TERRIFIED . . . annabeth chase

nine.

AT LEAST ANNABETH had gotten help.

Even if it wasn't showing. Her face was pale and beaded with sweat. Even though she was covered in blankets, she shivered. Val wiped her forehead with a cool cloth, charmspeaking in Spanish to calm her down. Val didn't know why Annabeth liked it so much when she spoke another language, but it didn't matter right now.

Val looked up at the added noise and saw Will and Percy. Will unwrapped Annabeth's bandages to examine the wound, and Val couldn't stop looking at it. The bleeding had stopped but the gash looked deep. The skin around the cut was a horrible shade of green.

"Annabeth . . ." Percy's voice cracked.

"Poison on the dagger," she mumbled. "Pretty stupid of me, huh?"

Will exhaled with relief. "It's not so bad, Annabeth. A few more minutes and we would've been in trouble, but the venom hasn't gotten past the shoulder yet. Just lie still. Somebody hand me some nectar."

Percy grabbed a canteen. Will cleaned out the wound with the godly drink while Val whispered more Spanish stories.

"Ow," Annabeth said. "Ow, ow!" She gripped Val's fingers so tight they turned purple, but she stayed still, like Will asked. Will put some silver paste over the wound and hummed familiar words in Ancient Greek — a hymn to Apollo. Then he applied fresh bandages and stood up shakily.

The healing must've taken a lot of his energy. He looked almost as pale as Annabeth.

"That should do it," he said. "But we're going to need some mortal supplies."

He grabbed a piece of hotel stationery, jotted down some notes, and handed it to Connor. "There's a Duane Reade on Fifth. Normally I would never steal—"

"I would," Travis volunteered. Val let out a small laugh.

Will glared at him. "Leave cash or drachmas to pay, whatever you've got, but this is an emergency. I've got a feeling we're going to have a lot more people to treat."

Nobody disagreed. There was hardly a single demigod who hadn't already been wounded . . . except for Val. And Percy.

"Come on, guys," Travis said. "Let's give Annabeth some space. We've got a drugstore to raid . . . I mean, visit. Want something, Val?"

"I don't want to steal anything," Val pouted at him.

"Coffee and donuts it is."

The demigods shuffled back inside.

Jake Mason had a conversation with Percy before closing the terrace doors behind him, leaving Val, Annabeth, and Percy alone.

Val pressed her cool cloth to Annabeth's forehead. "This is all my fault."

"No," Annabeth said weakly. "Ali, how is it your fault?"

"If my powers had just recharged faster," Val said quietly, staring out at the New York view from the balcony. "Dad said that they'd be there whenever I wanted, but there's a cooldown, and I could've killed them faster—"

"You were great out there, Val," Percy said, and she turned her head to look at him. "Really. You had black wings come out from your back and your eyes turned pink and you just . . . killed them all. It was one of the scariest things I've ever seen, but you were amazing. And you did that multiple times?"

Val shrugged. "Dad gave me his powers." She looked down at Annabeth, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "And so did Cupid. He's mad at Aphrodite. Don't expect her to help anytime soon, not if I'm with you guys. If we can get help from any of the gods, at this point."