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THE LIMO opened and a large man with a crew cut stepped out. He wore shades over his eyes. The man had a biker jacket, black jeans, a white shirt, and combat boots.
Kalani instinctively pulled Bianca against her side, protective of the younger girl. Bianca squirmed a little under the muscle of Kalani's arm, but when Kalani shot her a look, she stopped. The Nemesis girl pulled her hand axe out at the ready, narrowing her eyes.
The mystery man immediately drew a sword and pointed the tip at Percy's neck. Jackson had many enemies, and they seemed to come in many different forms.
"Ares," Jackson growled.
The god looked around at the group, as if sizing them up. "At ease, people." He snapped his fingers, and all their weapons dropped to the ground.
Kalani stared at both of her axes and the gun she'd been carrying since she took it from the skeleton warrior, lying on the ground.
"This is a friendly meeting," Ares said. "Of course, I'd like to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."
"What lady?" Thalia asked.
Ares glanced over at her. "Well, well. I heard you were back." He lowered his sword and shoved Percy back. "Thalia, daughter of Zeus," he mused. "You're not hanging out with very good company."
"What's your business, Ares?" she said. "Who's in the car?"
Kalani squinted at the car, frowning. Who exactly was this lady Ares was talking about?
Ares only smiled; he was enjoying everyone's eyes on him. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin towards Zoë and Bianca. "Why don't you all get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes."
"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares," Zoë said.
"Besides," Grover managed, "the taco place is closed."
"Aww." Kalani frowned. "I wanted some tacos."
Ares snapped his fingers like Thanos again. The lights in the taqueria suddenly blazed to life. The boards flew off the door and and the CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN. "You were saying, goat boy?"
"Go on," Percy said. "I'll handle this."
"Guys, it's okay. Percy'll be fine," Kalani reassured the others. She didn't give a shit what would happen to him, honestly, but she knew he probably wasn't in any real danger. And even if he was, he'd be able to fight it off. Besides, she was hungry.
"He's big and strong," Ares added. "He's got things under control." But after Kalani spoke, his eyes focused on her unsteadily. "You're an interesting one, aren't you? I'll be keeping my eye on you."
"Yeah, well, you're not going to now, because we're gonna go eat tacos," Thalia said, and wrapped an arm around Kalani, practically dragging her towards the restaurant.
