~ ☼ ~

Lucas and I had to sit there awkwardly as the Hunters woke up at last. Aria and Kiera were both still asleep, so we just sat there, trying not to be annoying, as they packed up and got on the road. When Artemis gave us a simple nod as she passed - heck of a farewell after what we'd gone through yesterday - I thought that was it.

Then I realized we still had one of her tents.

"Wait, Lady Artemis!" I said. "We have your tent!"

Artemis did not stop, but she whispered something to one of her hunters - the south Asian one, Etisha. Etisha nodded, then doubled back as her sisters continued on.

"She said you can keep it," said Etisha. "And that she wishes you luck. And that she likes your name."

She gave me a wink, then chased back to reach the hunters. Lucas and I sat there, dumbfounded, until they disappeared in a sea of heavily baggaged silver-jacketed girls. Like a crunchy girl gang.

"Well then," said Lucas at last. "Not every day you get a compliment from a goddess."

I smiled. "Not every day, indeed."

~ ☼ ~

It wasn't until an hour past sunrise that Aria and Kiera finally woke up. I wanted to let them keep sleeping, mostly because it meant I wouldn't have to move, but Lucas said we had to get on the road if we wanted to get to Chicago by the Fourth of July and/or the Solstice. Even though I'd argued with Kiera that the quest couldn't possibly be that quick, now I was wondering why I'd worried so much - it was literally mid-June. There was no way this would take all the way until the fourth of July.

Right?

"Okay," said Kiera. She and Aria were now as thick as thieves, arms interlocked as they approached me. Lucas was behind them, staring at the tent, not knowing what do with it. "We're ready."

"I can't believe Lady Artemis gave us sleeping bags and a tent," said Aria, smiling. "This is the craziest couple days ever."

I looked at Kiera for a reaction to this, but she kept her face even. But she did catch my eye and give me the softest smile. I nodded back.

Behind her, Lucas was now attempting to lower the tent poles, only for one side of the tent to collapse on him. I held back my laugh.

"Aria," I said, "You know camping stuff, right? You should help Lucas."

"Oh no," she said. She put her hands up. "He wanted to do it all by himself."

Kiera grinned devilishly, and the two girls exchanged knowing looks. I did not like this. Not one bit. But I also kind of did.

"What?" I asked.

Kiera's elvish features twisted into even more mischief. "I think somebody has a crush on somebody else and is trying to impress them!" She said this in a very sing-songy way, which just made me blush harder.

"I highly doubt that," I said. "Athena's kids are just prideful."

"Uh-huh," Kiera murmured.

Together, as if on cue, all three of us looked back at Lucas. He was crawling his way out from under a now half-packed, half collapsed tent. He looked at us, then quickly looked away. I could see his eyes wide from here, like he was thinking, Oh, shoot, I really gotta get this right now.

Now I felt like I was on fire.

It wasn't like it wasn't a long time coming. After all, when I'd first seen Lucas, I'd been struck by how handsome I thought he was. And there was something awfully romantic about a forbidden love between an emo and a prep. But the idea of actually being in a relationship, even a crush ship (is that a thing?) made me want to vomit. I breathed in hard and shook my head.

"Come on," I said. "He can meet us at the visitor's center."

~ ☼ ~

In the visitor's center, we were hoping to get a map of the state or maybe a magical teleportation device that would instantly take us to Chicago. Maybe it could even have a nice message from Hermes - or whichever God does that kind of thing - that said, We've decided to take it easy on you for once! But not only was there no such thing in the visitor's center, it was closed.

I pulled at the doors while Kiera held a hand up to look through the window.

"What the heck!" I said. "It's 8 am."

"Sorry, AJ," said Aria, as if she was the one who'd made the rules. She pointed to an hours sheet taped to the inside of the door. "It says it doesn't open until 9:30."

I slumped. "Ugh."

Kiera looked at us, smiling. "Hey, that may be just enough time for Lucas to finish packing up the tent!"

