𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 ²

Chapter 27

X X V I I - Twenty Seven
𖤐

Piper

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 and Leo didn’t seem to think anything was wrong.

  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. Right, Piper?"

  Piper did her best to stare daggers at him: 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."

  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," Jason said. His voice sounded dazed and sleepy.

  "Jason," Piper said. "We’ve got a job to do. Remember?" She tried to put power into her words, to snap him out of his trance with charmspeak, 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.

  "Job to do," Jason muttered. "Sure. But shopping first, okay?"

  The princess beamed at him. "Then we have potions for resisting fire—"

  "Got that covered," Leo said.

  "Indeed?" The princess studied Leo’s face more closely. "You don’t appear to be wearing my trademark sunscreen ...but no matter. We also have potions that cause blindness, insanity, sleep, or—"