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SURELY THEY EXAGGERATED the danger of the ancient lands, I thought.
I was terribly wrong.
Several times an hour, something attacked the ship. A flock of flesh-eating Stymphalian birds swooped out of the night sky, and Festus torched them. Storm spirits swirled around the mast, and I blasted them with lightning. While Coach Hedge was having dinner on the foredeck, a wild pegasus appeared from nowhere, stampeded over the coach's enchiladas, and flew off again, leaving cheesy hoof prints all across the deck.
Finally around midnight, after the ninth or tenth aerial attack, I turned to Percy who was on duty with me. "How about you get some sleep? I'll keep blasting stuff out of the sky as long as I can. Then we can go by sea for a while, and you or Angelique can take point."
The night was beautiful and the stars winked brightly. Out here, with no city lights, I could see the constellations clearly. So far, since Percy had gone to sleep, there were no threats in sight."
I sat down near the bow of the ship, to rest my legs, but I also made sure to stay vigilant.
"Hey."
I turned around, a grin spreading across my face.
The grin faded once I realized the voice didn't belong to the daughter of Poseidon.
It was Piper. I didn't know why I somehow mistook Piper's voice for Angelique's. Perhaps some part of me was waiting for her, expecting her to step quietly out of the shadows and join me.
Piper sat down beside me, a wry smile painted across her face. "Sorry to disappoint."
"No!" I said, mortified at myself. I didn't mind Piper's company, I just was caught off guard.
I cleared my throat and tried again. "I mean, it's not like that. I apologize. I suppose I was..."
"Expecting someone else?"
"Guess so."
She sniffed, leaning back on her arms. "Guess? I'm a daughter of Aphrodite, Jason. You were definitely expecting a certain dark-eyed girl."
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a lone harpy, with murderous intent in its eyes as it dived toward Argo II. The harpy screeched loudly as I blasted it out of the sky with a wave of my hand.
I sighed. "I'm too easy to read, aren't I?"
Piper watched the harpy spiral down, the wind no longer under its wings or in its favor. "Yep. Angelique can probably tell every thought running through your head."
I groaned and buried my head in my arms. "I'm screwed."
She didn't say anything. I looked up and glanced at her. It had been a long time since it was just the two of us, and there was no better time to address the elephant in the room then now. "Piper, about us. I'm sorry that—"
