𝐎𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒༄ • Jᴀsᴏɴ Gʀᴀᴄᴇ

Chapter 28

The sun was going down as they flew north over the Richmond Bridge, and Freya couldn't believe the day had gone so quickly. Once again, nothing like ADHD and a good fight to the death to make time fly. She could tell Leo was nervous about flying, but was keeping a straight face for Pipers sake, who didn't need another fuck up after the whole ordeal with her dad.

"Going okay?" Piper asked from the copilot's seat. Her and Leo we're sitting down on the only two settles while Freya and Jason had resorted to awkwardly hang on to their seats from behind so that they wouldn't topple over at minor turbulences.

"Aces," Leo said confidently. "Don't worry, beauty queen. I got this."

"That's not even mildly assuring."

Freya cleared her throat. "So what's the wolf house?"

"An abandoned mansion in the Sonoma Valley. A demigod built it—Jack London. " Answered Jason. "He an actor?"

"Writer," Piper said. "Adventure stuff, right?"

Freya waved a hand. "Call of the Wild, White Fang, etcetera"

"Right,"

"Yeah," Jason said. "He was a son of Mercury—I mean, Hermes. He was an adventurer, traveled the world. He was even a hobo for a while. Then he made a fortune writing. He bought a big ranch in the country and decided to build this huge mansion—the Wolf House. "

"Named that 'cause he wrote about wolves?" Leo guessed.

"Partially," Jason said. "But the site, and the reason he wrote about wolves—he was dropping hints about his personal experience. There're a lot of holes in his life story—how he was born, who his dad was, why he wandered around so much—stuff you can only explain if you know he was a demigod."

"But...that makes no sense." Said Freya eyeing Jason. "If he was a demigod, he would of gone to camp-half blood. We keep records of every camper, and I would know since Annabeth made me memorize all of them. Jack London was never there."

"No," Jason said. "No, he wasn't"

"You remember something, don't you?" Said Freya.

"Bro, you're freaking me out with the mysterious talk. If you got something, spit it out." Leo said.

"I remember pieces," Jason said. "Only pieces. None of it good. The Wolf House is on sacred ground. It's where London started his journey as a child—where he found out he was a demigod. That's why he returned there. He thought he could live there, claim that land, but it wasn't meant for him. The Wolf House was cursed. It burned in a fire a week before he and his wife were supposed to move in. A few years later, London died, and his ashes were buried on the site. "

"That sounds creepy as shit." Said Piper. "How do you know all of this, anyway?"

"I started my journey there too," Jason said. "It's a powerful place for demigods, a dangerous place. If Gaea can claim it, use its power to entomb Hera on the solstice and raise Porphyrion—that might be enough to awaken the earth goddess fully. "

Freya knew immediately that all this had to do with Jason being Roman. It hadn't seemed fully possible for some reason. Until now. They were starting to get the bits to Jason's story- his life as a Roman demigod, and how he'd lived it. He was starting to remember, and at first, Freya thought that was a good thing. She wasn't so sure anymore. She knew that Hera had erased his memory to hide information that they desperately needed, but what if that information was dangerous? What if it led them into even more trouble?

"Thirty minutes out," Leo told them, though she wasn't sure how he knew. "If you want to get some rest, now's a good time. "

Her and Jason strapped themselves to the back of the copter and immediately passed out. It felt like only two minutes before she woke up again with a start. At first, she thought they were being bombarded with rocks. Then he realized it was sleet. Frost built up around the edges of the glass, and slushy waves of ice blotted out his view.