A 1

“I could try,” she said halfheartedly. “But Octavian is the one we have to worry about. In my
dagger blade, I saw him taking control of the Roman crowd. I’m not sure Reyna can stop him.”
Jason’s expression darkened. Piper didn’t get any pleasure from bursting his bubble, but the other
Romans—Hazel and Frank—nodded in agreement.
“She’s right,” Frank said. “This afternoon when we were scouting, we saw eagles again. They were
a long way off, but closing fast. Octavian is on the warpath.”
Hazel grimaced. “This is exactly the sort of opportunity Octavian has always wanted. He’ll try to
seize power. If Reyna objects, he’ll say she’s soft on the Greeks. As for those eagles…It’s like they
could smell us.”
“They can,” Jason said. “Roman eagles can hunt demigods by their magical scent even better than
monsters can. This ship might conceal us somewhat, but not completely—not from them.”
Leo drummed his fingers. “Great. I should have installed a smoke screen that makes the ship smell
like a giant chicken nugget. Remind me to invent that, next time.”
Hazel frowned. “What is a chicken nugget?”
“Oh, man…” Leo shook his head in amazement. “That’s right. You’ve missed the last like, seventy
years. Well, my apprentice, a chicken nugget—”
“Doesn’t matter,” Annabeth interrupted. “The point is, we’ll have a hard time explaining the truth
to the Romans. Even if they believe us—”
“You’re right.” Jason leaned forward. “We should just keep going. Once we’re over the Atlantic,
we’ll be safe—at least from the legion.”
He sounded so depressed, Piper didn’t know whether to feel sorry for him or resentful. “How can
you be sure?” she asked. “Why wouldn’t they follow us?”