“But how?” I said. “We were only in there for an hour and we barely escaped. How could you have escaped after being there for so long?”
“I told you.” Bianca looked about ready to cry. “A man came and said it was time to leave. And—”
“But who? Why did he do it?”
Before she could answer, we were hit with a blazing light from down the road. The headlights of a car appeared out of nowhere. I was half hoping it was Apollo, come to give us a ride again, but the engine was way too silent for the sun chariot, and besides, it was nighttime. We grabbed our sleeping bags and got out of the way as a deathly white limousine slid to a stop in front of us.
* * *
The back door of the limo opened right next to me. Before I could step away, the point of a sword touched my throat.
I heard the sound of Zoë and Bianca drawing their bows. As the owner of the sword got out of the car, I moved back very slowly. I had to, because he was pushing the point under my chin.
He smiled cruelly. “Not so fast now, are you, punk?”
He was a big man with a crew cut, a black leather biker’s jacket, black jeans, a white muscle shirt, and combat boots. Wraparound shades hid his eyes, but I knew what was behind those glasses—hollow sockets filled with flames.
“Ares,” I growled.
The war god glanced at my friends. “At ease, people.”
He snapped his fingers, and their weapons fell to the ground.
“This is a friendly meeting.” He dug the point of his blade a little farther under my chin. “Of course I’d like to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady.”
“What lady?” Thalia asked.
Ares looked over at her. “Well, well. I heard you were back.”
He lowered his sword and pushed me away.
“Thalia, daughter of Zeus,” Ares mused. “You’re not hanging out with very good company.”
“What’s your business, Ares?” she said. “Who’s in the car?”
Ares smiled, enjoying the attention. “Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them.” He jutted his chin toward Zoë and Bianca. “Why don’t you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes.”
“We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares,” Zoë said.
“Besides,” Grover managed, “the taco place is closed.”
Ares snapped his fingers again. The lights inside the taqueria suddenly blazed to life. The boards flew off the door and the CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN. “You were saying, goat boy?”
“Go on,” I told my friends. “I’ll handle this.”
I tried to sound more confident than I felt. I don’t think Ares was fooled.
“You heard the boy,” Ares said. “He’s big and strong. He’s got things under control.”
My friends reluctantly headed over to the taco restaurant. Ares regarded me with loathing then opened the limousine door like a chauffeur.
“Get inside, punk,” he said. “And mind your manners. She’s not as forgiving of rudeness as I am.”
When I saw her, my jaw dropped.
I forgot my name. I forgot where I was. I forgot how to speak in complete sentences.
She was wearing a red satin dress and her hair was curled in a cascade of ringlets. Her face was the most beautiful I’d ever seen: perfect makeup, dazzling eyes, a smile that would’ve lit up the dark side of the moon.
Thinking back on it, I can’t tell you who she looked like.
Or even what color her hair or her eyes were. Pick the most beautiful actress you can think of. The goddess was ten times more beautiful than that. Pick your favorite hair color, eye color, whatever. The goddess had that.
When she smiled at me, just for a moment she looked a little like Annabeth. Then like this television actress I used to have a crush on in fifth grade. Then . . . well, you get the idea.
“Ah, there you are, Percy,” the goddess said. “I am Aphrodite.”
I slipped into the seat across from her and said something like, “Um uh gah.”
She smiled. “Aren’t you sweet. Hold this, please.”
She handed me a polished mirror the size of a dinner plate and had me hold it up for her. She leaned forward and dabbed at her lipstick, though I couldn’t see anything wrong with it.
“Do you know why you’re here?” she asked.
I wanted to respond. Why couldn’t I form a complete sentence? She was only a lady. A seriously beautiful lady. With eyes like pools of spring water . . . Whoa.
I pinched my own arm, hard.
“I . . . I don’t know,” I managed.
“Oh, dear,” Aphrodite said. “Still in denial?”
Outside the car, I could hear Ares chuckling. I had a feeling he could hear every word we said. The idea of him being out there made me angry, and that helped clear my mind.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.
“Well then, why are you on this quest?”
“Artemis has been captured!”
Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “Oh, Artemis. Please. Talk about a hopeless case. I mean, if they were going to kidnap a goddess, she should be breathtakingly beautiful, don’t you think? I pity the poor dears who have to imprison Artemis. Bo-ring!”
“But she was chasing a monster,” I protested. “A really, really bad monster. We have to find it!”
Aphrodite made me hold the mirror a little higher. She seemed to have found a microscopic problem at the corner of her eye and dabbed at her mascara. “Always some monster. But my dear Percy, that is why the others are on this quest. I’m more interested in you.”
My heart pounded. I didn’t want to answer, but her eyes drew an answer right out of my mouth. “Annabeth is in trouble.”
Aphrodite beamed. “Exactly!”
“I have to help her,” I said. “I’ve been having these dreams.”
“Ah, you even dream about her! That’s so cute!”
“No! I mean . . . that’s not what I meant.”
She made a tsk-tsk sound. “Percy, I’m on your side. I’m the reason you’re here, after all.”
I stared at her. “What?”
“The poisoned T-shirt the Stoll brothers gave Phoebe,” she said. “Did you think that was an accident? Sending Blackjack to find you? Helping you sneak out of the camp?”
“You did that?”
“Of course! Because really, how boring these Hunters are! A quest for some monster, blah blah blah. Saving Artemis. Let her stay lost, I say. But a quest for true love—”
“Wait a second, I never said—”
“Oh, my dear. You don’t need to say it. You do know Annabeth was close to joining the Hunters, don’t you?”
I blushed. “I wasn’t sure—”
“She was about to throw her life away! And you, my dear, you can save her from that. It’s so romantic!”
“Uh . . .”
“Oh, put the mirror down,” Aphrodite ordered. “I look fine.”
I hadn’t realized I was still holding it, but as soon as I put it down, I noticed my arms were sore.
“Now listen, Percy,” Aphrodite said. “The Hunters are your enemies. Forget them and Artemis and the monster. That’s not important. You just concentrate on finding and saving Annabeth.”
“Do you know where she is?”
Aphrodite waved her hand irritably. “No, no. I leave the details to you. But it’s been ages since we’ve had a good tragic love story.”
“Whoa, first of all, I never said anything about love. And second, what’s up with tragic?”