xii.

  —AT some point, Leo ended up conking out. It didn't surprise her since he obviously hadn't gotten a lick of sleep the night before. His head lolled around on her shoulder, hair tickling her ear. She tried not to shiver at the sensation each time.

  The weight on her front, despite making her back ache, warmed her up. But him sleeping meant she was in control of the dragon. Luckily, she was sitting down or else her legs would have buckled with the thought. All she did was hover her hands over Leo's that were still clutched around the reigns. It made her feel like she wasn't in complete control.

  As Savannah was scared to look down at the earth far below them, Piper was in charge of keeping track of their progress. Soon, she was shaking them and announcing that they were there.

  Leo sat up with a jolt, wincing at a crick in his neck. Savannah smiled as he rolled his head around.

  They flew closer and closer to what appeared to be a castle but Piper mentioned it was a hotel.

  "No way," Leo denied, but Savannah could see it now. The valets and porters, helping with cars and bags. It was just luxurious. Only having seen stuff of the like in movies, Savannah was eager to get closer. She was also ready to just get off the dragon as well.

  "The North Wind is staying in a hotel?" Leo said. "That can't be —"

  "Heads up, guys," Jason interrupted. "We got company!"

  They all followed Jason's eyes below the belly of Festus. Rising from the top of the tower were two winged figures ... with swords — incredibly sharp swords. Savannah gulped, slowly reaching for her baton type thing, dearly hoping these were nice angel creatures.

  The dragon stopped midair while keeping his wings beating. Savannah saw his talons grow outward and held Leo tighter with one arm. Festus grumbled lowly in warning.

  Savannah's eyes widened. "What was that noise?"

  "He's ready to spit fire," Leo said. "Steady, boy," Leo muttered.

  "I don't like this," Jason said. "They look like storm spirits."

  Storm Spirits — a.k.a., the same things that tried to kill them at the Grand Canyon. Savannah was not ready for another situation like that, especially since she wasn't even on solid ground.

  They looked like regular teenagers except for their icy white hair and feathery lavender wings. All Savannah could stare at, though, were the weapons they wielded. They almost looked like icicles, except sharp on every side. She always read that icicles were the perfect murder weapon.

  Their clothes were laughable considering the big one was wearing a hockey jersey with sweatpants and some cleats. His face fit the target for being a typical hockey player jock, missing teeth, black eyes and scars. Savannah was never a sport fanatic. The other guy was just confusingly mismatched. He was a skinny twig that looked like he was trying out to be in a 1980's boy band. There was a mullet, too, and as far as Savannah was concerned, that was a fashion no-no these days. She was sure even Piper would be scowling at it, and that girl was an advocate for crazy style.

  The angels pulled up in front of the dragon and hovered there, swords too close for Savannah's comfort.

  The hockey one grunted. "No clearance."

  "'Scuse me?" Leo said.

  "You have no flight plan on file," explained the twiggy guy, a French accent peeping through. "This is restricted airspace."

  "Destroy them?" The hockey boy showed off his gap-toothed grin and Savannah's eyes stared at his gross gums for as long as he had his mouth open.

  The dragon began to hiss steam and Savannah's legs curled up higher. Jason summoned his golden sword, but Leo cried, "Hold on! Let's have some manners here, boys. Can I at least find out who has the honor of destroying me?" Savannah looked at him crazily.

  "I am Cal!" the big guy grunted. He looked very proud of himself, like he'd taken a long time to memorize that sentence.

  "That's short for Calais," the 1980's kid said. "Sadly, my brother cannot say words with more than two syllables —" Was that because he never learned to or just couldn't?

  "Pizza! Hockey! Destroy!" Cal offered. Savannah only nodded in agreement, hoping it would stop him from opening his mouth more.

  "— which includes his own name," the skinny boy finished.

  "I am Cal," Cal repeated. "And this is Zethes! My brother!" Brothers? There was no resemblance whatsoever in Savannah's head. She supposed it was the Greek thing again since Piper didn't look like her siblings. They were just pretty in all their own ways, and these two were just ugly in their own ways.

  "Wow," Leo said. "That was almost three sentences, man! Way to go." Luckily, Cal didn't recognize the mocking statement and grunted, obviously pleased with himself.

  "Stupid buffoon," his brother grumbled. "They make fun of you. But no matter. I am Zethes, which is short for Zethes. And the ladies here —" He winked at Piper and Savannah comically, the action more like a facial seizure. "They can call us anything they wish. Perhaps they would like to have dinner with two famous demigods before we must destroy you?"

