DIVINE » l. valdez

xxviii

❝and someday soon someone will notice me ❞

Hina hoped that it would be a good day.

They were docked at a busy wharf. Beside the ship a channel stretched out for a mile, with clear blue water. On the other side of the ship sat Venice- red tiled roofs, domed churches, steeped towers, and sun-bleached buildings all faded pastels colours.

Everywhere they looked sat statues of lions- on roof tops, pillars, and in parks. In place of streets, the famous canals of Venice snaked along the city overflowing with motor boats and tiny gondolas. The docks were packed full of tourists, crammed into souvenir stores and coffee shops. 

If Rome had been overwhelming with tourists, Hina had no clue how to describe the mass of people in Venice. 

The only thing out of place in the sea side city was the creatures milling around the crowds. Hina called the crew over and they crowded along the starboard railing.

Each monster was about the size of a cow, with a bowed back like a broken-down horse, matted gray fur, skinny legs, and black cloven hooves. The creatures' heads seemed much too heavy for their necks. Their long, anteater-like snouts drooped to the ground. Their overgrown gray manes completely covered their eyes.

A few creatures sniffed the ground, the tourists calmly parting for them. One tourist even reached down petting the shaggy fur. The image of the mutant cow flickered, revealing an old, fat beagle.

Jason grunted. "The mortals think they're stray dogs."

"Or pets roaming around," Piper said. "My dad shot a film in Venice once. I remember him telling me there were dogs everywhere. Venetians love dogs."

Hina hadn't thought much about Piper's dad since they rescued him from a giant earlier in the year. The McLean's were too down to earth to have lived in Hollywood for so long.

"But what are they?" Frank asked. "They look like...starving, shaggy cows with sheepdog hair."

No one offered him an answer.

"Maybe they're harmless," Leo suggested. "They're ignoring the mortals."

"Harmless!" Coach Hedge laughed. He wore his usual gym shorts and shirt with his whistle roped around his neck. A single pink elastic band was still wrapped around part of the satyr's hair and Hina wasn't sure if it was intentional. "Valdez, how many harmless monsters have we met? We should just aim the ballistae and see what happens!"

"Uh, no," Leo said.

Hina agreed, stretching an arm out to push Hedge farther away from the ballistae for extra measures. The city was too crowded to properly aim at one of the creatures, and if they started a stampede... Hina hated to think about the mortals below.

"We'll have to walk through them and hope they're peaceful," Frank said, a giant frown on his face. "It's the only way we're going to track down the owner of that book."

Leo pulled the leather-bound manual from underneath his arm. He'd slapped a sticky note on the cover with the address the dwarfs in Bologna had given him as well as a smiley face.

"La Casa Nera," he read. "Calle Frezzeria."

"The Black House," Nico di Angelo translated. "Calle Frezzeria is the street."

Hina flinched, almost forgetting the boy was on the boat at all. Nico was exceptional at startling Hina, seemingly disappearing when he wasn't offering any information. He was the poster child for children of Hades.