I chuckled with Aria, but after she said this, I started to feel bad. I mean, just because he was the guy doesn't mean he had to do stuff like that on his own. Even if he had chose it himself. I should've just gone over and packed it up with him.

But the idea of heading down there and helping him, especially when Aria and Kiera would probably wait for us up here, made me just as nauseous as the idea of us having mutual crushes. Then again, it was because of the whole crush thing that I didn't want to be alone with him anymore. I was just really not a fan of crushes in general.

"Hey guys," said a familiar voice. "No luck?"

I turned to see Lucas himself coming up from the trail head. He had his bag on his back and another bag, which held the tent, under his arm. I carried both of our sleeping bags. I was beginning to wonder if this was worth all the extra weight.

"No," I said quickly. "Maybe we can just hitchhike to the nearest town."

"Maybe we can wait for another Greyhound to break down," suggested Kiera.

"But we don't have tickets," Aria said with a frown.

"We can hijack it-"

"Ki," Aria hissed, and Kiera quickly zipped her mouth shut, even as we shared a smile.

"If you aren't a daughter of Hermes," I said, "I'm going to be very surprised."

"If I am a daughter of Hermes," said Kiera, flipping a braid over her shoulder, "I'm the hottest one."

"Ki!" repeated Aria, genuinely shocked she would say such a thing, even though both Lucas and I were laughing now.

"Okay," said Lucas, putting up his hands to quiet us. I went quiet as Kiera did, like he was our teacher - or our counselor. "Um... so, let me think. We need to get to Chicago, and can't take a bus. Well, we can, but we'd need to get to another town with a bus station."

I looked around the empty state park parking lot. Birds were chirping in the nearby trees, but other than that, all was silent. I was surprised. If my dad - my adoptive dad - was here, he'd have been up hours ago.

"Hijack a car," said Kiera. "Boom."

"There's no car to hijack," Lucas said, as if otherwise it'd be a great idea. "Maybe we just need to walk."

All three of us were horrified by this idea.

"Walk!" I said. "We're in the middle of nowhere. The next town with a bus station is gonna be like, 100s of miles away!"

"Hm." Lucas adjusted all the stuff he was carrying the best he could. Then he scratched his chin like he was some sage old professor, studying the classics. "Well, we could hitchhike. At least until we find a place that has a phone, and from there-"

"We can't use a phone," said Aria quickly. "You know that!"

I, unfortunately, did too. Allegedly, they attracted monsters. I had still snuck in some calls on mine from my pre-Camp Half-Blood days this past year, and nothing had happened. Then again, maybe that was because I was just that unimportant - just another pathetic Child of Apollo. There were a heck of a lot of us.

"Well I can't Iris Message a taxi company," said Lucas. He sighed. "One phone call won't hurt. And if it does, there's 4 of us. We'll be fine, just like we were last night."

"Last night was with the literal goddess of the hunt on our side."

"I agree with Lucas," said Kiera, crossing her arms. "We could've done it without her."

Aria met my eyes, like she wanted my help, but I put up my hands in surrender.

"I am not being a decision maker here," I said. "You do not want to have me make decisions. Trust me. They are almost always bad and almost always involve me finding a couch to sit on and chips to eat."

Aria groaned as Lucas chuckled. I looked at him and saw I'd amused him. That's a weird way to put it, but I don't know how else to explain it; he wasn't looking at me, but there was a gleam in his eye nonetheless. I felt that same feeling of intense fear come up, but underneath it, there was something else, too. That desire for it.

Ew, that sounds weird. You know what I mean.

"Fine," said Aria at last, when I had nothing else to say. "Let's go find a phone, then."

~ ☼ ~

We walked for miles along the Pennsylvania highway. I found myself singing Woody Guthrie - that song, This Land is Your Land - and I think if I wasn't a child of Apollo with a half decent singing voice, everyone would've told me to shut up.

