How the Prius Died P.1

My date with Annabeth was going really well, which is saying a lot.

  It started with dinner at Le Parker Meridien, then a long drive down to the beach. We'd been out for almost two hours and not a single monster.

  "Maybe they're all laying low 'cause of the war," Annabeth suggested.

  But I was still uneasy.

  My fears were confirmed when, while the two of us were sitting on the beach, there was a bright flash of light and Hermes was standing before us.

  Annabeth was staring at him murderously because we had been, sort of… making out before Hermes barged in on us. That look of hers was kind of cute, except, of course, when she was looking at me like that.

  Hermes ignored her. "Sorry to interrupt," he began, not sounding particularly sorry. "But I have a… favor to ask of you two."

  The way he said "favor" made me cringe. I honestly wanted to whine, "Why us?" because after saving the gods' butts in the war, I wasn't feeling too up to doing them any more "favors."

  "Don't look at me like that, Jackson," he ordered, pointing a finger— that I noticed was glowing— at me. "It's nothing you two can't handle."

  Annabeth rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Of course."

  "What is 'it' exactly?" I asked. I didn't really want to know, though.

  Hermes cleared his throat, looking almost… embarrassed? "I was making a few deliveries in Secaucus. I crossed paths with Cacus, he took me by surprise… Bottom line, he stole my staff, and I need you two to get it back."

  Annabeth and I blinked in surprise. "Your staff was stolen?" I asked, still a little fuzzy on this whole concept. "By a giant?"

  Hermes rolled his eyes, obviously out of patience with me. "Yes, Jackson, I already said that. I'd much appreciate it if you brought it back to me soon."

  "All due respect, Hermes, sir, but can this wait 'til tomorrow? We're kind of on a date…"

  He glared at me and started glowing. "You have until one minute after midnight tonight. That's tomorrow, isn't it?"

  We turned away as he exploded into a shower of gold and the beach faded back to night.

  "Well, let's get this over with," Annabeth muttered, trudging back to the car and pulling her shoes back on. "Salvage what's left of this date."

  I frowned. "I thought it was going well. Until Hermes showed up, at least."

  She smiled at me and kissed my nose. "It was. It is. You're so sensitive."

  Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.



  I completely take that back.

  No sooner had I driven the Prius into Midtown, than we were at each other's throats.

  "You should have taken 5th and turned on 57th!" Annabeth shouted.

  "Are you kidding? And drive by Rockefeller Center during rush hour? No way, that's suicide!" We were stuck in traffic either way.

  "Oh, yes and taking 34th past the Empire State Building was SO MUCH BETTER. Oh gods, slow down, you're tailgating this guy!"

  "We're in traffic. Everyone is tailgating, everyone is being tailgated."

  "Still, is it so much to ask that you maintain a decent following distance with the delivery truck that could stop short and completely destroy your tiny car?"

  "You know what, when you get your license, Annabeth, you can tell me how to drive!"

  And we sat in awkward silence the rest of the way out of the city and into the "wilds" of Secaucus.

  "So, do you know where Cacus lives?"

  "Why are you asking me?" Annabeth snapped.

  I tried not to lose my temper. "I figured you would know. You always know more about mythology than I do."

  "Sucking up, Seaweed Brain? Just follow my directions. I'll show you where to go."

  Oh, yeah. She'd forgiven me. Perhaps the ego-fluffing helped.

  In all honesty, though, I knew a decent amount about Cacus. I knew he could breathe fire. I knew he had stolen from Hermes before, a couple thousand years ago, while living in a cave outside Rome. Now, he was living in Secaucus outside New York. He'd come up in the world.

  The streets were a good deal more empty than those in the city and we had no trouble navigating. I bit my tongue and turned when Annabeth said to turn, slowed down when she thought I was going too fast, and we made it there without either of us trying to strangle the other. Three cheers for progress!

  We pulled up at a massive mansion seated on a hill— the only hill in the city. I put the car in park and turned it off so the headlights or sound of the engine wouldn't give us away. The house looked like a replica of the White House, only much larger, and it sort of gleamed in the streetlights, which was unusual.

  "I've never seen any material like that," Annabeth muttered, looking up at it. "And I've come across some weird stuff in the plans for Olympus."

  "Fireproof, maybe?" I suggested.

  She furrowed her brow, putting on her thinking face, which was incredibly cute. "Not sure. Well, let's get in there."

  I drew Riptide and Annabeth pulled her knife out from the strap under her dress, her invisibility cap in her hand. We skirted the perimeter of the house, careful not to get too close, and I vaguely wondered if Annabeth would be able to fight in a dress that short.

  She caught me staring and punched me in the arm. "Focus, Seaweed Brain."

  We saw that the house was vaguely the shape of a U, but you couldn't see that unless you were in the back where we found a massive courtyard with a silent fountain in the middle. Weirdest of all, the walls on the inside of the U were completely flat and smooth, not a single window, not a single visible brick, nothing we could use to climb. Not even a door.

  Annabeth turned her knife over in her hands a few times and I could see the wheels turning simultaneously in her head. She smiled evilly. "I have a plan."

  Let the records show that those are my absolute least favorite words coming from Annabeth.