Crimson Rivers [1] - Percy jackson

Chapter 10: To Vegas We Go

The war god was waiting for us in the diner parking lot. “Well, well,” he said. “You didn’t get yourself killed."

“You knew it was a trap,” I said.

Ares gave me a wicked grin. “Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised
when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV.”

Percy shoved his shield at him. “You’re a jerk.”

Annabeth and Grover caught their breath. Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back. “See that truck over there?” He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. “That’s your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas.”

The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which I could read only because it was reverse-printed white on black, a good combination for dyslexia: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE
WILD ANIMALS.

I said, “You’re kidding.”
Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. “Free ride
west, punk. Stop complaining. And here’s a little something for doing the job.”

He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to Perce. Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos. He said “I  really do not  want your lousy—”

“Thank you, Lord Ares,” Grover interrupted, giving him his best red-alert warning look. “Thanks a lot.”

I gritted my teeth. It was probably a deadly insult to refuse something
from a god, but I didn’t want anything that Ares had touched. Reluctantly, he
slung the backpack over my shoulder. I knew my anger was being caused by
the war god’s presence, but I was still itching to punch him in the nose. I looked back at the diner, which had only a couple of customers now.nThe waitress who’d served us dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt us. She dragged the fry cook outbfrom the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of us. Great, I thought. We’ll make the papers again tomorrow.

I imagined the headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAWS BEATS UP DEFENSELESS
BIKER.

“You owe is one more thing, the bond and” I told Ares, trying to keep my voice level.

“You promised me information about my mother.” Percy finishes

“You sure you can handle the news? You two have some weird bond” He kick-started his motorcycle. “She’s not dead.”

The ground seemed to spin beneath Percy. “What do you mean?”

“I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She
was turned into a shower of gold, right? That’s metamorphosis. Not death. She’s being kept.”

“Kept. Why?”

“You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else.”

“Nobody’s controlling me.”

He laughed. “Oh yeah? See you around, kid."

I balled up my fists. “You’re pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues.”

Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. I felt a hot wind in my hair. “We’ll
meet again, Syrus Prince. Next time you’re in a fight, watch your back.”

He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street. Annabeth said, “That was not smart, you two.”

“I don’t care.” I tell her

“You don’t want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god.”

“Hey, guys,” Grover said. “I hate to interrupt, but…”

He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were
paying their check, two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on
their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck.
“If we’re taking the zoo express,” Grover said, “we need to hurry.”

I didn’t like it, but we had no better option. Besides, I’d seen enough of
Denver. We ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big rig, closing the doors behind us. The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was like the world’s biggest pan of kitty litter.

The trailer was dark inside until Percy uncapped Anaklusmos. The blade cast a
faint bronze light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages
were three of the most pathetic zoo animals I’d ever beheld: a zebra, a male
albino lion, and some weird antelope thing I didn’t know the name for.
Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn’t
want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of
hamburger meat. The zebra’s mane was matted with chewing gum, like
somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time.