The heat of summer came quickly, and after a half hour or so, we'd yet to find a town. Though we did see a lot of signs pointing to them. It was like with every sign came an unresolved promise. Stokesdale, 5 miles. It would say. Then, just when it felt like we'd walked 5 miles, a new sign would come up and say, Stokesdale, 2 miles. Maybe I just had a weak grasp on how much distance we covered, but I had a feeling the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was playing some sort of sick trick on us.

Finally, just when I was about to give up and fall to my knees and ask Lady Demeter to come give me a car again, I noticed another sign. Lucas noticed it too. This one, further back off the road, was not a state-sponsored green metal sign. No, this one was wooden, and painted in bright red letters, it said, The Amazing Rooster Horses of Tioga County!

And then, under neath it, in slightly less red letters: Just ahead on right.

When they said 'just ahead on right', they weren't kidding. It was hardly 30 seconds past the sign when I saw the trees give way to a parking lot just off the side of the highway. Behind it, a giant red barn had its doors flung open. I assume this was where the Amazing Rooster Horses were.

All four of us stopped.

"Well," said Aria. "Do you still want to find a phone?"

Lucas sighed, but we had no other choice. Besides, we were all getting really thirsty, too. The least we could do from the tourist trap was buy a couple bottles of water.

"Come on," I said. "Just avert your eyes from whatever tacky horror they have set up in there."

To my surprise, I found it was not a tacky horror at all. Oh no, dear reader, it was a genuine horror. Because when we entered the barn, immediately upon entrance, there was a man with a Buffalo sabres hat on.

Did I like sports? No. Of course not. But I had a legal duty to cheer for the Rangers like my parents did, which meant a Buffalo fan was not exactly my favorite person. I think. I don't actually know, even now, who the Rangers' main rivals are.

"Howdy, folks!" said the Buffalo fan, waving a hand at us as he set down a trash can by the door. "Welcome to the Amazing Rooster Horses!"

The barn did not actually contain the rooster horses. Instead, he'd set it up like a little gift shop. A counter sold ice cream, homemade pie, and local jams. A few craft projects, like scarecrows and wooden signs, decorated the right-hand wall, most likely also for sale. In the middle, a whole bunch of tables sat empty. It reminded me of both my high school cafeteria and a really, really sad farmer's market.

I grabbed my backpack handles tightly. "Hi," I said. "Are you open?"

"Sure are," He said. "Just finishing up opening chores."

He took a trash bag from his pocket, unfolded it, and let it out to billow like a balloon. As he did, I peered closer at him. His name tag read, Darryl.

Lucas and Kiera were both sizing him up warily, while Aria was looking around the barn. But I don't think we had anything to worry about. Between the Sabres - ew - hat and the worn blue jeans, he really did just seem like a nice local guy who'd set up a roadside attraction. I kind of liked it, even though it was cringy. Once again, it made me think of my adoptive dad.

Darryl finished bagging the trash can, then said, "Would you like to buy some tickets?"

Extra tickets just to see the attraction, on top of the gift shop? No way, there was no chance these rooster horses were worth it.

"No thanks," I said. "We were just wondering if we could buy 4 bottles of water, and maybe use your phone."

He frowned, but didn't argue, which was my second sign that he was just an entrepreneur and not a monster. "Got it. Those are both gonna be over here."

I eyed Lucas, Kiera, and Aria.

"You guys go ahead," said Kiera. "We'll keep watch."

I made a grunt in the back of my throat. Of course it was gonna be just Lucas and I.

Together, we walked awkwardly up to the counter. While Darryl rung up the bottles of water, I realized last minute that I had no money. Luckily, Lucas was there to save the day with a pre-paid credit card. I wondered if he had gotten it just for this quest.

"The phone's gonna be right here," said Darryl, nodding backwards at the phone. It was hung up on the wall behind him, in plain sight, which was also reassuring.

Lucas glanced at me. I glanced at him.

"I don't know who to call," I said.

