Where are you?"

"The Wolf House! Oakland is good; you're not too far. We're holding off the giant's minions, but we can't hold them forever. Get here before sunset, or it's all over."

"Then it's not too late?" Piper cried. 

"Not yet," Thalia said. "But Jason-it's worse than I realised. Porphyrion is rising. Hurry."

"But where is the Wolf House?" he pleaded.

"Our last trip," Thalia said, her image starting to flicker. "The park. Jack London. Remember?"

This made no sense to Alex, but Jason looked like he'd been shot. He tottered, his face pale, and the Iris message disappeared.

"Bro, you all right?" Leo asked. "You know where she is?"

"Yes," Jason said. "Sonoma Valley. Not far. Not by air."

Piper turned to the ranger pilot, who'd been watching all this with an increasingly puzzled expression.

"Ma'am," Piper said with her best smile. "You don't mind helping us one more time, do you?"
"I don't mind," the pilot agreed.

"We can't take a mortal into battle," Jason said. "It's too dangerous." He turned to Leo. "Do you think you could fly this thing?"

"Um..." Leo's expression didn't exactly reassure anyone But then he put his hand on the side of the helicopter, concentrating hard, as if listening to the machine.

"Bell 412HP utility helicopter," Leo said. "Composite four-blade main rotor, cruising speed twenty-two knots, service ceiling twenty-thousand feet. The tank is near full. Sure, I can fly it."
Piper smiled at the ranger again. "You don't have a problem with an under-aged unlicensed kid borrowing your copter, do you? We'll return it."

"I-" The pilot nearly choked on the words, but she got them out: "I don't have a problem with that."

Leo grinned. "Hop in, kids. Uncle Leo's gonna take you for a ride."

---

"So what's the Wolf House?" Alex spoke up.

Jason knelt between the front seats. "An abandoned mansion in the Sonoma Valley. A demigod built it-Jack London."

"He an actor?" Leo asked. 

"Writer," Alex said. "Adventure stuff, right? Call of the Wild? White Fang?"

"Yeah," Jason said. "He was a son of Mercury-I mean, Hermes. He was an adventurer, travelled the world. He was even a hobo for a while. Then he made a fortune writing. He bought a big ranch in the country and decided to build this huge mansion-the Wolf House."

"Named that 'cause he wrote about wolves?" Leo guessed.

"Partially," Jason said. "But the site, and the reason he wrote about wolves-he was dropping hints about his personal experience. There're a lot of holes in his life story-how he was born, who his dad was, why he wandered around so much-stuff you can only explain if you know he was a demigod."

The bay slipped behind them, and the helicopter continued north. Ahead of them, yellow hills rolled out as far as Leo could see.

"So Jack London went to Camp Half-Blood.... or the other camp" Alex guessed.

"Yes... I could know more if I had my memories" He was clearly frustrated and Alex couldn't blame him. She had half a mind to keep Hera in her cage for messing with everyone's memories.

"It's fine Grace,we'll figure this out" Alex lay a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Bro, so... are you remembering your past or not?"

"Pieces," Jason said. "Only pieces. None of it good. The Wolf House is on sacred ground. It's where London started his journey as a child-where he found out he was a demigod. That's why he returned there. He thought he could live there, claim that land, but it wasn't meant for him. The Wolf House was cursed. It burned in a fire a week before he and his wife were supposed to move in. A few years later, London died, and his ashes were buried on the site ."

"So," Piper said, "how do you know all this?"

A shadow crossed Jason's face. Probably just a cloud, but Alex could swear the shape looked like an eagle.

"I started my journey there too," Jason said. "It's a powerful place for demigods, a dangerous place. If Gaea can claim it, use its power to entomb Hera on the solstice and raise Porphyrion-that might be enough to awaken the earth goddess fully."

Piper's dad had called them heroes earlier. And Alex couldn't believe some of the things she'd done- Getting captured by cyclops, getting turned into gold, batting a giant and six armed ogres. They seemed like they had happened to another person. She was just Alex Jackson, the scared girl who ran away from home. She'd spent her life running away and part of her still wanted to run. Just take Leo and get out of there. 

They were just kids, they weren't supposed to save the world. What was she thinking, flying toward a cursed mansion to fight more evil monsters?

"Thirty minutes out," Leo told his friends. "If you want to get some rest, now's a good time."
Jason strapped himself into the back of the helicopter and  Alex did the same. She rested her head on Jason's shoulder and passed out almost immediately.