BABY DON'T CUT - jason grace

Chapter Ten

Estella didn't relax until Quebec City faded behind them.

"You were amazing," Jason told Piper.

Piper said something in French.

"What'd you say?" he asked.

"I said I only talked to Boreas. It wasn't so amazing. "

"Hey," he said, "you saved me from joining Khione's subzero hero collection. I owe you one. "

Estella felt uneasy sitting between Piper and Jason. Especially with the way they've been behaving toward each other. Estella was hoping that it was all in her head. Piper knew how Estella felt... didn't she?

But something else was bothering Estella.

Estella couldn't stop thinking about the was that Boreas had changed form, and why he'd let them go. It had something to do with Jason's past, those tattoos on his arm. Boreas assumed Jason was some sort of Roman, and Romans didn't mix with Greeks. Estella wanted to know more, maybe ask Jason what he knew, but he didn't seem to want to talk about it, so she stayed silent.

Until now, Estella had been able to dismiss Jason's feeling that he didn't belong at Camp Half-Blood. Obviously he was a demigod. Of course he belonged. But now ... what if he was something else? What if he really was an enemy? She couldn't stand that idea any more than she could stand Khione.

Leo passed them some sandwiches from his pack. He'd been quiet ever since they'd told him what happened in the throne room. "I still can't believe Khione," he said. "She looked so nice."

"Trust me, man," Jason said. "Snow may be pretty, but up close it's cold and nasty. We'll find you a better prom date."

Piper and Estella both smiled, but Leo didn't look pleased. He hadn't said much about his time in the palace, or why the Boreads had singled him out for smelling like fire. Estella got the feeling he was hiding something. Whatever it was, his mood seemed to be affecting Festus, who grumbled and steamed as he tried to keep himself warm in the cold Canadian air. Happy the Dragon was not so happy.

They ate their sandwiches as they flew. Estella had no idea how Leo had stocked up on supplies, but he'd even remembered to bring veggie rations for Piper, who was a vegetarian.

Nobody talked. Whatever they might find in Chicago, they all knew Boreas had only let them go because he figured they were already on a suicide mission.

The moon rose and stars turned overhead. Estella's eyes started to feel heavy. The encounter with Boreas and his children had scared her more than she wanted to admit. Now that she had a full stomach, her adrenaline was fading.

Estella started thinking about the coach. Boreas had mentioned he was still alive. She'd never liked Hedge, but he'd leaped off a cliff to save Leo, and he'd sacrificed himself to protect them on the skywalk. She now realized that all the times at school the coach had pushed her, yelled at her to run faster or do more push-ups, or even when he'd turned his back and let her and Piper fight their own battles with the mean girls, the old goat man had been trying to help them in his own irritating way—trying to prepare them for life as a demigods.

On the skywalk, Dylan the storm spirit had said something about the coach, too: how he'd been retired to Wilderness School because he was getting too old, like it was some sort of punishment. Estella wondered what that was about, and if it explained why the coach was always so grumpy. Whatever the truth, now that Estella knew Hedge was alive, she had a strong compulsion to save him.

Estella yawned, and before she knew it, she leaned forward against Piper's back and fell asleep.

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