Lucas nodded. "I got it."

I stood there awkwardly while he used his credit card. Then, realizing he wouldn't have any use for me while he was on the phone, I wandered away. Kiera was still standing by the entrance, hands on her hips, examining an apple pie. Aria was no where to be found.

The last thing we needed right now was one of us to go missing at some backwoods tourist attraction. This wasn't Deliverance.

Please, Gods, I thought, Don't let this be Deliverance.

I tried to imagine where Aria had gone. Back outside to the parking lot? Probably not. To the bathroom? Also probably not, because the bathroom door looked filthy and I couldn't imagine going there. That only left one place: through the back barn doors, outside to where I imagined the amazing rooster horses waited.

Actually, knowing Aria and her penchant for woodland color schemes and huntress goddesses, I should've figured she'd go see the animals.

I was expecting a group of horses with fake feathers taped to them. I was astonished when I walked through the doors - with a quick glance back to make sure Darryl wasn't watching me enter the ticketed-visitors-only-zone - and found that no, they were not horses with fake feathers taped to them. They were freaks of nature.

Sorry, I know at this point I should be used to this whole Greek mythology thing. After all, last summer I'd fought a giant snake in the Outer Banks, fought an ancient witch in a Starbucks, and fought people who actually knew how to sword fight in the Camp Half Blood training ring, which was honestly just as terrifying. But I couldn't help but gasp anyway.

The rooster horses were horses, yes, but only from the top half up. From the bottom half down, they had giant rooster hind quarters. Literal rooster. Not fake feathers, real, oily feathers in red and green, plus two yellow, scaly, clawed feet.

Aria was talking to one of them. She had its horse head in her hands and was listening intently as it breathed through its nose. Then she looked at me, brown eyes wide. If I didn't know her, it would've been a terribly disturbing sight.

"They're trapped," she said. "We need to help them."

~ ☼ ~

I was the one who went and got Kiera, because Aria refused to leave the rooster horses alone. She said they were really called  hippalectryons, and they'd been taken captive by Darryl, but what they really wanted was to live free in the wilderness again. I didn't tell her that they were in an open air pen and could leave anytime they wanted.

Lucas was still on the phone, while Darryl was sweeping up behind the counter, so I went straight for Kiera.

"Kiera," I hissed. "Come here."

Kiera paid me no mind. She was busy considering the price of one of the homemade scarecrows. She hummed gently to herself as she did so. I highly doubted that 1. She couldn't hear me and 2. She was that invested in scarecrows. Which meant she was just messing with me.

I grabbed both her shoulders and turned her around to face me. Immediately her dark eyes widened.

"Kiera Bane," I said. "You're ignoring me on purpose."

She made a face and quickly moved out of my grasp. "Gods, AJ, it's not that serious."

I guess she didn't realize I was messing with her too. I frowned at her.

"What?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "Is the God Apollo out there now, too?"

I shivered. "I hope not."

Then I felt bad for saying that. I quickly said a prayer to my father to not smite me.

"What is it then?" Kiera asked.

"The rooster horses aren't fake," I said. "And Aria really feels bad for them. She wants us to free them."

Kiera's eyes went wide, but before I could explain any more, I realized Darryl had come up beside me.

"Howdy," he said, tipping his hat to us once again. "Interested in Mr. Hay here?"

He held up Mr. Hay's hand to pretend wave to us, and I held back a chuckle.

"No," said Kiera. "Sorry."

"We don't have any money," I said. "You know, other than for survival stuff."

"Yeah," he said. "About that. How old are you kids? 15? 16?"

"I'm 15," I said.

Kiera glared at me. "I'm 19. I'm just super short."

She continued glaring at me as Darryl nodded in approval, and I realized a beat too late that if we told him all we were 15 and on our own, he might grow suspicious. After all, he was just a nice redneck guy who was goofy with his homemade scarecrows. I don't think he had taken in the Hippalectryons on purpose, and if he did, he didn't know they were sentient.