  Savannah's eyes widened with a squeak of displeasure; that was no way to ask someone on a date. Piper made a sound like gagging on a cough drop. "That's ... a truly horrifying offer."

  "It is no problem." Zethes wiggled his eyebrows. "We are a very romantic people, we Boreads."

  "Boreads?" Jason cut in. "Do you mean, like, the sons of Boreas?"

  "Ah, so you've heard of us!" Zethes looked pleased. "We are our father's gatekeepers. So you understand, we cannot have unauthorized people flying in his airspace on creaky dragons, scaring the silly mortal peoples."

  He pointed below, and all of them saw that the mortals were starting to take notice. Most were just confused and Savannah had no idea how they weren't running for cover.

  "Which is sadly why, unless this is an emergency landing," Zethes said, brushing his hair out of his acne-covered face, "we will have to destroy you painfully."

  "Destroy!" Cal agreed, with a little more enthusiasm than was necessary. Savannah breathing picked up.

  "Wait!" Piper said. "This is an emergency landing."

  "Awww!" Cal looked so disappointed.

  Zethes studied Piper, which of course he'd already been doing. "How does the pretty girl decide this is an emergency, then?"

  "We have to see Boreas. It's totally urgent! Please?" She forced a smile. The words even almost convinced Savannah and she looked back at Zethes and nodded.

  Zethes picked at his silk shirt, probably making sure it was still open wide enough. "Well ... I hate to disappoint a lovely lady, but you see, my sister, she would have an avalanche if we allowed you —"

  "And our dragon is malfunctioning!" Piper added. "It could crash any minute!"

  Festus shuddered helpfully, then turned his head and spilled gunk out of his ear. Savannah didn't dare look down to see where it splattered. Looking at the people below had already made her jump out of her skin.

  Savannah was still hanging on to every word Piper was saying and shuddered even more than the dragon, begging it not to crash.

  "Oh, god, please no," she mumbled, latching tightly onto Leo's shoulders.

  Zethes looked at her oddly in concern and it seemed to convince him all the more as she looked incredibly terrified.

  "No destroy?" Cal whimpered.

  "A malfunctioning dragon — this could be an emergency." Zethes stared down the redhead in consideration.

  "Destroy them later?" Cal offered, which did nothing to stop Savannah's shivers.

  "It will take some explaining," Zethes decided. "Father has not been kind to visitors lately. But, yes. Come, faulty dragon people. Follow us."

  They turned and sheathed their icicles, pulling out some orange cones instead, like at an airport. Savannah's trembles hadn't let up and Piper finally tried to console her.

  "Hey," she whispered, "Festus is fine. I used that excuse as a bigger reason to get inside."

  "Oh." Savannah slipped out of her stupor at Piper's voice. "Yeah, I knew that." She blinked. She had totally believed Festus was breaking down.

  Leo turned around to look at all of them after they established Festus wasn't breaking. "I love these guys. Follow them?"

  Jason and Piper didn't look eager and Savannah was shaking her head.

  "Oh, come on," Leo grinned. "They just need to warm up to us." He nudged her.

  "I guess," Jason decided. "We're here now. But I wonder why Boreas hasn't been kind to visitors."

  "Pfft, he just hasn't met us." Leo whistled. "Festus, after those flashlights!"

  They were guided right into an entrance lined with icicles and Savannah ducked to avoid getting hit by one even though there was quite a bit of space between her and the ice. She just had to be sure.

  "This cannot be good," Jason muttered, but Leo still carried on.

  Savannah gaped at the penthouse they seemed to have landed in. It was bigger than her grandmother's whole house ... And everything was covered in frost. The girl assumed it was once decorated with red and gold but had been clouded over by whoever lived there. The fact that Festus was able to have his wings extended went to show the sheer size of it. Plus, there was an upstairs!

  Leo hopped down first, being the most eager to wander around the place. "Guys," He said, "fix the thermostat in here, and I would totally move in." He turned to help Savannah down from her spot. She gratefully clasped his shoulders and slid down. After sitting for so long, her legs gave out a little but he made sure to steady her.

  "Not me." Jason looked uneasily at the staircase. "Something feels wrong. Something up there ..." Savannah also fastened her eyes onto the top of the staircase. If Jason felt off, then something was definitely wrong here. He seemed to have the best instincts out of them all.

  Festus shuddered and snorted flames, making Savannah step out of Leo's arms which he had yet to retract. She noticed the frost starting to form on his scales.

  "No, no, no." Zethes marched over, his feet crunched with every step. "The dragon must be deactivated. We can't have fire in here. The heat ruins my hair."

