XXXII

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AIMEE LOOKED OVER AT JASON and couldn't help but feel bad,He had found his sister and lost her in less than an hour. As they climbed the cliffs of the floating island, she saw that he kept kept looking back, but she knew that Thalia was gone.

Despite what she'd said about meeting him again, Aimee really wondered. She'd found a new family with the Hunters, and a new mother in Artemis. She seemed so confident and comfortable with her life, she wasn't sure if Jason would ever be part of it. And she seemed so set on finding her friends Percy and Zack. Had she ever searched for Jason that way?

Not fair, Aimee told herself. She thought Jason was dead,you can't judge someone so quickly.

Aimee could barely tolerate what she'd said to Jason about their mom. It was almost like Thalia had handed Jason a baby—a really loud, ugly baby—and said, Here, this is yours. Carry it. But the thing was,Jason didn't want to carry it. Jason didn't want to look at it or claim it. Aimee knew that Jason didn't want to know that he had an unstable mother who'd gotten rid of him to appease a goddess. No wonder Thalia had run away.

Then she remembered the Hades cabin at Camp Half-Blood—that tiny little alcove Nico had used as a bunk, out of sight from the glowering statue of the death god. Their dad wasn't much of a bargain, either. Aimee understood why Thalia had renounced the part of her life that had to do with her godly parent too, but Jason was still resentful. Him and Aimee couldn't be so lucky. Jason was left holding the bag —literally.

The golden backpack of winds was strapped over his shoulders. The closer they got to Aeolus's palace,the more the winds struggled, rumbling and bumping around.

The only one who seemed in a good mood was Coach Hedge. He kept bounding up the slippery staircase and trotting back down. "Come on, cupcakes! Only a few thousand more steps!"

Aimee had started up the stairs after everyone else,she wanted to think.She wanted to be alone...but at the same time she didn't.Thalia had put ideas in her head that made her anxious.She had a hard time wrapping her brain around everything.Jason walked not too far in front of her,both of them had grumpy vibes about them

In front of them,Leo and Piper left them in their silence. Maybe they could sense their bad mood. Piper kept glancing back, worried. Or maybe she was just thinking about Thalia's idea. They'd told her what Thalia had said on the bridge—how they could save both her dad and Hera—but Aimee didn't really understand how they were going to do that, and Aimee wasn't sure if the possibility had made Piper more hopeful or just more anxious

Leo kept swatting his own legs, checking for signs that his pants were on fire. He wasn't steaming anymore, but the incident on the ice bridge had really freaked Aimee out. Leo hadn't seemed to realize that he had smoke coming out his ears and flames dancing through his hair. If Leo started spontaneously combusting every time he got excited, they were going to have a tough time taking him anywhere. Aimee imagined trying to get food at a restaurant. I'll have a cheeseburger and—Ahhh! My friend's on fire! Get me a bucket!

Mostly, though, Aimee really worried about what Leo had said. Her and Jason didn't want to be a bridge, or an exchange, or anything else. They just wanted to know where they came from. And Thalia had looked so unnerved when Leo mentioned the burned-out house in their dreams—the place the wolf Lupa had told them was their starting point. How did Thalia know that place, and why did she assume Jason could find it?

The answer seemed close. But the nearer Jason and Aimee got to it, the less it cooperated, like the winds on Jason's back.

Finally they arrived at the top of the island. Bronze walls marched all the way around the fortress grounds, though Aimee couldn't imagine who would possibly attack this place. Twenty-foot-high gates opened for them, and a road of polished purple stone led up to the main citadel—a white-columned rotunda, Greek style, like one of the monuments in Washington, D.C.—except for the cluster of satellite dishes and radio towers on the roof.

"That's bizarre," Piper said.

"Guess you can't get cable on a floating island," Leo said. "Dang, check this guy's front yard."

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