(Or, like, could feel pain. Is that what sentient means? You think I would know with all my Wikipedia rabbit holes, but...)

"I see," said Darryl. "Whatcha doing all the way out here?"

"Lucas over there is AJ's-" she nodded to me, "Older brother, and me and Aria are his friends. We're trying to hitchike all the way across the state before we all leave for college."

I didn't know whether to be more disgusted at her making Lucas my older brother, or surprised at how quickly she came up with a lie. Based on how she'd described her life before Camp, it didn't surprise me she was clever like that. And you know, there was the whole wanting-to-hijack-a-car thing. I was starting to be convinced she really was a child of Hermes.

That meant Luke Castellan, the traitor everyone was so obsessed with, was her brother. I shivered.

"That sounds wonderful!" Darryl said. He gave us a toothy grin, and I thought he'd interrogate us more, but after that, he left us alone. "Well, I'll let you kids get to it. Looks like Luke is done with the phone."

He walked away, adjusting the pies on his table. It made me happy, because that meant he really was not out to get to us. But it also made me sad, because I felt bad for him. No one was coming to his tourist attraction and buying his pies or scarecrows or tickets. Not even us.

Then again, it was like, 10 in the morning, and we were in the middle of nowhere. No one wanted to see rooster horses at 10 in the morning. That was firmly a late afternoon kind of activity.

"Okay," Lucas said as he approached us, hands stuffed in his pockets. "I pulled some strings. The Greyhound from yesterday actually had to go out of service at the closest station, so they're gonna turn around and pick us up and drive us there. We'll have to buy another ticket from there, and they're not giving me a refund, but - that works, right?"

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "That's... actually really good. How'd you get them to agree to that?"

Lucas smiled. He flashed that pre-paid credit card. "Daddy's money goes far, AJ. It pays to be a prep. For now, at least. Dad swears he'll cut me off once I graduate high school."

I would've laughed so hard tears came out of my eyes, but instead I gasped. Out of all the things he could've said, he had revealed he wasn't an incoming college student while Darryl was only a few steps away. It was like a punch to the gut. I almost felt like Apollo had just come down and possessed him to say that in revenge for my comment about him earlier.

Indeed, Lucas seemed to realize he'd made a mistake. He gasped, too, then looked between Kiera and I. We were both stiff as boards.

"What did you say, kid?" Darryl asked.

On cue, all three of us turned. Darryl had set down his pie; he did not look angry, but was shocked.

"Um," Lucas said. "That my dad will cut me off once I graduate high school?"

"Lucas!" I exclaimed.

But it was too late. Darryl now looked deeply disappointed. I imagined him saying, "I'm not mad, kids, just disappointed," but instead he just put his hairy hands on his hips.

"So what exactly's going on here?"

None of us had an answer. Lucas had no idea what was going on, I couldn't lie on the spot like that, and Kiera didn't seem to want to dig herself any deeper of a hole. Darryl sighed when all of us stayed silent.

"I see," he said. "What are you, a bunch of runaways?"

"No," I said.

"Yeah," he said. "You are. I can see it in your eyes. I've been there. It's not worth it."

Without another word to us, he walked away, sighing all the way. I followed him with my eyes - my runaway's eyes, apparently - until he reached the same phone Lucas had used. I held my breath as he dialed 3 numbers.

"Yeah, hey, it's Darryl Hextall out at the Rooster Horses," said Darryl. He leaned against the wall. "I think I got 4 runaway minors out here. Just thought maybe you could come check them out."

It was the police.

"Shit!" said Kiera. "Thanks, Lucas!"

"What!" he asked. He threw his hands up. "I didn't know you had told him some story!"

Kiera jabbed a finger into his polo shirted chest. "You are supposed to be AJ's college student older brother, and Aria and I are your friends, and we're hitch-hiking across the state."

Lucas' perfect mouth dropped. "How in Hades was I supposed to know that?!"