  The dragon did not take well to hearing that and growled. "'S'okay, boy." Leo turned to Zethes. "The dragon's a little touchy about the whole deactivation concept. But I've got a better solution."

  "Destroy?" Cal suggested.

  "No, man. You gotta stop with the destroy talk. Just wait."

  "Leo," Piper said nervously, "what are you—"

  "Watch and learn, beauty queen. When I was repairing Festus last night, I found all kinds of buttons. Some, you do not want to know what they do. But others ... Ah, here we go."

  Leo was behind one of Festus' legs, fiddling around. He found the switch and the dragon started shuddering as he folded over a million times. It all amazed Savannah. He became the size of a suitcase!

  Leo tried to lift it by its handle, but he couldn't even get it up an inch. "Um ... yeah. Hold on. I think — aha." He pushed another button and a handle flipped up on the top, and wheels clicked out on the bottom.

  "It's a suitcase!" Savannah exclaimed. "It was —" she made a big gesture with her hand meant to represent the dragon. "Then it was —" She then pointed at the small box.

  "Ta-da!" he announced, grinning at her from ear to ear.

  "That's impossible," Jason said. "Something that big couldn't —"

  "Stop!" Zethes ordered. He and Cal both drew their swords and glared at Leo. Savannah took a step up to Leo but stayed behind him. She would do anything to help him, but standing in front of a sword was not something she was quite ready for.

  Leo raised his hands. "Okay ... what'd I do? Stay calm, guys. If it bothers you that much, I don't have to take the dragon as carry-on —"

  "Who are you?" Zethes shoved the point of his sword against Leo's chest, and Savannah forgot how to breathe. "A child of the South Wind, spying on us?"

  "What? No!" Leo said. "Son of Hephaestus. Friendly blacksmith, no harm to anyone!"

  Cal growled. He put his face up to Leo's, and Savannah really wished he wouldn't talk. "Smell fire," he said. "Fire is bad."

  "Oh." Leo tensed up in front of her and Savannah took his hand. She felt a very strong heat but she just assumed it was because he was just holding Festus' suitcase handle. "Yeah, well ... my clothes are kind of singed, and I've been working with oil, and —"

  "No!" Zethes pushed Leo back at sword point. "We can smell fire, demigod. We assumed it was from the creaky dragon, but now the dragon is a suitcase. And I still smell fire ... on you."

  "Hey ... look ... I don't know —" Savannah watched him look back at them. "Guys, a little help?"

  Jason already had his gold coin in his hand. He stepped forward, his eyes on Zethes. "Look, there's been a mistake. Leo isn't a fire guy. Tell them, Leo. Tell them you're not a fire guy."

  "Well, isn't Hephaestus the god of forges and fire? That's got to be what you smell," Savannah offered.

  Zethes' nose scrunched in consideration, and he eyed her oddly. He did that a lot. "You smell no better," he claimed.

  "I'm uh, Hestia's — her — I'm Hestia's something," Savannah fumbled. The North wind was not quite satisfied with her answer.

  "Zethes?" Piper tried her dazzling smile. "We're all friends here. Put down your swords and let's talk."

  "The girls are pretty," Zethes admitted, "and of course they cannot help being attracted to our amazingness; but sadly, we cannot romance them at this time." He poked his sword point farther into Leo's chest and Savannah held his arm tighter.

  "Destroy him now?" Cal asked his brother.

  Zethes nodded. "Sadly, I think —"

  "No," Jason insisted. "Leo's just a son of Hephaestus. He's no threat. Savannah is a blessed mortal. Piper here is a daughter of Aphrodite. I'm the son of Zeus. We're on a peaceful ..."

  Jason's voice faltered, because both Boreads had suddenly turned on him. Savannah was thankful that the swords were off of Leo but the trouble still wasn't over.

  "What did you say?" Zethes demanded. "You are the son of Zeus?"

  "Um ... yeah," Jason said. "That's a good thing, right? My name is Jason."

  Cal looked so surprised, he almost dropped his sword. "Can't be Jason," he said. "Doesn't look the same."

  Zethes stepped forward and squinted at Jason's face. "No, he is not our Jason. Our Jason was more stylish. Not as much as me — but stylish. Besides, our Jason died millennia ago."

  "Wait," Jason said. "Your Jason ... you mean the original Jason? The Golden Fleece guy?"

  Savannah felt as if this whole 'Jason' conversation would never end until he got his memories back.

  "Of course," Zethes said. "We were his crewmates aboard his ship, the Argo, in the old times, when we were mortal demigods. Then we accepted immortality to serve our father, so I could look this good for all time, and my silly brother could enjoy pizza and hockey."

