𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 》JASON GRACE²

ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ᵉⁱᵍʰᵗ

''ONE MORE TIME. WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED?''

Leo wished he could invent a time machine. He'd go back two hours and undo what had happened. Either that, or he could invent a SLAP-LEO-IN-THE-FACE machine to punish himself, though he doubted it would hurt as badly as the look Annabeth was giving him.

He slumped against the mass. His head still throbbed from hitting the deck. All around him, his beautiful new ship was in shambles. The aft crossbows were piles of kindling. The foresail was tattered. The satellite array that powered the onboard Internet and TV was blown to bits, which had really made Coach Hedge ad. Their bronze dragon figurehead, Festus, was coughing up smoke like he had a hairball, and Leo could tell from the groaning sounds on the port side that some of the aerial oars had been knocked out of alignment or broken off completely, which explained why the ship was listing and shuddering as if flew, the engine wheezing like an asthmatic steam train.

Leo chocked back a sob. ''I don't know. It's fuzzy.''

Too many people were looking at him: Annabeth (Leo hated to make her angry, that girl scared him), Coach Hedge with his furry goat legs, his orange polo shirt, and is baseball bat (did he have to carry that everywhere?), Noelani (who was the only one who looked like she believed him), and the newcomer, Frank.

Leo wasn't sure what to make of Frank. He looked like a baby sumo wrestler, though Leo wasn't stupid enough to say that out loud. It was true, Leo's memory was hazy, but while he'd been half conscious, he was pretty sure he'd seen a dragon land on the ship - a dragon that had turned into Frank.

Annabeth crossed her arms. ''You mean you don't remember?'' Her foot was tapping impatiently.

''I...'' Leo felt like he was trying to swallow marble. ''I remember, but it's like I was watching myself do things. I couldn't control it.''

Coach Hedge tapped his bat against the deck. In his gym clothes, with his cap pulled over his horns, he looked like he used to at the Wilderness School, where he'd spent a year undercover as Jason, Piper and Leo's PE teacher. The way the old satyr was glowering, Leo almost wondered if he was going to be ordered to do suicide runs.

''Look, kid,'' Hedge said, ''You blew up some stuff. You attacked the Romans; awesome! Great! Excellent, even! But did you have to knock out the satellite channels? I was right in the middle of watching a cage match.''

''Coach,'' Annabeth said, pinching the bridge of her nose, ''Why don't you make sure all the fires are out?''

''But I already did that.''

''Do it again.''

The satyr trudged off, muttering under his breath. Even Hedge wasn't crazy enough to defy Annabeth.

Noelani was the next one to make a move. She approached and knelt next to Leo. Her brown eyes had the illusion of twisting like a black hole as she stared into his own, as if she was sucking the truth out of him. Her brown hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, a few baby hairs curling around her face and frizzing up. She hadn't worn it down since they had gotten back, which Leo thought was unusual, but not enough to comment on it.

''Leo,'' she said calmly, hand clamping on his shoulder. The weight gave him reassurance, but he was oddly aware of how close to his neck she was. ''Did Octavian trick you somehow? Did he frame you, or-''

''No.'' Leo could have lied and blamed that stupid Roman, but he didn't want to make the situation worse. ''The guy was a jerk, but he didn't set the camp on fire. I did.''

The new kid, Frank, scowled. ''On purpose?''

''No!'' Leo squeezed his eyes shut. ''Well, yes... I mean, I didn't want to. But at the same time, I felt like I wanted to. Something was making me do it. There was this, cold feeling, inside of me-''