This Dark Night ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase¹

―xvi. annabeth's dad is a nerd

"WE WILL NEVER MAKE IT," Zoë said. "We are moving too slowly. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."

"Mooo," Bessie said. He swam next to Percy as they jogged along the waterfront. They'd left the shopping-center pier far behind. They were heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was a lot further than Naomi had realized. The sun was already dipping in the west.

"I don't get it," Percy said. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"

"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," Zoë said. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to night."

"What happens if we miss it?" Naomi asked nervously.

"Tomorrow is winter solstice. If we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."

Or Annabeth will be dead, Naomi thought, but didn't say.

"We need a car," Thalia said.

"But what about Bessie?" Percy asked.

Grover stopped in his tracks. "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"

"Well, yeah," Percy said. "I mean, he was in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped into the water at Hoover Dam. And now he's here."

"So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound," Grover said. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."

"But he was following me," Percy said. "If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"

"Moo," Bessie said forlornly.

"I... I can show him," Grover said. "I'll go with him."

Naomi stared at him. Grover was no fan of water. He'd almost drowned last summer in the Sea of Monsters, and he couldn't swim very well with his goat hooves.

"I'm the only one who can talk to him," Grover said. "It makes sense."

He bent down and said something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound.

"The blessing of the Wild," Grover said. "That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he will grant us safe passage through the seas."

Percy concentrated on the sea. "Dad," he said. "Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."

"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice," Thalia said. "Something big."

Percy thought for a moment. Then he took off his coat.

"Percy," Grover said. "Are you sure? That lion skin... that's really helpful. Hercules used it!"

Percy glanced at Zoë, then back at his spoil of war.

"If I'm going to survive," he said, "it won't be because I've got a lion-skin cloak. I'm not Hercules."

He threw the coat into the bay. It turned back into a golden lion skin, flashing in the light. Then, as it began to sink beneath the waves, it seemed to dissolve into sunlight on the water.

The sea breeze picked up.

Grover took a deep breath. "Well, no time to lose."

He jumped into the water and immediately began to sink. Bessie glided next to him and let Grover take hold of his neck.

"Be careful," Naomi told him.

"We will," Grover said. "Okay, um... Bessie? We're going to Long Island. It's east. Over that way."