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―Jeez, beauty queen!‖ Leo rubbed his arm. ―Glad my face wasn‘t there.‖<br />
―Sorry,‖ she said. ―And don‘t call me ‗beauty queen,‘ or I‘ll punch you again.‖<br />
―You both did great.‖ Jason found a canteen in Piper‘s pack and gave her some water. After a few<br />
minutes, her stomach began to calm down.<br />
Once she wasn‘t screaming in pain, she could hear the wind howling outside. Snowflakes fluttered<br />
through the hole in the roof, and after their meeting with Khione, snow was the last thing Piper wanted to see.<br />
―What happened to the dragon?‖ she asked. ―Where are we?‖<br />
Leo‘s expression turned sullen. ―I don‘t know with Festus. He just jerked sideways like he hit an invisible<br />
wall and started to fall.‖<br />
Piper remembered Enceladus‘s warning: I‟ll show you how easily your rebellious spirit can be brought to<br />
earth. Had he managed to strike them down from so far away? It seemed impossible. If he were that powerful,<br />
why would he need her to betray her friends when he could just kill them himself? And how could the giant be<br />
keeping an eye on her in a snowstorm thousands of miles away?<br />
Leo pointed to the logo on the wall. ―As far as where we are …‖ It was hard to see through the graffiti, but<br />
Piper could make out a large red eye with the stenciled words: monocle motors, assembly plant 1.<br />
―Closed car plant,‖ Leo said. ―I‘m guessing we crash-landed in Detroit.‖<br />
Piper had heard about closed car plants in Detroit, so that made sense. But it seemed like a pretty<br />
depressing place to land. ―How far is that from Chicago?‖<br />
Jason handed her the canteen. ―Maybe three-fourths of the way from Quebec? <strong>The</strong> thing is, without the<br />
dragon, we‘re stuck traveling overland.‖<br />
―No way,‖ Leo said. ―It isn‘t safe.‖<br />
Piper thought about the way the ground had pulled at her feet in the dream, and what King Boreas had<br />
said about the earth yielding up more horrors. ―He‘s right. Besides, I don‘t know if I can walk. And three<br />
people—Jason, you can‘t fly that many across country by yourself.‖<br />
―No way,‖ Jason said. ―Leo, are you sure the dragon didn‘t malfunction? I mean, Festus is old, and—‖<br />
―And I might not have repaired him right?‖<br />
―I didn‘t say that,‖ Jason protested. ―It‘s just—maybe you could fix it.‖<br />
―I don‘t know.‖ Leo sounded crestfallen. He pulled a few screws out of his pockets and started fiddling with<br />
them. ―I‘d have to find where he landed, if he‘s even in one piece.‖<br />
―It was my fault.‖ Piper said without thinking. She just couldn‘t stand it anymore. <strong>The</strong> secret about her<br />
father was heating up inside her like too much ambrosia. If she kept lying to her friends, she felt like she‘d burn<br />
to ashes.<br />
―Piper,‖ Jason said gently, ―you were asleep when Festus conked out. It couldn‘t be your fault.‖<br />
―Yeah, you‘re just shaken up,‖ Leo agreed. He didn‘t even try to make a joke at her expense. ―You‘re in<br />
pain. Just rest.‖<br />
She wanted to tell them everything, but the words stuck in her throat. <strong>The</strong>y were both being so kind to her.<br />
Yet if Enceladus was watching her somehow, saying the wrong thing could get her father killed.<br />
Leo stood. ―Look, um, Jason, why don‘t you stay with her, bro? I‘ll scout around for Festus. I think he fell<br />
outside the warehouse somewhere. If I can find him, maybe I can figure out what happened and fix him.‖<br />
―It‘s too dangerous,‖ Jason said. ―You shouldn‘t go by yourself.‖<br />
―Ah, I got duct tape and breath mints. I‘ll be fine,‖ Leo said, a little too quickly, and Piper realized he was a<br />
lot more shaken up than he was letting on. ―You guys just don‘t run off without me.‖<br />
Leo reached into his magic tool belt, pulled out a flashlight, and headed down the stairs, leaving Piper and<br />
Jason alone.<br />
Jason gave her a smile, though he looked kind of nervous. It was the exact expression he‘d had on his<br />
face after he‘d kissed her the first time, up on the Wilderness School dorm roof—that cute little scar on his lip<br />
curving into a crescent. <strong>The</strong> memory gave her a warm feeling. <strong>The</strong>n she remembered that the kiss had never<br />
really happened.<br />
―You look better,‖ Jason offered.<br />
Piper wasn‘t sure if he meant her foot, or the fact that she wasn‘t magically beautified anymore. Her jeans<br />
were tattered from the fall through the roof. Her boots were splattered with melted dirty snow. She didn‘t know<br />
what her face looked like, but probably horrible.<br />
Why did it matter? She‘d never cared about things like that before. She wondered if it was her stupid<br />
mother, the goddess of love, messing with her thoughts. If Piper started getting urges to read fashion<br />
magazines, she was going to have to find Aphrodite and smack her.<br />
She decided to focus on her ankle instead. As long as she didn‘t move it, the pain wasn‘t bad. ―You did a<br />
good job,‖ she told Jason. ―Where‘d you learn first aid?‖<br />
He shrugged. ―Same answer as always. I don‘t know.‖
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