WORTH | jason grace¹

19

╔═══════════════╗

19. Danger

╚═══════════════╝

Eventually, the smoke from the burning department store faded in the distance, but the group didn't talk until the suburbs of Chicago gave way to snowy fields, and the sun began to set.

"I missed the adrenaline of fighting." Lorna said wistfully.

"You've been doing it long?" Piper asked.

Lorna nodded. The way Piper studied her made Lorna uncomfortable. Piper was a child of Aphrodite, could she have figured her out?

"Good job, Festus." Leo patted the dragon's metal hide. "You did awesome."

The dragon shuddered. Gears popped and clicked in his neck.

"I'll give you a tune-up next time we land," Leo promised. "You've earned some motor oil and Tabasco sauce."

Festus whirled his teeth. He flew at a steady pace, his great wings angling to catch the wind, but he was carrying a heavy load. Two cages in his claws plus four people on his back—the more Lorna thought about it, the more worried she got. Even metal dragons had limits.

"Leo." Piper patted his shoulder. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah ... not bad for a brainwashed zombie." He hoped he didn't look as embarrassed as he felt. "Thanks for saving us back there, beauty queen. If you hadn't talked me out of that spell—"

"Don't worry about it," Piper said.

"We're going to have to put down soon," Leo warned his friends. "Couple more hours, maybe, to make sure Medea's not following us. I don't think Festus can fly much longer than that."

"Yeah," Piper agreed. "Coach Hedge probably wants to get out of his canary cage, too."

"I'm pretty sure Medea's dead. I stabbed her." Lorna said. She heard a small 'wow' from behind her but ignored it.

"Question is—where are we going?" Piper asked

"The Bay Area," Leo guessed. "Didn't Medea say something about Oakland?"

Piper didn't respond for long.

"Piper's dad," Jason put in. "Something's happened to your dad, right? He got lured into some kind of trap."

Piper let out a shaky breath. "Look, Medea said you would both die in the Bay Area. And besides ... even if we went there, the Bay Area is huge! First we need to find Aeolus and drop off the storm spirits. Boreas said Aeolus was the only one who could tell us exactly where to go."

"Bay Area is also a very dangerous place. Demigods shouldn't go there, we are forbidden from doing that." Lorna said.

"Why? What's so bad about it?" Jason defended.

"There are many monsters."

Leo grunted. "So how do we find Aeolus?"

Jason leaned forward. "You mean you don't see it?"

He pointed ahead of them, but Lorna didn't see anything except clouds and the lights of a few towns glowing in the dusk.

"What? The sky. We've been seeing it so much in getting tired of it." Lorna asked.

"No. That ... whatever it is," Jason said. "In the air."

"Are you hallucinating?" Lorna placed her hand on Jason's forehead which made the boy blush a little.

"Right," Leo said. "Could you be more specific on the 'whatever-it-is' part?"

"Like a vapor trail," Jason said. "Except it's glowing. Really faint, but it's definitely there. We've been following it since Chicago, so I figured you saw it."

Leo shook his head. "Maybe Festus can sense it. You think Aeolus made it?"

"Well, it's a magic trail in the wind," Jason said. "Aeolus is the wind god. I think he knows we've got prisoners for him. He's telling us where to fly."

"Or it's another trap," Lorna said shakily. She stared at her ring which was glowing.

This whole quest was falling apart. Firstly, this was the first quest Lorna's on without Percy. Secondly, Piper is clearly hiding something—something big. Thirdly, Lorna was confused with her feelings for Jason. One minute he's flirting with her, the next he becomes defensive and closed off. Lastly, Percy was in trouble and Lorna wasn't there to save that idiot's ass.

"Lorn, you all right?" Leo asked.

"Don't call me that."

"Okay, fine. You don't like any of the names I make up for you. Your ring, it's glowing. Is it Per—"

"No," Lorna said, her voice getting shakier. "Look, I'm tired. If you don't mind ..."

She leaned back against Jason and closed her eyes.