Wild ― Piper McLean

―xi. verona punches a dead king in the face

VERONA DIDN'T RELAX until the burning department store was a speck in the distance. Only when the smoke was all she could see did she let herself breathe a sigh of relief, grateful to have escaped that carnage fully intact.

Piper reached around Jason and patted Leo's shoulder. "You feeling okay?"

Leo looked back. "Yeah... not bad for a brainwashed zombie." He scratched the back of his neck. "Thanks for saving us back there, beauty queen. If you hadn't talked me out of that spell—"

"Don't worry about it," Piper said.

That was easy for her to say. Verona couldn't quite let go of how easily Medea had set her against Leo and Jason. In the moment, it had felt right—like that anger and resentment was all hers. But now, looking back, the idea of fighting them felt just plain wrong.

"We're going to have to put down soon," Leo warned them. "Couple more hours, maybe, to make sure Medea's not following us. I don't think Festus can fly much longer than that."

"Yeah," Piper agreed. "Coach Hedge probably wants to get out of his canary cage, too. Question is—where are we going?"

"The Bay Area," Leo guessed. "Didn't Medea say something about Oakland?"

Piper was quiet for so long, Verona looked back to check on her.

"Piper's dad," Jason put in. "Something's happened to your dad, right? He got lured into some kind of trap."

Piper let out a shaky breath. "Look, Medea said you all would die in the Bay Area. And besides... even if we went there, the Bay Area is huge! First we need to find Aeolus and drop off the storm spirits. Boreas said Aeolus was the only one who could tell us exactly where to go."

"So... how do we find Aeolus?" Verona asked.

Jason leaned forward. "You mean you don't see it?" He pointed ahead of them, but Verona didn't see anything except clouds and the lights of a few towns glowing in the dusk.

"What?" Leo asked.

"That... whatever it is," Jason said. "In the air."

Verona glanced at Leo and Piper, who looked as confused as she was.

"Right," Leo said. "Could you be more specific on the 'whatever-it-is' part?"

"Like a vapor trail," Jason said. "Except it's glowing. Really faint, but it's definitely there. We've been following it since Chicago, so I figured you saw it."

Leo shook his head. "Maybe Festus can sense it. You think Aeolus made it?"

"Well, it's a magic trail in the wind," Jason said. "Aeolus is the wind god. I think he knows we've got prisoners for him. He's telling us where to fly."

"Or it's another trap," Piper said.

Her tone worried Verona. She didn't sound nervous—she sounded broken with despair, like their fates were sealed and it was her fault.

"Pipes, you all right?" Leo asked.

"Don't call me that."

"Okay, fine. You don't like any of the names I make up for you. But if your dad's in trouble and we can help—"

"You can't," Piper said, her voice getting shakier. "Look, I'm tired. If you don't mind..."

She leaned back against Verona and closed her eyes, making it clear that she was done talking.

They flew in silence for a while.

Eventually, Jason took the reins so Leo could get some sleep, leaving him and Verona in silence.