BLOODSHOT . . . piper mclean

48.

THE STAY ON the ship was pretty uneventful all in all; Eden had quickly convinced Piper that Perfect Jason hadn't needed much supervision and would probably alert someone if he woke up, so they made out in their shared bedroom for a little bit.

Until Kaleidoscope's duty overtook her, and Eden needed to fix her makeup and clothes. They separated, and Eden had taken a shower, changed into a sleeveless white top, zipped up black shorts, and tights, and she'd finished her skincare and almost her makeup by the time that Piper had yelled for her.

Then, Eden immediately had dashed over to her, stopping short in Perfect Jason's doorway. "What's up?" She asked, sliding and leaning casually as if she hadn't ditched her chapstick to run over to her. Then she noticed that he was awake. "Oh. Good morning," she sat down on the other chair. "You good? No brain damage?"

"Not that I know of," Perfect Jason said.

"Too bad, still have to check you anyway, otherwise I would be a shit doctor." As she checked his basic abilities that he probably still wouldn't have passed because he was dumb, her girlfriend explained what was happening to him. She was just explaining Leo's plan to fix the ship when Eden heard horse hooves clomping across the deck over their heads.

Moments later, Leo and Hazel stumbled to a stop in the doorway, carrying a large sheet of hammered bronze between them.

"Gods of Olympus." Piper stared at Leo. "What happened to you?"

His hair was greased back. He had welding goggles on his forehead, a lipstick mark on his cheek, tattoos all over his arms, and a T-shirt that read HOT STUFF, BAD BOY, and TEAM LEO.

Eden laughed. "Oh my god, dude. Do you think that that looks cool?"

"Shut the hell up," he said to Eden. "Others back?"

"Not yet," Kaleidoscope said.

Leo cursed. Then he noticed Perfect Jason sitting up, and his face brightened. "Hey, man! Glad you're better. I'll be in the engine room."

He ran off with the sheet of bronze, leaving Hazel in the doorway. Eden decided she was done with Perfect Jason and hopped back into the comfy chair. "No brain damage." She announced proudly.

Piper raised an eyebrow at Hazel. "Team Leo?"

"We met Narcissus," Hazel said, which didn't really explain much. "Also Nemesis, the revenge goddess."

Perfect Jason sighed. "I miss all the fun."

On the deck above, something went THUMP, as if a heavy creature had landed. Annabeth and Percy came running down the hall. Percy was toting a steaming five-gallon plastic bucket that smelled horrible. Annabeth had a patch of black sticky stuff in her hair. Percy's shirt was covered in it.

"Roofing tar?" Piper guessed.

Frank stumbled up behind them, which made the hallway pretty jam-packed with demigods. Frank had a big smear of the black sludge down his face.

"Ran into some tar monsters," Annabeth said. "Hey, Jason, glad you're awake. Hazel, where's Leo?"

She pointed down. "Engine room."

Suddenly the entire ship listed to port. The demigods stumbled. Percy almost spilled his bucket of tar.

"Uh, what was that?" he demanded.

"Oh . . ." Hazel looked embarrassed. "We may have angered the nymphs who live in this lake. Like . . . all of them."

"Great." Percy handed the bucket of tar to Frank and Annabeth. "You guys help Leo. I'll hold off the water spirits as long as I can."