BLOODSHOT . . . piper mclean

30.

EDEN SHIVERED AS they went up in the air. She hated it here, she hated it here, she hated it here.

Listen, she could curse Zeus out because she was literally saving his wife. So, Zeus, what the fuck? Why couldn't you let sons and daughters of Poseidon and Hades fly up in the air, especially after being sick? It's not like Poseidon and Hades do the same thing. What a dick.

The sun was going down as they flew north, and Eden couldn't believe the day had gone so quickly. Nothing like ADHD and a good fight to the death to make time fly. Luckily she wasn't healing people either; that made it feel longer instead.

"Going okay?" Pretty Girl asked from behind the seats. She sounded nervous, and Eden wanted to snort. She wasn't like her, being scared of flying up in the air, except for pegasi. That shit was real, man.

"Aces," Fire Boy said. "So what's the Wolf House?"

Perfect Jason knelt between Fire Boy and Eden's seats, which made her slap his arm in panic. He let go of her armrest. "An abandoned mansion in the Sonoma Valley. A demigod built it — Jack London."

Fire Boy stared ahead, but Eden saw his frown. "He an actor?"

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

"Yeah," Muscle Boy said. "He was a son of Mercury — I mean, Hermes. He was an adventurer, traveled 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?" Fire Boy guessed.

"No shit," Eden rolled her eyes, but she felt sick. She hated it here. It was a miracle that she hadn't thrown up at all yet — she probably would during the battle, which would really help her out a lot.

"Partially," Perfect 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 Eden could see, which was pretty far. Damn Aphrodite for making her sleep. She liked seeing very little, liked how close minded she used to be until now.

"So Jack London went to Camp Half-Blood," Fire Boy guessed.

"No," Perfect Jason said. "No, he didn't."

"Annabeth would know," Eden said, her fingers loosening. Her rings were digging in her skin.

"Bro, you're freaking me out with the mysterious talk. Are you remembering your past or not?" Fire Boy asked Perfect Jason.

"Pieces," Perfect 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," Kaleidoscope said, "how do you know all this?"

A shadow crossed Perfect Jason's face. Probably just a cloud, but Eden could swear the shape looked like an eagle. She shivered. Ow. Cold.

"I started my journey there too," Perfect 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."

They sped along, and Eden nearly let out a yelp as she pressed herself more against her chair. She could see some weather ahead — a spot of darkness like a cloudbank or a storm, right where they were going. That didn't reassure her, but then again, did anything in these types of situations?

The helicopter shuddered. Metal creaked, and Eden whimpered. "Fuck you," she whispered to Fire Boy.

Fire Boy leveled out the chopper, and the creaking stopped. "You wish," he said to her.

"Nah, stopped fucking with people," Eden continuously tapped her feet on the ground. She couldn't move her hands, or she'd probably get killed by Zeus for his pride and then the whole world would explode. "After she died to save the world, as someone who betrayed the good side—" ( traitor, fucking traitor, because even though she was deemed a hero, she still betrayed Eden ) "—and eventually died for us, I've stopped fucking with people and feelings."

Fire Boy nodded. "Yeah, I get it, I guess. Not the saving the world part, but."

Eden let out a bitter laugh. "Enjoy it while it lasts," she burned holes in the glass that she was looking through. And she hated looking at the ground from above.

"Thirty minutes out," Fire Boy told them, though Eden wasn't sure how he knew. "If you want to get some rest, now's a good time."

Perfect Jason strapped himself into the back of the helicopter and passed out almost immediately. Eden, Kaleidoscope, and Fire Boy stayed wide-awake.

"Eden, you . . ." Kaleidoscope trailed off, as if she was walking on eggshells. They would've already cracked when they were hiking up that mountain. "Do you want to sleep?"

"God, no," Eden didn't look at her, still looking out the window and wincing. She didn't want to talk about that anymore. She didn't want to talk about anything with Kaleidoscope — not ever since her voice had been in her dreams, not since Eden hadn't had another one until she'd waken her up from that flashback. She hated that. "I just . . . have too much adrenaline." She lied. "That was the first time I've ever summoned a hurricane. It took a lot out of me, but I'm fine. Except that I'm in the air. That fact wouldn't make me sleep."

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Eden decided to change the subject. "Your dad'll be fine, you know. Nobody's gonna mess with him with that crazy goat around."

"My dad," Kaleidoscope mused. "Yeah, I know. I was thinking about you. And Jason. I'm worried about him. And you, Eden."

"Don't be," Eden wanted to fidget with her fingers, to braid her hair, to look at herself in the mirror, to do anything to fidget her way out of this conversation. "I don't need someone to look after me. I can look out for myself. As you saw back there."

Fire Boy finally said something while Eden stared as they got closer they got to that bank of dark clouds in front of them. "He's starting to remember. That's got to make him a little edgy."

"But what if . . . what if he's a different person?" Kaleidoscope asked, and Eden could just feel her gaze on him, but on her, too. And that scared her. A lot.

"Nah," Fire Boy decided. "After all we've been through? I can't see it. We're a team. Jason can handle it."

"I hope you're right. I need him . . ." Kaleidoscope cleared her throat. "I mean I need to trust him . . ."

Mhm. Eden rolled her eyes. No true pick me girl wasn't hypocritical.

"I know," Fire Boy said. "Hey, don't worry. Piper, you're the strongest, most powerful beauty queen I've ever met. You can trust yourself. For what it's worth, you can trust me too."

The helicopter dipped in a wind shear, and Eden almost jumped out of her skin. Fire Boy cursed and righted the chopper, and Eden's heart rate still thumped in her stomach.

"Trust you, huh?" She choked out.

"Ah, shut up, already." Fire Boy rolled his eyes at her.

Then they hit the storm clouds.

hi hello update i am still dying from schoolwork but the quarter's ending soon !!!

<3 maybel