"Well, kids, you got twenty minutes," said Darryl as he hung up the phone. All three of us turned to look at him. He put his hands on the counter and frowned. "I'm sorry, but I can't with good conscience just let you go off on your own. It wouldn't be what Jesus would do."

Kiera repressed a snicker, then went back to glaring at Lucas.

"It's okay," I said. "Understandable."

Darryl sighed again. He hit the counter, and I jumped, but then he was already heading away.

"I'm glad you understand," he said.

We all watched him warily, but, yeah, he really was non-threatening. He started heading towards the back, which meant he even trusted us enough not to run - or he was giving us the chance to run while also helping his conscience.

"Well, while you're here," I said to Lucas, "The horses out back are hippalectryons. And Aria's going to join PETA."

"Hippalectryons?" Lucas repeated. "Wow. That's amazing. Can I see them?"

"We don't have time for this," said Kiera.

I shot her a look, and she shot me a look back. So much for us bonding.

Without any regard for her selfishness, I led Lucas over to the door that led to the horse corral. An angry Kiera was behind her with her hands stuffed in her pockets. I knew she was angsty, but I didn't know what her problem was. Her best friend finding something cool should not be upsetting her like that.

"There you are!" Aria explained when we finally returned to her. She was still holding that same horse's head in her tan hands, now stroking the side of it like the thing was sad and needed comfort. "How long does it take?"

"We got found out," I said. "By Darryl. He called the cops on us."

"The cops?" Aria exclaimed. She immediately dropped her hands from the hippalectryon's head. "We didn't do anything!"

"We're unaccompanied minors," said Lucas.

"Being a minor is not a crime."

But Lucas was not paying attention. He'd walked right up to the creature and was looking at it curiously. He held out one hand to let it sniff his scent. I guess the hippalectryon liked the smell of Abercrombie and Fitch Fierce, because he nuzzled Lucas's fist.

"Wow," I said. "I didn't know you were good with animals."

"Only horses," said Lucas. He turned without anymore explanation, and said, "We have to get out of here."

"Uh, yeah, no kidding," said Kiera. "I'm not getting arrested again."

"Again?" I exclaimed, but this apparently was no surprise to the other two, because they did not react.

"The Greyhound said it would be another half hour," Lucas said, tapping his hands against the fence post. Standing there like that, one hand on his hip, he looked perfect. The sun shined on his hair like a spotlight.

I stepped backwards, trying to knock myself out of whatever stupid spell was coming over me. See that, AJ? I thought to myself. That's the sun. That's your father. Remember your father? Remember that he's a coward and so are you? Run away, fast.

But I couldn't take my eyes off of Lucas.

"Then we have to run," said Kiera. "Walking again it is."

Aria gasped. "I am *not* leaving Pat and Pinky."

"Pat and Pinky?" I repeated.

She gestured to the hippalectryons. The one still trying to get Lucas' attention was Pat, she said, and Pinky was in the back of the corral, pacing back and forth like he was bored.

"Aria," I said. "They can fly away on their own if they want to."

"They're too afraid," said Aria, pouting.

"How do you know?"

"Because they told me!"

I blinked. Then I realized I was an idiot.

"Wait," I said. "You can talk to them?"

Aria's eyes were wide. "Of course I can! What, did you think I was just making all of this up?"

Now I felt bad. My cheeks went warm. I glanced at Kiera. She was glaring at me.

She'd assumed that from the beginning. It was why she was so mad. This meant Aria had special powers, on top of her desire to join the hunters. Special powers that indicated she was... what, the daughter of the goddess of horses? Who in Hades was that?

It didn't matter. It was someone with a name.

"Hey kids?" Darryl asked.

He came through the doors, and nodded. My heart fell.

"I thought you might be back here," he said. "I appreciate you sticking around. Wish you would've bought tickets, though."

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely. I really did feel bad. "Please don't call the cops on us."

