BLOODSHOT . . . piper mclean

54.

EDEN HATED RUNNING, but at least she was faster than the rest of these dweebs.

"Hurry up!" She snapped, running backwards to see if they were coming. "This would've been so much faster if you'd just let me hotwire another car!"

"That'd take too long!" Percy pointlessly argued.

"As long as it's taking us to fucking run all the way back to the ship?" Eden brought out a bow, loaded it, and shot an arrow off in the distance. "Run faster!"

Frank panted. "How are you running so fast?"

"The Achilles in my last name is because he let me use it because his blood is in my system," Eden rolled her eyes. "When we get back, I'm immediately collapsing on the ground. Attempting to use my powers put a lot out of my system."

Needless to say, Eden collapsed on the ground as soon as they got on the ship, closing her eyes when the world was spinning too much. She heard two more thunks next to her but she didn't know who they were, and she didn't care. Considering that someone was saying "awesome." over and over again, she assumed one was Coach.

Footsteps up to the deck. One sounded like Annabeth's. Another's were unfamiliar — probably Hazel.

Another three footsteps up. Someone grabbed Eden's hand, and she opened her eyes to see her girlfriend. God, she was gorgeous with her stupid Hello Kitty shirt and sweatpants that were definitely not her own. Eden gripped her hand tighter and sighed, closing her eyes.

"What? What?" Leo cried, holding a half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich. At least, Eden could smell that damn thing. "Can't a guy even take a lunch break? What's wrong?"

"Followed!" Frank yelled.

"Followed by what?" Perfect Jason asked.

"I don't know!" Frank panted. "Whales? Sea monsters? Maybe Kate and Porky!"

Eden snorted. "I'm so scared of Kate and Porky, please get us out of here."

"That makes absolutely no sense. Leo, you'd better get us out of here." Annabeth ordered.

Eden cracked one eye open to see Leo put his sandwich between his teeth, pirate style, and run for the helm.

Soon the Argo II was rising into the sky. Eden didn't start to recover until the Atlanta skyline was a hazy smudge in the distance. Then she breathed out and leaned her forehead on Piper's shoulder.

"Charleston," Percy said, hobbling around the deck like an old man. He still sounded pretty shaken up. "Set course for Charleston."

"Charleston?" Perfect Jason said the name as if it brought back bad memories. "What exactly did you find in Atlanta?"

Frank unzipped his backpack and starting bringing out his souvenirs. "Some peach preserves. A couple of T-shirts. A snow globe. And, um, these not-really-Chinese handcuffs."

Annabeth was so fuming. "How about you start from the top — of the story, not the backpack."

They gathered on the quarterdeck so Leo could hear the conversation as he navigated. Eden, Percy, and Frank took turns relating what had happened at the Georgia Aquarium, with Coach Hedge interjecting from time to time: "That was awesome!" or "Then I kicked her in the head!" Percy explained about the captive sea creatures in the aquarium.

"That's terrible," Annabeth said. "We need to help them."

"Later," Eden glanced out and almost gagged. "We still have to figure out how. The Stolls and I could do a heist there. That wouldn't be until later, though."