❝ Does being a Child of Hermes automatically make you good at flirting? Or was that just a skill you picked up? ❞
Andromeda Jackson knew she was not cut out for the demigod life, and that was before she heard about her death from the creepy oracle i...
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"𝕽ise and shine, Sleeping Beauty." I opened my eyes blearily, staring up at Luke, who was watching me with warm eyes and a half smile.
"You're alright." I wrapped my arms around him, kissing his jaw as I clung onto him. I could hear his heart beating through his shirt, and I could have cried. "You're alright."
"I'm alright." Luke promised, squeezing my hand. "We did it, darling."
In the distance, the sun was setting behind a city skyline. I could see a beachside highway lined with palm trees, store-fronts glowing with red and blue neon, a harbour filled with sailboats and cruise ships.
"Where are we?"
"Miami," Luke replied. "But the hippocampi are starting to act a bit weird."
Sure enough, our fishy friends had slowed down and were whinnying and swimming in circles, sniffing the water. They didn't look happy. One of them sneezed and I could tell what they were thinking.
"This is as far as they'll take us," I said. "Too many humans. Too much pollution. We'll have to swim to shore on our own."
None of us was very psyched about that, but we thanked Rainbow and his friends for the ride. Tyson cried a little. He unfastened the makeshift saddle pack he'd made, which contained his tool kit and a couple of other things he'd salvaged from the Birmingham wreck. He hugged Rainbow around the neck, gave him a soggy mango he'd picked up on the island, and said good-bye.
It didn't take as much convincing as the first time luckily.
Once the hippocampi's white manes disappeared into the sea, we swam for shore. The waves pushed us forward, and in no time we were back in the mortal world. We wandered along the cruise line docks, pushing through crowds of people arriving for vacations. Porters bustled around with carts of luggage.
Taxi drivers yelled at each other in Spanish and tried to cut in line for customers. If anybody noticed us—five teenagers dripping wet and looking like they'd just had a fight with a monster—they didn't let on.
Now that we were back among mortals, Tyson's single eye had blurred from the Mist. Grover had put on his cap and sneakers. Even the Fleece had transformed from a sheepskin to a red-and-gold high school letter jacket with a large glittery Omega on the pocket.
Luke checked the date and cursed (which surprised me slightly).
"June eighteenth! We've been away from camp ten days!"