Darryl sighed. He took off his Buffalo sabres cap and scratched the balding head underneath it.

"It can't be undone now," he said. "I see you met Seabiscuit and Secretariat."

These were both famous racing horses, I think. Which made them much cooler names than Pat and Pinky. If Aria had made that up, I would've judged her hardcore.

Darryl reached over the corral fence to pet Pat, making Aria frown. Pat winnied and moved away.

"You're a persnickety one, Seabiscuit," he said. "You always have been."

He sighed, leaning against the fence post. We all stared at him.

"Where'd you find them?" I said after a moment.

"Eh. Bought them off of some farm nearby. They were gonna send them to the glue factory, but I thought - no, I'll do them one better." He looked at Seabiscuit/Pat, still standing a few paces away, looking at him warily. "Right, Seabiscuit?"

The horse winnied and turned away, joining their breathren in the back.

The disappointment on the old man's face was so clear that I wanted to cry.

"Do you... like... horses?" asked Lucas.

"Love 'em," he said. "And these ones - weird ones, they are. I swear, when I first got them, that they had chicken legs. Must've been something in the air that day to make me hallucinate. Whatever, it was Jesus' doing - they would've never become the Amazing Rooster Horses of Tioga County without that!"

He slapped the fence post and I jumped again.

I glanced at Kiera, Aria, and Lucas. Lucas was the only one who looked curious about this. Kiera was still smarting and Aria was hovering near the paddock gate protectively.

"In another life," Darryl added, as he began to stride back towards the barn, "I think I might've been a cowboy. Whatever." He tipped his hat to us. "Your ride should be here soon."

We watched him go. I was so moved that there were tears in my eyes.

"I think I might've been a cowboy in another life too, Darryl," I said softly.

I stood there for a moment. Then, I shook off this weird daze and turned back to my compatriots. What the heck was that?

I hadn't realized I'd spoken out loud until I saw Lucas had his hand up to his mouth again, his watch shining in the sun. "I don't know. I... don't know."

My cheeks went hot.

"It doesn't matter," said Aria. "We need to free them."

With a secret glance back at the barn doors, she unlocked the paddock gate and headed inside, calling the hippalectryons over to her.

"Here, buddies!" She said. "If we ride you, will you come with us?"

"I'm not freeing them," I said, spinning on my heel. "They're this man's livelihood."

Aria glared at me. "You're kidding."

"I am not!"

I stormed over to the corral, unable to explain why I would die on this hill. I did have a heart, and I did feel bad for people. There was some part of him that reminded me of my dad. And, in a really weird way, of my sister, Riley. Riley, too, was sweet and slightly off-kilter like Darryl. And Riley was from Kentucky; maybe she liked horses, too.

Maybe I was just trying to find her and Alec in places I didn't have any connection to them.

"AJ," Aria pleaded as I approached her. Her hands were now wrapped around Pat's neck. "Look at her. She needs freeing."

Well, that at least answered the gender question for Pat.

"Pinky!" Aria added. "Come here, buddy, please?"

That did not answer the gender question for Pinky.

Pinky trotted over at last. They and Aria stared at each other for a moment. Then the creature touched its nose to Aria's hand, and the girl smiled.

"They say they'll leave with us."

"No."

"Yes!" Aria turned around. "It's either that or the slammer, AJ."

Ugh. She had a point there. And given that I had a life beyond questing and a possible hope for college - if I regained my will to live one day - I couldn't risk getting arrested. Or worse, sent back to Highland Falls. The quest would not only start all over again, but I'd have to see my parents, and they'd be wildly curious.

They were wildly curious when I'd come home from my first summer, too. I hated telling them things and seeing their happy reactions. I felt like they pitied me and were just happy I'd finally found a life.

I swallowed.

"I just don't want to take them away from him," I said. "He had good intentions."

Lucas looked at me for a moment. I didn't meet his eyes, but I could feel them on me, blazing like a hurricane. Then he fished in his pocket and brought out the pre-paid credit card.