  Savannah grimaced at the thought of becoming immortal just for looks and to enjoy pizza. In fact, the thought of becoming immortal just didn't interest her at all. That sounded like immeasurable pressure.

  "Hockey!" Cal agreed.

  "But Jason — our Jason — he died a mortal death," Zethes said. "You can't be him."

  "I'm not," Jason agreed.

  "So, destroy?" Cal asked. Savannah's eyes narrowed at him, did he think about anything other than destroying?

  "No," Zethes said regretfully. "If he is a son of Zeus, he could be the one we've been watching for."

  "Watching for?" Leo asked. "You mean like in a good way: you'll shower him with fabulous prizes? Or watching for like in a bad way: he's in trouble?"

  A girl's voice said, "That depends on my father's will."

  Everyone's eyes shifted to the owner of the voice. A pale girl in a frilly white dress stood at the top of the staircase. Savannah was instantly hit with self-consciousness. The girl had had plenty of time to get used to Piper's natural beauty, but this girl was a different kind of beautiful and she knew it, making things even worse.

  Her face held no emotion, and Savannah could tell that a smile would be out of place.

  "Father will want to see the one called Jason," the girl said.

  "Then it is him?" Zethes asked excitedly.

  "We'll see," the girl said. "Zethes, bring our guests."

  Savannah was hesitant to move from her spot; one reason being she didn't need to get any closer to realize she was prettier up close and probably more dangerous looking, and the second reason being her limbs were frozen stiff. Leo wasted no time in trying to lug his heavy suitcase, though so Savannah grabbed his hand to stop him.

  "Not you, Valdez and May," the pretty woman said.

  Savannah didn't need to be told twice to stay downstairs. She frowned as Leo deflated and released her grip on his hand. He only noticed after a moment of staring longingly up the stairs and turned to her for a second with a questioning face. The girl wouldn't meet his eyes.

  "Why not?" He looked back at the new ice princess.

  "You two cannot be in the presence of my father. Fire and ice — it would not be wise."

  "We're going together," Jason insisted, stepping closer to his new friends, "or not at all."

  The girl tilted her head, like she wasn't used to people refusing her orders. "They will not be harmed, Jason Grace, unless you make trouble. Calais, keep Leo Valdez and Savannah May here. Guard them, but do not kill them."

  Cal pouted. "Just a little?"

  "No," the girl insisted. "And take care of his interesting suitcase, until Father passes judgment."

  Jason and Piper looked uneasily at Savannah and Leo. The two then looked at each other and the boy sighed. "It's fine, guys. No sense causing trouble if we don't have to. You go ahead. We can take care of each other." Leo stepped backwards to stand beside the girl.

  "Listen to your friend," the pale girl said. "Leo Valdez and Savannah May will be perfectly safe. I wish I could say the same for you, son of Zeus. Now come, King Boreas is waiting."

  Jason and Piper ascended the staircase, holding onto the railing as some parts were slippery. Once they were through the big doors at the top, Leo turned to Savannah.

  "I wouldn't have been able to get this up there anyway." He pointed at his condensed dragon. Savannah nodded at his cover up.

  The girl shuffled her frozen feet along the frost covered ground and stared at the footprints. The silence was killing her but she had been pushed into an awkward mindset after the girl. So obviously what came out of her mouth had to make the situation even more awkward.

  "She was pretty," Savannah mumbled casually. She tensed and pursed her lips after realizing what she had actually said.

  Leo seemed to tense as well and looked at the floor like she had. The ice seemed to be becoming water beneath him. "Was she?" He asked innocently. "I didn't notice."

  Savannah hummed in affirmation. The two refused to meet each other's eyes after that. The girl was cursing herself a million times over in her mind.

  Cal, seeming like he wanted to be apart of the conversation, spoke up. "Sister bad."

  —LEO looked at the weird Boread with narrowed eyes. First, things were unnecessarily becoming awkward between him and Savannah. And then this big guy came butting in. "I gathered that, thanks," Leo mumbled.

  Cal just shrugged his beefy shoulders and continued to circle them.

  Leo, getting over himself, shook out of his thoughts and looked over at Savannah. "You can sit down." He gestured to the suitcase. "I'm sure Festus wouldn't mind."

  Savannah gave a pleasant smile that had the cogs in Leo's mind fall out of place. "I'm okay, thank you. I'm not quite sure when I'll get to stand again after this."

  Leo knew something was up from the way she was acting. "Are you okay?" He then asked.

  "Huh?" Savannah finally looked up from kicking around the frost. "Yeah, of course I am."

