𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔－ 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

𝑬𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.

I 08. I

𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔

❝ nemean lion ❞

     PERCY DIDN'T GET ANY DONUTS. Blackjack wasn't exactly happy about it as they flew through New Jersey and whinnied at the boy who would only sigh and ignore him.

Ariadne hadn't spoken since her father had let them keep flying. Many times, Percy wished he could read her mind like he could with Blackjack's to help her out, to figure out why she was so sad.

Zoe was driving south like a crazy person, and they were into Maryland before she finally pulled into a rest stop. The brunette wondered if the Hunter even had her license, that was most likely a no seeing as she sucked at driving.

Blackjack was so tired, he nearly tumbled out of the sky.

"Stay here," Percy told him. "I'm going to scout."

He placed the Yankees cap over his head and disappeared, leaving Ariadne to jump from Blackjack and follow after him as discreetly as possible. It was quite hard when everyone knew what Ariadne Phoenix looked like, and especially hard when there could be monsters hidden anywhere.

She looked inside the convenience store and thought maybe she could have grabbed a cup of hog chocolate, only to realize she didn't have any change. Maybe just go inside and warmup. Yeah, that sounded good to her.

Her plan was ruined as Zoe, Thalia, Bianca and Grover exited the store. She ducked by a vending machine outside and pulled the hood over her sweatshirt over her head to shield her face.

"Grover, are you sure?" Thalia said.

"Well... pretty sure. Minty-nine percent . Okay, eighty-five percent."

"And you did this with acorns?" Bianca asked, unconvinced.

Grover gave her an offended look. "It's a time-honored tracking spell. I mean, I'm pretty sure I did it right."

"D.C. is about sixty miles from here," Bianca said. "Nico and I..." She drowned. "We used to live there. That's... that's strange. I'd forgotten."

"I dislike this," Zoe said. "We should go straight west. The prophecy said west."

"Oh, like your tracking skills are better?" Thalia growled.

Zoe took a step towards her. "You challenge my skills, you scullion? You know nothing of being a Hunter!"

"Oh, scullion. You're calling me a scullion? What the heck is a scullion?"

"Whoa, you two," Grover said nervously. "Come on. Not again!"

"Grover's right," Bianca said. "D.C. is our best bet."

Zoe didn't look convinced, but she nodded reluctantly. "Very well. Let us keep moving."

"You're going to get us arrested, driving," Thalia grumbled. "I look closer to sixteen than you do."

"Perhaps," Zoe snapped. "But I have been driving since automobiles were invented. Let us go."

Ariadne grit her teeth before meeting back up with Percy, hopping onto Blackjack as they followed the van south.

She kept her arms around his waist but looked at the clouds passing by, ignoring the salty smell flowing through her nose with an attempt to compel her to nuzzle into Percy.

The smell as becoming more present despite the wind, and she knew Aphrodite was behind it. But the girl wasn't in the mood, and she just rolled her eyes and ignored it.