Soul of Olympus

Chapter Fifteen

PIPER WANTED TO RUN FOR THE ELEVATOR. Her second choice: attack the weird princess now, because she was sure a fight was coming. The way the lady's face glowed when she'd heard Jason's name had been bad enough. Now Her Highness was smiling like nothing had happened, and Jason, Ariadne and Leo didn't seem to think anything was wrong. It scared her a little bit that Ariadne found nothing wrong, usually she was the most on guard between them.

The princess gestured toward the cosmetics counter. "Shall we start with the potions?"

"Cool," Jason said.

"Guys," Piper interrupted, "we're here to get the storm spirits and Coach Hedge. If this—princess—is really our friend—"

"Oh, I'm better than a friend, my dear," Her Highness said. "I'm a saleswoman." 

Her diamonds sparkled, and her eyes glittered like a snake's—cold and dark. 

"Don't worry. We'll work our way down to the first floor, eh?"

Leo nodded eagerly. "Sure, yeah! That sounds okay"

Ariadne nodded with Leo. "Right, Piper?" 

Her tone sounded like a question but there seemed to be a hint of concern, of fear. Piper did her best to stare daggers at them, especially Leo: No, it is not okay!

"Of course it's okay." 

Her Highness put her hands on Leo's and Jason's shoulders and steered them toward the cosmetics. 

"Come along, boys. Ariadne hold onto Jason now." 

Ariadne gave her Highness a smile and nodded. She walked over to Jason's side, and hooked both her arms around his. Piper didn't have much choice except to follow. She hated department stores—mostly because she'd gotten caught stealing from several of them. Well, not exactly caught, and not exactly stealing. She'd talked salesmen into giving her computers, new boots, a gold ring, once even a lawn mower, though she had no idea why she wanted one. She never kept the stuff. She just did it to get her dad's attention. 

Usually she talked her neighborhood UPS guy into taking the stuff back. But of course the salesmen she duped always came to their senses and called the police, who eventually tracked her down. Anyway, she wasn't thrilled to be back in a department store—especially one run by a crazy princess who glowed in the dark.

"And here," the princess said, "is the finest assortment of magical mixtures anywhere."

The counter was crammed with bubbling beakers and smoking vials on tripods. Lining the display shelves were crystal flasks—some shaped like swans or honey bear dispensers. The liquids inside were every color, from glowing white to polka-dotted. And the smells—ugh! Some were pleasant, like fresh-baked cookies or roses, but they were mixed with the scents of burning tires, skunk spray, and gym lockers. The princess pointed to a bloodred vial—a simple test tube with a cork stopper. 

"This one will heal any disease."

"Even cancer?" Leo asked. "Leprosy? Hangnails?"

"Any disease, sweet boy.And this vial"—she pointed to a swan-shaped container with blue liquid inside—"will kill you very painfully."

"Awesome," Ariadne said. 

Her voice sounded dazed and sleepy, her arms still hooked around Jason's.

"Jason," 

Piper said, trying to crack him first. "We've got a job to do. Remember?" She tried to put power into her words, to snap him out of his trance with charm-speak, if she could get him out her could help her with Leo and Ariadne, but her voice sounded shaky even to her. This princess woman scared her too much, made her confidence crumble, just the way she'd felt back in the Aphrodite cabin with Drew.