𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐄𝐓𝐇 》 LEO VALDEZ ¹

―twenty-eight. so long, fuzz-butt

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𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑,
𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋?
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FINALLY THEY GOT HIM ON BOARD. The helicopter took off, the pilot kept getting questions over her radio, asking her where she was going, but she ignored them. They veered away from the burning mountain and headed toward the Berkeley Hills.

''Piper.'' Her dad grasped her hand and held on like he was afraid he'd fall. ''It's you? They told me — they told me you would die. They said... horrible things would happen.''

''It's me, dad.'' It took all her willpower not to cry. She had to be strong for him. ''Everything's going to be okay.''

''They were monsters,'' he said. ''Real monsters. Earth spirits, right out of Grandpa Tom's stories — and the Earth Mother was angry with me. And the giant, Tsul'kälû. Breathing fire—'' He focused on Piper again, his eyes like broken glass, reflecting a crazy kind of light. ''They said you were a demigod. Your mother was...''

''Aphrodite,'' Piper said. ''Goddess of love.''

''I—I—'' He took a shaky breath, then seemed to forget how to exhale.

Charlie was careful not to watch. Leo fiddled with a lug nut from his tool belt. Jason gazed at the valley below — the roads backing up as mortals stopped their cars and gawked at the burning mountain. Gleeson chewed on the stub of his carnation, and for once the satyr didn't look in the mood to yell or boast. 

Tristan McLean wasn't supposed to be seen like this. He was a star. He was confident, stylish, suave — always in control. That was the public image he projected. Piper had seen the image falter before. But this was different. Now it was broken, gone.

''I didn't know about mum,'' Piper told him, ''Not until you were taken. When we found out where you were, we came right away. My friends helped me. No one will hurt you again.''

Her dad couldn't stop shivering. ''You're heroes — you and your friends. I can't believe it. You're a real hero, not like me. Not playing a part. I'm so proud of you, Pipes.'' But the words were mutters listlessly, in a semi-trance.

He gazed down on the valley, and his grip on Piper's hand went slack. ''Your mother never told me.''

''She thought it was for the best.'' It sounded lame, even to Piper, and no amount of charmspeak could change that. But she didn't tell her dad what Aphrodite had really worried about: if he has to spend the rest of his life with those memories, knowing the gods and spirits walk the earth, it will shatter him.

Piper felt inside the pocket of her jacket. The vial was still there, warm to her touch.

But... He would never send her away now. They shared a secret.

How could she go back to the way things were?

She held his hand, speaking to him about small things — her time at the Wilderness School, her cabin at Camp Half-Blood. She told him how Coach Hedge ae carnations and got knocked on his butt on Mount Diablo, how Leo had tamed a dragon, about how Jason had made wolves back down by talking Latin, and how Charlie has defeated a giant with super speed. Her friends smiled reluctantly as she recounted their adventures — not even Charlie was in the mood to boast. Her dad seemed to relax as she talked, but he didn't smile. Piper wasn't even sure he heard her.

As they passed over the hills into the East Bay, Jason tensed. He leaned so far out the doorway Piper was afraid he'd fall.

He pointed. ''What is that?''