"Here," He said, handing it to me. "Leave it there for him. Is that enough?"

I gaped at him. I don't know how much Lucas' dad would pay for. It was a pre-paid card, after all, not an endless account. But it looked shiny and had the little American Express soldier man on the front. I imagined it was the best we could do.

"I guess," I said, sighing. "Get the things ready."

Aria let out a holler and hugged Pat around the neck. I turned back towards the corral gate and placed the card on top of the post Darryl had been leaning on. I hoped he did this for fun and not to live off of. I hoped this card bought him a better horse, and maybe a nice cowboy hat.

I made a promise that if I ever got the chance, I'd find a way to help him out.

"That's really sweet, you know."

I turned to see Lucas behind me. Aria was helping Kiera up onto her hippalectryon. I suppose that left Lucas and I to be on the same one. The thought made me blush all over. It was also the only reason I continued talking to him right now. I knew I couldn't run away.

"Thank you," I said.

"You have a good heart."

The blush deepened. His smile was awkward, but it was a smile nonetheless. I smiled back. Then I remembered I had the power to change the subject. I nearly jumped for joy.

"How did he see through the mist?" I asked him.

Lucas sighed. "It fluctuates sometimes. It's possible... it's possible that the war, the titans, is making it act up. I don't know."

"Who controls it?"

"Hecate," he said. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I don't like that. I don't like the idea that all hell will break loose soon."

"I know," I said. "But don't you mean, all Hades?"

Lucas gave me another smile, this one of amusement. It was the perfect middle between logical conversation and bashful flirting. It reminded me of just having a friend.

"You catch on quick," he said.

"It's been a whole summer since I was inducted," I responded dryly.

"Guys!" Kiera hissed.

We both looked up to see them approaching us on Pat. Pinky was right behind them; he came up to Lucas and I, knowing what he had to do, and bared his back for us to board.

I glanced back at the barn and said a silent apology to Darryl. Then I got on.

"It's all right," Aria cooed to Pat, scratching behind her ears. "I know you're scared, but you have us now! We'll be with you as long as you need."

"I guess we could just fly all the way to Chicago on this," I said.

"That's lame," said Kiera. "That takes away all the fun of the quest."

I had to agree.

Once Lucas was aboard, he sat there awkwardly.

"Um," he said. "Can I- can I wrap my arms around your waist? I don't have anything to hold on to."

He was right. There was no saddle or reigns, so I'd have to hold onto Pinky's neck while Lucas held on to me. I felt my entire body go hot, but nodded.

"Yeah," I squeaked out.

Yeah, AJ? I thought. Yeah? That's the best you could do?

I had no time to come up with anything else. In a heartbeat, Lucas' arms were around my waist. He was so stiff and uncomfortable that I shouldn't have felt anything from it, but I did. I could smell his cologne and a faint hint of sweat, and I heard his ragged breathing.

I stared straight ahead and swore to myself that if I did something stupid, I'd kill myself.

"All right!" said Aria. "Yippe-kay-yay, buddies!"

She hit her booted leg into Pat's haunches. I spluttered, then did the same. Together, the two hippalectryons started running, and together they just barely cleared the hurdle of the corral.

Then we were flying.

I'd gone flying before, and last time, it had not ended well. In fact, I would've died had it not been for Alec's secret magical powers showing up last minute. They'd only showed up one more time again, but I bet if he was here they'd show up now. I wished he was. He was a lot more comfortable to be around than Lucas.

Luckily, the wind was so strong that none of us could say anything. Aria shouted over the wind that she had told the horses where to go, and then we were all silent. Below us, Pennsylvania turned into a patchwork quilt of forests and farmfields, and I tried not to let my heart fall through my throat.

~ ☼ ~

A/N: My fun fact of the day is that Tioga County, Pennsylvania, is boring as hell and you should never actually go there. Sorry.

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