OLD BUCKET OF BOLTS OR NOT, the car Walden gave to them put the biggest smile on Alex's face. He missed most of the next few minutes of discussion. But he gathered that Walden had been planning on getting a new, more eco-friendly car anyways. So he didn't care if they totaled it.

"I can't trade that thing in for much anyways," Walden said. "It's gotta be over a decade old at this point. Maybe more. I got it used."

Kitty swiped the keys out of the air as he tossed them to Alex. "Thanks, man!"

"Oh no. You are not driving," Alex said. He'd seen her drive chariots, and even though she was better than Ophelia, that wasn't a high bar to pass. "I'm the only one here with a license."

"Makes no difference to me. Just get out of here. I really don't fancy a monster attack," he said. But he offered them a small smile and a last piece of advice. "Don't take '95. Traffic's the worst heading into DC, which puts civilians at risk if you run into trouble."

All three agreed they wanted to avoid that, even if it would be faster. So on Walden's suggestion, they made for the Baltimore Washington Parkway, 295. Not much better in terms of traffic, but something. Alex insisted Kitty sit in the second row, thoroughly worried about her distracting him or punching him in the arm if they saw a Volkswagen Beetle. He had a license, sure, but that didn't mean he spent a ton of time driving through cities. Still, better to be leaving Baltimore by vehicle than by walking.

It cooled off a bit that morning. Mercy, honestly. Ophelia hadn't been the only one exhausted from the heat and long trek the day before. Sure, it had been easier to deal with in dry shoes, but wet shoes weren't the only reason to have ducked into the dark aquarium.

Traffic really did suck in the morning. Every moment they crept along the road at a snail's pace, the more agitated he felt. Alex glanced at the trees to their left and to their right. Walden didn't mind if they totaled this car. But Alex did.

He had no desire to run all the way to DC. Sure it wouldn't take as long as Philadelphia to Baltimore, but still. He liked driving. He liked wheels. He wondered briefly what Hermes would think of that. Wheels over feet.

Alex paused. He glanced in his rearview mirror as Kitty fell quiet. She and Ophelia had been playing the License Plate game, trying to get every state. "Talk to me, Kit."

"Something's off," Kitty said. She narrowed her eyes, leaning forward over the center console. "Look at that."

He and Ophelia followed her finger as Kitty pointed outside. A flock of birds shot up into the air from the right, flying towards them and across the road. Alex's heart sank.

But the car in front wouldn't move, and the one behind him closed in. Nowhere to go. Not with the car, anyways. And maybe it was nothing. Nature didn't react just to monsters.

"We need to move," Ophelia said.

Alex didn't hesitate further. He unlocked the doors. The ground shook. Then he saw white, pain filling his side and crashing metal filling his ears.

The world spun. He could taste blood in his mouth. He lay on his back, smashed against the road and surrounded by tiny pieces of glass and scrap metal. Grasping for his pocket, Alex downed a piece of ambrosia. He pushed himself to his feet with shaky hands.

Kitty held Ophelia up, one arm over her shoulder, their blonde and blue hair mixing briefly while Alex tried to focus. Blood covered both girls. He sorted through the screams of mortals, willing the ambrosia to work faster.

What had happened?

What had hit them?

The answer came in the form of a hulking, nine-foot mechanical bronze Colchis bull. It stood behind the car adjacent to theirs. Peeling itself free, metal scraps fell to the ground. Alex's heart nearly stopped. It seemed to have done some damage to itself by ramming the cars, but was it enough?

The bull turned.

Kitty screamed. Alex knew it was her without looking. He ripped Vindication off his wrist and summoned it as a bow. Alex didn't even wait to line up a shot before releasing the bronze arrow. It embedded itself in one of the ruby eyes.

"Hey!" He hoped he sounded braver than he felt. "Over here!"

He could feel his strength returning. Though his muscles ached and he could feel blood on his skin, that didn't matter. He had the best chance against this thing. Alex ordered Kitty to run.

When she didn't argue, instead turning and taking off into the trees with Ophelia, Alex knew she was wounded. But he had a bigger problem. The bull pawed at the ground, kicking up sparks.

"You want them, you have to go through me," Alex said, switching to a sword. The rest of the arrows were trapped in Walden's now totaled vehicle.

The bull seemed quite pleased at that idea. Alex barely had time to jump and roll out of the way before a stream of blazing fire hit the ground where he'd been standing. More mortals screamed. He wondered what they saw.

It took several minutes of rolling and jumping and retreating from the bull's horns and fire before he landed another hit. With all his strength, he drove through the bull's right horn, almost severing it at a joint.

