Hermosa/wtm/

10

I Ruin A Perfectly Good Bus

"No."

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It didn’t take me long to pack. I decided to leave the Minotaur horn in my cabin, which left me only an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in a backpack Grover had found for me. The camp store loaned me one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, Chiron told us, but Olympians never used less than pure gold. Chiron said the coins might come in handy for non-mortal transactions-whatever that meant. He gave Draco and me each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It was god food, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally. Draco was bringing his magic Yankees cap, which he told me had been a twelfth-birthday present from his godly mom. He carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when he got bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in his shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector.

“It didn’t.” Percy hummed.

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff’s “So Yesterday,” both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.

The demiwix laughed out.

We waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dude I’d seen when I was recovering in the sick room. According to Grover, the guy was the camp’s head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur’s uniform, so I could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.

The light side shuddered at the mention of the loveable eye monster.

“This is Argus,” Chiron told me. “He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things.”

I heard footsteps behind us.

Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.

“I hope they get together.” Lavender Brown smiled.

“But what about Draco and her?” Cho Chang asked.

“True, they are so cute together.” The girls smiled at each other, before looking at the two war teens, who were cuddling.

“Hey!” he panted. “Glad I caught you.”

I blushed, the way I always did when Luke was around. I didn’t mean to, I hated that I did.

Draco huffed at the book, causing the group around him to laugh.

“What are you jealous of the man?” Blaise laughed at the Heir.