SAFE . . . reyna ramirez-arellano

74 - nerd talk

BRIAR'S LIFE HAS not been interesting since Percy and Annabeth fell in Tartarus — which sucked a lot.

She's spent a lot of time with Reyna, talking about past adventures and kissing a lot to make up for their eight months being apart.

In fact, she was doing both of those things now when she felt a bad feeling. She looked up to see Jason falling from the sky.

The crew was panicking. Reyna shouted, "Bri!" And instantly, Briar knew what she needed to do.

"WAKE UP!" She screamed, and Jason flew off in the other direction and just barely missed crashing on the deck. Well, that was a crisis averted.

So during lunch, Briar demanded why she had to make her voice go hoarse in order to prevent her best friend from dying.

"I mean, at this point, that title switched from you to Leo," Briar drank more water, raising her eyebrows at Jason expectantly. "So explain, hotshot."

So while the crew ate lunch, Jason reported on his midair vision. Briar nearly regretted asking. The crew was quiet long enough for Coach Hedge to finish a peanut butter and banana sandwich, along with the ceramic plate.

The ship creaked as it sailed through the Adriatic, its remaining oars still out of alignment from the giant turtle attack. Every once in a while Festus the figurehead creaked and squeaked through the speakers, reporting the autopilot status in that weird machine language that only Leo could understand.

"A note from Annabeth." Briar finally said, shaking her head in amazement. "I don't see how that's possible, but if it is—"

"She's alive," Leo said. "Thank the gods and pass the hot sauce."

Frank frowned. "What does that mean?"

Leo wiped the chip crumbs off his face. "It means pass the hot sauce, Zhang. I'm still hungry."

Frank slid over a jar of salsa. "I can't believe Piper would try to find us. It's taboo, coming to the ancient lands. She'll be stripped of her praetorship."

"If she lives," Hazel said. "It was hard enough for us to make it this far with eight demigods and a warship."

"And me." Coach Hedge belched. "Don't forget, cupcake, you got the satyr advantage."

They continued talking, and Briar chipped in her two cents when she could. When her voice disappeared out of nowhere, though, she stopped talking and looked expectantly to Jason, as did the rest of the crew.

"Jas?" Leo asked, snapping his fingers in front of Jason's face. "Argo II to Jason. Come in."

"Yeah, sorry." Jason grabbed Leo's hand and guided it away from his face. "Crossing the Atlantic is a hard journey, no doubt. But I'd never bet against Piper. If anyone can make it, she will."

"Well, I'd love to see Piper again," Reyna said. "But how is she supposed to find us?"

Frank raised his hand. "Can't you just send her an Iris-message?"

"They're not working very well," Coach Hedge put in. "Horrible reception. Every night, I swear, I could kick that rainbow goddess . . ."

He faltered. His face turned bright red.

"Coach?" Leo grinned. "Who have you been calling every night, you old goat?"

"No one!" Hedge snapped. "Nothing! I just meant—"

"He means we've already tried," Hazel intervened, and the coach gave her a grateful look. "Some magic is interfering . . . maybe Gaea. Contacting the Romans is even harder. I think they're shielding themselves."