no matter how many times a snake shed its skin, it would always be a snake. no matter how hard kit dempsey tried to prove he was no longer a traitor, camp half-blood would always view him as the boy who betrayed them for kronos. but not leo valdez...
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THROUGH THE SMOKE
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KIT SWORE HE COULD smell the smoke even after they left Medea and her department store behind. The stench clung to Leo's blood-stained jacket as Kit tried in vain to rub the red marks off his face and neck. In the end, he gave up, sitting back with a frustrated scowl that furrowed his brows. The marks were violent, like whatever monster he had bested fought to the very end. It was something straight out of a horror movie, so much so that Kit found Piper and Jason struggling to meet his eyes.
"So what now?" he asked, turning his gaze to the setting sun as the busy Chicago streets faded into once-distant snowy fields. There was barely any sign of life below, just barren land not yet transformed.
Piper breathed out a shaky sigh. "I've got no idea," she admitted, gaze slipping past Kit to land on Leo. The boy in question was muttering something to Festus, nodding along when the dragon made mechanical sounds in response. Piper frowned uneasily. "Hey, Leo, are you feeling okay?"
At that particular question, Leo's face flushed an obvious shade of red. No one had mentioned what happened with him and Jason. It was out of their control, but Kit had the feeling Leo didn't see it that way. Still, he shrugged off Piper's hand, trying his best to seem upbeat.
"Not bad for a brainwashed zombie," he chuckled, but the sound was hollow, empty to Kit's ears. "Thanks for saving us back there, Beauty Queen. If you hadn't talked me out of that spell..."
Piper merely waved him away with a somewhat bashful smile. "Don't worry about it," she insisted.
Leo looked ready to protest, but then he noticed Kit. Almost immediately, he glanced at the blood on Kit's skin. He pretended not to notice when his eyes softened. "And Kit, thanks for... you know... helping me out with that dragon. I knew you liked me somewhere in that cold, dead heart of yours, even though I did give you a bit of a hard time back there..."
Kit scoffed at that, but couldn't resist the smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth. "It's no problem, Leo. But the next time you say I'm attracted to you, expect me to leave you to the monster."
At that, Leo let out an awkward chuckle, painfully aware of Piper and Jason listening to them. Fortunately, Jason seemed entirely oblivious to why Leo was blushing, but Piper was smirking like she could see right through him. "Noted..."
For a while, the conversation came to an end, leaving them to fly through the air in contemplative silence. Kit could feel his eyes growing heavy with the familiar ache of exhaustion, but he fought off the urge to sleep as Leo finally turned back to face him, any remnants of light fading into seriousness in the tight set of his jaw.
"We're going to have to put down soon," he warned them. "Couple more hours, maybe, to make sure that Medea's not following us. I don't think Festus can fly much longer than that."