Alex felt himself thrown as the bull bucked, Vindication wrenched inside. The sword broke free as he landed on his back in the grass at the tree line. He couldn't breathe. His muscles wouldn't move. But he had to get up. He had to.

Alex stood back up. The bull's ruby eyes glinted with a fire deep inside. Helicopter blades pounded rhythmically overhead. Sirens filled the air. Twice it pawed the broken asphalt.

He put Vindication back on his wrist. This wasn't a fight he could win, not here surrounded by mortals in practically a bullfighting ring. It would win every time.

Taking off into the trees, he felt flames lick at his heels. His lungs burned. His muscles screamed in protest. What was this? Twice in two? three days where he ran for his life through trees and down dirt roads with a monster or three tumbling behind him.

It didn't take long to break into a dirt road. Trees surrounded him on every side. He could hear the bull behind, bronze hooves hammering the ground. Alex wanted to look back. But if he checked how far back it was, the bull might close the gap.

Alex skidded to a halt as he saw Kitty and Ophelia up ahead. Sitting against a tree, both girls looked barely conscious, covered in blood. Fury filled his chest as Alex loosed Vindication, winged sword slashing into the bull's jaw as it failed to stop.

It wouldn't end this way. It couldn't. Alex squared up against the bull, its jaw and one horn now hanging loose from cables and wires. Oil and some other liquid spilled to the ground. The bronze arrow of Hermes poked out from its left eye. Horrible scraping noises of metal against rock filled the space around them. Alex circled it, mirroring every step it took.

He placed himself between the bull and the girls. Sword raised, Alex stared into its dripping, ripped maw. The noise of groaning gear work stopped as it halted across from him.

"I will kill you," Alex said. "Do you want to die? I don't think even monsters want to see the darkness of the Underworld. Why else would you come to the light?"

The bull paused.

He held his breath. He took a step forward. The bull didn't move, regarding hun from thirty feet away, dirt road like a runway between them.

Alex heard a hiss, then a thunk. A single silver arrow embedded itself in the other ruby eye. Six more followed before he could think straight again. Not questioning his luck, Alex sprinted forward as the mechanical bull howled in agony, eyes nearly bleeding at the noise. He leaped on its remaining horn. With a final stab, he drove Vindication wing-hilt deep through the neck. Another half dozen silver arrows followed.

It collapsed. Thrown off by the weight and too exhausted to catch himself, Alex tumbled into the dirt road without his weapon. Grey clouds covered the blue sky. He tried to breathe, to catch his breath. Only one group used silver arrows. He'd fought beside them once, and against them before that.

A young girl, skin dark as the night sky she worshipped, leaned over him. A Hunter. She turned away with a frown. "He's alive!"

Alex didn't know if she was happy or disappointed. He didn't care. Rolling over onto his knees, he forced himself up. A handful of the Hunters of Artemis picked through the metal carcass of the bull. Another handful knelt around Ophelia and Kitty.

He wasted no time. Forgetting his pain for the moment, Alex ripped Vindication from the bull and rushed to the girls. Two hunters he recognized from the Battle of Manhattan cleaned their faces and fed them nectar.

"Alex Griffith."

He knew that voice. That voice! Spinning around, he found himself face to face with Thalia Grace, Zeus's daughter. She looked better now that last they'd parted, dark hair cropped along her shoulders and pale skin not covered in ash and blood. Her grip tightened on her silver bow as they stood opposed.

She hadn't been a Hunter, last he saw her fighting for the other side. He'd been thinking about leaving Kronos already, after watching Luke kidnap Annabeth and force her to hold up the sky. If he could do that to her, to someone Luke had always said was family… but then Thalia Grace had come. The girl Luke said would've fought by them, side by side. Who he spoke of with such fondness. She'd shown up and kicked him off a cliff. He'd not been able to do anything about it.

Thalia had left Luke. Just like Alex.

And here she stood, looking not a day older than fifteen, silver bow in hand and circlet on her head. Both still alive while Luke lay dead.

She put her weapon away. Alex said nothing, and though she opened her mouth for a moment, neither did she. Her electric blue eyes sparked. It reminded him of Zeus when Alex had threatened him. But instead of screaming about lightning, Thalia stood silent and unmoving. Alex put away Vindication.

"Come with me," Thalia said. "The Hunters will see to Kitty and Ophelia. Lady Artemis wants to see you."

Alex paused. He looked back. The Hunters had laid the girls on a couple of white sheets like stretchers. But they were breathing. They looked almost peaceful. So he let them go past, deeper into the trees.

