BABY DON'T CUT - jason grace

Chapter Fourteen

Estella kept looking back. She almost expected to see those sun dragons toting a flying chariot with a screaming magical saleswoman throwing potions, but nothing followed them.

Leo was steering Festus toward the southwest. Eventually, the smoke from the burning department store faded in the distance, but Estella didn't relax until the suburbs of Chicago gave way to snowy fields, and the sun began to set.

"Good job, Festus." Leo patted the dragon's metal hide. "You did awesome."

The dragon shuddered. Gears popped and clicked in his neck.

Estella noticed Leo frown.

"I'll give you a tune-up next time we land," Leo promised. "You've earned some motor oil and Tabasco sauce."

Festus whirled his teeth, but it sounded weak to Estella. He flew at a steady pace, his great wings angling to catch the wind.

"Leo." Piper patted his shoulder. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah ... not bad for a brainwashed zombie," Leo answered, avoiding looking behind him. "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.

Estella sighed. She hated what she had told Leo. She didn't even believe those words to be true—those were just words that Estella herself hated to hear, things she thought she was. Annoying. Useless. And, did Jason really mean what he said about Estella? Estella bit her lip, nerves overcoming her, the urge to forget her worries by making herself bleed was too strong.

"We're going to have to put down soon," Leo warned Jason, Estella and Piper. "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."

"Where are we going?" Estella asked.

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

Piper didn't respond.

"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 would all 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."

Leo grunted. "So how do we find Aeolus?"

Jason leaned forward. "You mean you don't see it?" He pointed ahead of them, but Estella 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."

Leo and Piper both seemed as confused as Estella felt.

"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 Estella even more. Piper didn't just sound nervous. She sounded broken with despair, like they'd already sealed their fate, and like it was her fault.