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leo looked up the staircase. his heart nearly stopped. at the top stood a girl in a white silk dress. her skin was unnaturally pale, the color of snow, but her hair was a lush mane of black, and her eyes were coffee brown. she focused on leo with no expression, no smile, no friendliness. but it didn't matter. leo was in love. she was the most dazzling girl he'd ever seen.
then she looked at phoebe, jason, and piper, and seemed to understand the situation immediately.
"father will want to see the ones called phoebe and jason," the girl said.
"then it is them?" zethes asked excitedly.
"we'll see," the girl said. "zethes, bring our guests."
leo grabbed the handle of his bronze dragon suitcase. he wasn't sure how he'd lug it up the stairs, but he had to get next to that girl and ask her some important questions—like her e-mail address and phone number.
before he could take a step, she froze him with a look. not literally froze, but she might as well have.
"not you, leo valdez," she said.
in the back of his mind, leo wondered how she knew his name; but mostly he was just concentrating on how crushed he felt.
"why not?" he probably sounded like a whiny kindergartner, but he couldn't help it.
"you cannot be in the presence of my father," the girl said. "fire and ice—it would not be wise."
"sucks, lady, cause we aren't leaving him to die." phoebe said.
"we're going together," jason insisted, putting his hand on leo's shoulder, "or not at all."
the girl tilted her head, like she wasn't used to people refusing her orders. "he will not be harmed, jason grace, unless you make trouble. calais, keep leo valdez here. guard him, but do not kill him."
cal pouted. "just a little?"
"no," the girl insisted. "and take care of his interesting suitcase, until father passes judgment."
the three other demigods looked at leo, their expressions asking him a silent question: how do you want to play this?
leo felt a surge of gratitude. they were ready to fight for him. they wouldn't leave him alone with the hockey ox. part of him wanted to go for it, bust out his new tool belt and see what he could do, maybe even summon a fireball or two and warm this place up. but the boread guys scared him. and that gorgeous girl scared him more, even if he still wanted her number.
"it's fine, guys," he said. "no sense causing trouble if we don't have to. you go ahead."
"listen to your friend," the pale girl said. "leo valdez will be perfectly safe. i wish i could say the same for you, son of zeus. now come, king boreas is waiting."
