BLOODSHOT . . . piper mclean

36.

EDEN ALMOST MISSED the council, to be honest. For one thing, it was in the Big House rec room, around a Ping-Pong table, which Eden was incredibly skilled at, and one of the satyrs was serving nachos and sodas. Somebody had brought Seymour the leopard head in from the living room and hung him on the wall. Every once in a while, a counselor would toss him a Snausage. Eden liked throwing things a lot. And she also liked free food.

She'd arrived late, so the only spot was with Fire Boy, Kaleidoscope, and Perfect Jason, which had probably been open for her since the start anyway.

Clarisse had her boots on the table. God forbid if Eden cared, even if she wasn't her best friend. Clovis from Hypnos cabin was snoring in the corner while Bitch from Iris cabin was seeing how many pencils he could fit in Clovis's nostrils. Travis was holding a lighter under a Ping-Pong ball to see if it would burn, and Will Solace was absently wrapping and unwrapping an Ace bandage around his wrist. The counselor from Hecate cabin, Lou Ellen something-or-other, was playing "got-your-nose" with Miranda Gardiner, except that Lou Ellen really had magically disconnected Miranda's nose, and Miranda was trying to get it back.

Eden hoped Pinecone Face would show, but she knew not to worry about it. Lia often got sidetracked fighting monsters or running quests for Artemis, and she would probably arrive soon.

Rachel sat next to Chiron at the head of the table. She was wearing her Clarion Academy school uniform dress. Se smiled at Eden as she came in.

Annabeth didn't look so relaxed. She wore armor over her camp clothes, with her knife at her side and her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. Eden had avoided looking at her, deciding where she wanted to sit.

She decided to just flat out sit on Connor's lap, looking over at Travis, who had set the thing on fucking fire, and she resisted the urge to lean away. "What on earth do you do with your life?" she asked him.

"Simp for girls and arson," Travis said, completely seriously. Eden laughed at that, and she could hear Connor laughing under her.

"Maybe you should come to our sleepovers," Eden grinned at Travis. "We could sneak out and watch youtube and talk about girls. Would be really fun."

Travis smirked at her with that typical Hermes smirk, and Eden's eyes were drawn to the fire on the stupid fucking ping pong ball. "Maybe I will, E."

"Let's come to order," Chiron said. "Lou Ellen, please give Miranda her nose back. Travis, if you'd kindly extinguish the flaming Ping-Pong ball, and Butch, I think twenty pencils is really too many for any human nostril. Thank you. Now, as you can see, Eden, Jason, Piper, and Leo have returned successfully . . . more or less. Some of you have heard parts of their story, but I will let them fill you in."

Everyone looked at Eden, who snorted and grabbed Travis's lighter. "I will set this place on fire if I have to explain this shit again." She threw it in the air and caught it before leaning in closer to Connor to talk to him. They were just gonna set a skyscraper on fire soon, probably drag Travis in. No big deal. They wanted the money. Also, putting those rich ass businessmen down. And besides, arson was fun.

Something that perked Eden up and out of their plan was when Perfect Jason mentioned Useless Whore behind in his cabin. That was so close to her cabin. She needed to clean it to get the stench off of her cabin.

"So Hera was here," Annabeth said. "Talking to you."

Perfect Jason nodded. "Look, I'm not saying I trust her—"

"Smart," Eden put in, leaning against Connor, who put an arm around her. She adored cuddling with him. "I'm surprised you actually have brain cells."