ichor - jason grace

XXII

The sun was going down as they flew north over the Richmond Bridge, and Nell was surprised the day had gone so quickly. Nothing like a near-death experience to make the time fly.

Nell was surprised at how well Leo was flying the chopper, she watched his face flit between confident and slightly panicky but so far so good.

"Going okay?" Piper said from the copilot's seat. She sounded nervous, and she watched at Leo put on a brave face. "Aces," he said. "So what's the wolf house?"

Jason knelt between their seats, and Nell twisted in her chair, so she was facing the trio. "An abandoned mansion in the Sonoma Valley. A demigod built it - Jack London."

Nell had no idea who that was.

"He an actor?" Leo asked.

"Writer," Piper said. "Adventure stuff, right? Call of the Wild? White fang?"

"Yeah," Jason said. "He was a son of Mercury - I mean Hermes. He was an adventurer, travelled the world. He was even a hobo for a while. Then made a fortune writing. He bought a big ranch in the country and decided to build this huge mansion - the Wolf House."

"Named that 'cause he wrote about wolves?" Leo guessed.

"Partially," Jason said. "But the site, and the reason he wrote about wolves - he was dropping hints about his personal experience. There're a lot of holes in his life story - how he was born, who his dad was, why he wandered around so much - stuff you can only explain if you know that he was a demigod."

The bay slipped behind them, and the helicopter continued north. Ahead of them, yellow hills rolled out as far as Leo could see. "So Jack London went to camp half-blood," Leo guessed.

"No," Jason said. "No, he didn't."

"Bro, you're freaking me out with the mysterious talk. Are you remembering your past or not?"

"Pieces," Jason said. "Only pieces. None of it good. The wolf house is on sacred ground. It's where London found his journey as a child - when he found out he was a demigod. That's why he returned there. He thought he could live there, claim that land, but it wasn't meant for him. The wolf house was cursed. It burned in a fire a week before him and his wife were supposed to move in. A few years later, London died, and his ashes were buried on the site."

"So," Piper said, "how do you know this?"

A shadow crossed Jason's face, and Nell did a double-take. She could have sworn it looked like an eagle.

"I started my journey there too," Jason said. "It's a powerful place for demigods, a dangerous place. If Gaea can claim it, use its power to entomb Hera on the solstice and raise Porphyrion - that might be enough to awaken the earth goddess fully."

Nell felt a shiver go down her spine, and she turned her attention to the window. They were going at full speed, but Nell could see a cloud bank or a storm right towards where they were heading. No doubt that was where they were going.

She flinched when the helicopter shuddered, and the metal started to creak. Nell was glad when Leo levelled out the chopper, and the noises stopped.

"Thirty minutes out," he told his them, though she wasn't sure how he knew. "If you want to get some rest, now's a good time."

Jason strapped himself to the back of the helicopter and passed out almost immediately. Nell closed her eyes and tried to relax, but gave up after five minutes, she was too wired to try and sleep. Piper and Leo stayed awake, too.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Leo said, "Your dad will be fine, you know. Nobody's gonna mess with him with that crazy goat around."

"My dad," she said thoughtfully. "Yeah, I know."