BLOODSHOT . . . piper mclean

16.

EDEN KEPT GLANCING back. She half expected to see those nasty sun dragons toting a flying chariot with a screaming magical saleswoman throwing potions, but nothing followed them.

Eventually, the smoke from the burning department store faded in the distance, but Eden didn't relax until the suburbs of Chicago gave way to snowy fields, and the sun began to set. Fuck the city of Chicago, honestly. Nothing good was there.

"Good job, Festus." Fire Boy patted the dragon's metal hide. "You did awesome."

The dragon shuddered. Gears popped and clicked in his neck. Oh god.

"I'll give you a tune-up next time we land," Fire Boy promised. "You've earned some motor oil and Tabasco sauce."

"Yo, Fire Boy." Eden tapped her fingers on his shoulder absentmindedly. "You feeling okay? Fucking Tabasco sauce?"

"Yeah . . . not bad for a brainwashed zombie." He responded, but his voice wavered. "Thanks for saving us back there, beauty queen. If you hadn't talked me out of that spell—"

"Don't worry about it," Kaleidoscope said.

When they had left Medea in that exploding store, Eden had felt a little too good. She hoped she wouldn't make it out, and would go right back to the Fields of Punishment, where she belonged. Those feelings didn't make her proud, but she'd always felt them her entire life with every monster she'd cut down.

"We're going to have to put down soon," Fire Boy warned. "Couple more hours, maybe, to make sure Medea's not following us. I don't think Festus can fly much longer than that."

"Yeah," Kaleidoscope agreed. "Coach Hedge probably wants to get out of his canary cage, too. Question is — where are we going?"

"The Bay Area," Eden guessed. "Didn't Medea say something about Oakland? Is that even a place?"

Kaleidoscope didn't respond for so long, Eden wondered if she'd said something wrong. She always did, after all.

"Piper's dad," Perfect Jason put in. "Something's happened to your dad, right? He got lured into some kind of trap."

Kaleidoscope let out a shaky breath. "Look, Medea said you all would die in the Bay Area. And besides . . . even if we went there, the Bay Area is huge! First we need to find Aeolus and drop off the storm spirits. Boreas said Aeolus was the only one who could tell us exactly where to go."

Fire Boy grunted. "So how do we find Aeolus?"

Perfect Jason leaned forward. "You mean you don't see it?" He pointed ahead of them, but Eden didn't see anything except clouds and the lights of a few towns glowing in the dusk. Aesthetic.

"What?" Fire Boy asked. "That . . . whatever it is," Perfect Jason said. "In the air."

Leo and Piper looked just as confused as Eden was.

"You're delusional, and that's saying something," she finally said.

"Right," Fire Boy snorted. "Could you be more specific on the 'whatever-it-is' part?"

"Like a vapor trail," Delusional Boy said. "Except it's glowing. Really faint, but it's definitely there. We've been following it since Chicago, so I figured you saw it."

Fire Boy shook his head. "Maybe Festus can sense it. You think Aeolus made it?"

"Well, it's a magic trail in the wind," Delusional Boy said. "Aeolus is the wind god. I think he knows we've got prisoners for him. He's telling us where to fly."

"Or it's another trap," Kaleidoscope said.

"Pipes, you all right?" Fire Boy asked.

"Don't call me that."