  Leo looked at her suspiciously and stepped closer. Savannah just smiled softly in response to try and sell her statement. He wasn't buying, but he couldn't exactly force her to tell him anything.

  "Okay," he said after a moment. "You'll tell me if there's something wrong, though, right? Because I can't have anything bothering my girl." Leo smirked jokingly and gave a light punch to her shoulder.

  Savannah chuckled and shook her head. "You'll be the first to know." Leo nodded, satisfied with her answer.

  "Cal," Leo started, "you got a bathroom?"

  Cal seemed to ponder for a longer than he should've, his eyebrows raising and scrunching together in thought. His eyes lit up as he decided not to verbally answer and instead point down a hall. Leo looked at him gratefully and turned to his friend.

  Her eyes were already wide. "You can't leave me here alone with him," she said quietly.

  "Savi, you won't be alone. You got Festus," Leo said.

  "In suitcase form!" Savannah whisper-yelled back.

  Leo looked at Festus's form and at Cal. "Do you mind if I let him free? I think his body is starting to freeze up like this."

  Cal looked suspiciously at the box shape on the floor. "Nice dragon?"

  Leo rolled his eyes, his bladder not being especially kind right then. "Yes, yes, very nice dragon." He took Cal's silence as a yes and pressed a button that transformed the golden suitcase into Festus the dragon. He seemed to shake off the cold pretty quickly and blew steam onto itself. Leo turned back to Savannah. "Now you'll be safe. I'll be back in a jiffy."

  "You better," she said.

  Stepping away, he stopped at Festus' head. "Protect Savannah, you got that?" The dragon didn't exactly reply, but it did rumble so that was enough for the boy.

  Leo had managed to use the bathroom with all its amenities, cleaning all the oil and grime off himself in the shower. And while he didn't want to get back out into the cold, he knew he had to get back to Savannah. He rushed back out into the main hall, seeing Savannah had warmed up to the dragon, making the boy smile.

  —SAVANNAH had gotten so cold in Leo's absence that she huddled up to the bronze dragon for warmth. Leo soon walked over and joined her as she leaned her back against Festus's side.

  Her eyes widened as he was completely free of oil blotches, though some stains remained on his pants and shirt. But his hair was less tarred together and more free flowing. He looked nice.

  "So you're buddy-buddies now?" He asked.

  "Well, I wouldn't go that far, but he does feel very nice," Savannah admitted. "You cleaned up."

  "Yeah, the oil was starting to dry up in this cold and it was very uncomfortable," Leo told her. "It was a pain to get out of the shower, so you're lucky I'm even here right now to finish this quest."

  Savannah rolled her eyes at his antics. "You're so brave."

  "I like to think I am very brave," he said, flexing one of his biceps.

  "Puny," Cal guffawed and flexed his own muscles. "Destroy you in second."

  Leo raised an eyebrow. "Those sure are big guns you got there. You could poke someone's eye out."

  Cal beamed. "True."

  Savannah couldn't help but laugh jovially at the jibes.

  It wasn't long before the two teenagers heard the sounds of Jason and Piper descending the stairs. Savannah stepped away from Leo and Festus as they watched their friends reach ground level.

  The pretty girl was back, but as quick as she appeared, she disappeared in a flurry of snow. Savannah stared at where she had been for only a moment before tuning into the conversation at hand.

  "Be careful, pretty girl," Zethes said, looking at Piper who was extremely uncomfortable. "The winds between here and Chicago are bad-tempered. Many other evil things are stirring. I am sorry you will not be staying. You would make a lovely ice statue, in which I could check my reflection."

  "Thanks," Piper said. "But I'd sooner play hockey with Cal."

  "Hockey?" Cal's eyes lit up.

  "Joking," Piper said. "And the storm winds aren't our worst problem, are they?"

  "Oh, no," Zethes agreed. "Something else. Something worse."

  "Worse," Cal echoed.

  "Can you tell me?" Piper gave them a smile. Savannah was entranced by it, and just by her words she wanted to tell Piper everything she wanted to know. The trance was broken as Zethes shook his head and spoke.

  "Ask Aeolus what is worse," Zethes said darkly. "He knows. Good luck."

  Cal patted Leo on the shoulder and looked between him and Savannah. "Don't get destroyed," he said, which was probably the longest sentence he'd ever attempted. "Next time — hockey. Pizza."

  "Come on, guys." Jason stared out at the dark. "Let's go to Chicago and try not to get destroyed."

  "Sounds like a plan to me," Savannah said and climbed onto Festus's back, more comfortable than she had been the first time.

NOTES ;
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