𐌙/𐌍 Ᏽ𐌵𐌀𐌋𐌄 & 𐌕𐋅𐌄 Ᏽ𐌐𐌄𐌀𐌕 𐌌𐌙𐌕𐋅𐌔 ¹

Chapter 2

Two
𖧷

Pinning Over Girls Who Could Bash My Head In With A Punch

  Nothing caps off the perfect morning like a long taxi ride with an angry girl.

  I tried to talk to Annabeth, but she was acting like I’d just punched her grandmother. All I managed to get out of her was that she’d had a monster-infested spring in San Francisco; she’d come back to camp twice since Christmas but wouldn’t tell me why (which kind of ticked me off, because she hadn’t even told me she was in New York); and she’d learned nothing about the whereabouts of Nico, my Ex-boyfriend (long story).

  "Any word on Luke?" I asked.

  She shook her head. I knew this was a touchy subject for her. Annabeth had always admired Luke, the former head counselor for Hermes who had betrayed us and joined the evil Titan Lord Kronos. She wouldn’t admit it, but I knew she still liked him. When we’d fought Luke on Mount Tamalpais last winter, he’d somehow survived a fifty-foot fall off a cliff. Now, as far as I knew, he was still sailing around on his demon-infested cruise ship while his chopped-up Lord Kronos re-formed, bit by bit, in a golden sarcophagus, biding his time until he had enough power to challenge the Olympian gods. In demigod-speak, we call this a “problem.”

  "Mount Tam is still overrun with monsters," Annabeth said. "I didn’t dare go close, but I don’t think Luke is up there. I think I would know if he was."

  That didn’t make me feel much better. "What about Grover?"

  "He’s at camp," she said. "We’ll see him today."

  "Did he have any luck? I mean, with the search for Pan?"

  Annabeth fingered her bead necklace, the way she does when she’s worried.

  "You’ll see," she said. But she didn’t explain.

  As we headed through Brooklyn, I used Annabeth’s phone to call Sally. Half-bloods try not to use cell phones if we can avoid it, because broadcasting our voices is like sending up a flare to the monsters: Here I am! Please eat me now! But I figured this call was important. I left a message on our home voice mail, trying to explain what had happened at Goode. I probably didn't do a very good job. I told Sally we were okay, she shouldn’t
worry, but we were going to stay at camp until things cooled down. I asked her to tell Paul Blofis I was sorry.

  We rode in silence after that. The city melted away until we were off the expressway and rolling through the countryside of northern Long Island, past orchards and wineries and fresh produce stands.

  I stared at the phone number Rachel Elizabeth Dare had scrawled on my hand. I knew it was crazy, but I was tempted to call her. Maybe she could help me understand what the empousa had been talking about—the camp burning, my friends imprisoned. And why had Kelli exploded into flames?

  I knew monsters never truly died. Eventually—maybe weeks, months, or years from now—Kelli would re-form out of the primordial nastiness seething in the Underworld. But still, monsters didn’t usually let themselves get destroyed so easily. If she really was destroyed.

  The taxi exited on Route 25A. We headed through the woods along the North Shore until a low ridge of hills appeared on our left. Annabeth told the driver to pull over on Farm Road 3.141, at the base of Half-Blood Hill.

  The driver frowned. "There ain’t nothing here, miss. You sure you want out?"

  "Yes, please," Annabeth handed him a roll of mortal cash, and the driver decided not to argue.