He glanced up. With a nod, he allowed Thalia Grace to lead the way.

He found the goddess waiting inside a silver tent. She looked about sixteen, brown hair and eyes shining like platinum. She looked different, this time, then he remembered her on Olympus. Already seated, she gestured to the blanket across from her.

Artemis looked to Thalia. "See to the others."

Alex found himself seated across from an Olympian. She didn't speak at first, just looked him up and down without a smile. Finally at rest, he felt himself shivering and weak, dried blood all over his hands and arms. He held up his shaking right, the caduceus bracelet still pristine atop the blood.

The bull had almost killed them. Had it killed the mortals? Surely not. Celestial bronze bulls couldn't kill a mortal. But crushed cars could. Blood seeped out of a cute across the top of his hand. His blood.

"Drink this."

Alex looked up. Artemis held out a small vial of water that shined with moonlight. For a moment, he hesitated. Why would she help him? But she didn't look away. So he drank it.

Lightness began to fill his veins, cuts closing. Blood still stained his skin and hair but at least he could breathe again. In the closed silver tent across Artemis, he found himself recoiling. Why was she helping?

"What you said before the Olympian Council was," Artemis paused, the tiniest hint of a smirk disappearing, "impressive. Though stupid."

"Why are you helping me," Alex said. He didn't even try to hide the bite in his tone. "Isn't it against your father's command?"

Artemis rolled her eyes up through the tent. Then she turned back to him, smirking. "I did not intervene for you. We're hunting the remainder of Kronos's army. We just happened to be tracking this bull."

"Oh?"

"Indeed. I heard an interesting tale, that spoils of war disappeared from Manhattan. If I was looking for artifacts, I would follow that." She stared at him, unblinking. "Your friends need rest. You as well. The Hunters are remaining here for the night, to investigate the area. If you would like to stay, you may." Then she narrowed her eyes. "Do not let your gaze stray, boy. The Hunters are under my protection, always."

Alex felt exhaustion overtake him as a hunter led him to another tent. He saw Ophelia and Kitty, silent and still but breathing. The Hunters had cleaned them. No one offered the same to him. He didn't care though. He wanted to sleep. And he did, like a rock, until close to sunset.

When he woke up, he found Thalia waiting for him. A nightmare? No.

"What?" Alex said, trying to keep his voice low for the girls near him. "What could you possibly want?"

"Get out of the tent and I can tell you, dumbass," Thalia snapped.

Thalia was never the nicest of people to be around, least of all with Alex, but she had a sharper bite to her bark than usual. Alex did as she said. He clambered out of the tent, muscles a bit sore, and found himself in a silent clearing, no one in sight. He joined her by a fire in the center. But he wouldn't sit.

"Look, Alex. What you did was stupid," Thalia said. Before he could snap back, she added, "I get it though. And… I understand why you hate me."

Alex looked at her. She had tears in her eyes. But he wouldn't dignify this with an accepted apology. He couldn't. Not right now, with blood still on his hands, his own blood. So he moved on.

"Why is Artemis helping?" he said.

She shook her head. "My lady hasn't offered you any help. That would be against the gods' decree. But I'm helping. The gods didn't forbid that, did they?"

Alex paused. He didn't know what to say. This girl, young and yet the same as Luke would've been. With her spikey shoulder-length hair and electric eyes, Thalia looked imposing. But she held back tears. So he sat down at the fire.

"Alright. Where are the artifacts going?"

Thalia took a deep breath. She grabbed a stick and drew a rough map of DC. He'd never been, but as a son of Hermes he supposed it made sense he could read even the roughest of maps.

"We believe the Kennedy Center is a front for a black market of spoils of war," Thalia said. "Other things too. Ambrosia, weapons, even animals and monsters. Lady Artemis's brother has a son there, Quinn Coleman."

"You think he's in on it?"

"No. He's been investigating." Thalia took a deep breath. Glancing up at him, she tossed the stick pen into the fire. "If anyone knows where the lyre would be, it's him."

Alex nodded. He didn't say anything for a moment, studying her in the firelight. He took another breath, allowing the scent of spice and burning wood to settle him. "Right."

"You need to do this," Thalia said. She leaned forward, somehow even more intense than before. "Get the lyre, bring it to Olympus. Forget about your anger. I know what it's like. But you need to save them."

"I know."

Crackling embers and the hooting of an owl filled the silence between them. Darkness had fallen, the moon rising in the sky. Alex looked up at it. A light in darkness, stars beyond. Thalia nodded. Nothing else needed to be said. She left him alone in the firelight.