SAFE . . . reyna ramirez-arellano

18 - who is in control?

BRIAR CORNERED THE princess as Jason and Leo went off to check out the living fur coats.

"You want them shopping for their deaths?" Briar demanded.

"Mmm." The princess blew dust off a display case of swords. "I'm a seer, my dear. I know your little secret. But we don't want to dwell on that, do we? The boys are having such fun."

Leo laughed as he tried on a hat that seemed to be made from enchanted raccoon fur. Its ringed tail twitched, and its little legs wiggled frantically as Leo walked. Jason was ogling the men's sportswear. Briar's boys interested in shopping for clothes? A definite sign they were under an evil spell.

Briar glared at the princess. "Who are you?"

"I told you, my dear. I'm the Princess of Colchis."

"Where's Colchis?"

The princess's expression turned a little sad. "Where was Colchis, you mean. My father ruled the far shores of the Black Sea, as far to the east as a Greek ship could sail in those days. But Colchis is no more — lost eons ago."

"Eons?" Briar asked. The princess looked no more than fifty, but a bad feeling started settling over Briar — something King Boreas had mentioned back in Quebec. "How old are you?"

The princess laughed. "A lady should avoid asking or answering that question. Let's just say the, ah, immigration process to enter your country took quite a while. My patron finally brought me through. She made all this possible." The princess swept her hand around the department store.

Briar's mouth tasted like metal. "Your patron . . ."

"Oh, yes. She doesn't bring just anyone through, mind you — only those who have special talents, such as me. And really, she insists on so little — a store entrance that must be underground so she can, ah, monitor my clientele; and a favor now and then. In exchange for a new life? Really, it was the best bargain I'd made in centuries."

Run, Briar thought. We have to get out of here.

But before she could even turn her thoughts into words, Jason called, "Hey, check it out!"

From a rack labeled distressed clothing, he held up a purple T-shirt like the one he'd worn on the school field trip — except this shirt looked as if it had been clawed by tigers.

Jason frowned. "Why does this look so familiar?"

"Jason, it's like yours," Briar said. "Now we really have to leave." But she wasn't sure he could even hear her anymore through the princess's enchantment.

"Nonsense," the princess said. "The boys aren't done, are they? And yes, my dear. Those shirts are very popular — tradeins from previous customers. It suits you."

Leo picked up an orange Camp Half-Blood tee with a hole through the middle, as if it had been hit by a javelin. Next to that was a dented bronze breastplate pitted with corrosion — acid, maybe? — and a Roman toga slashed to pieces and stained with something that looked disturbingly like dried blood.

"Your Highness," Briar said, trying to control her nerves. "Why don't you tell the boys how you betrayed your family? I'm sure they'd like to hear that story."

Her words didn't have any effect on the princess, but the boys turned, suddenly interested.

"More story?" Leo asked.

"I like more story!" Jason agreed.

The princess flashed Briar an irritated look. "Oh, one will do strange things for love, Briar. You should know that. I fell for that young hero, in fact, because your mother Venus had me under a spell. If it wasn't for her — but I can't hold a grudge against a goddess, can I?"