SAFE . . . reyna ramirez-arellano

79 - here

GREECE WAS CERTAINLY . . . something.

Briar had never thought about traveling to Greece before. If you'd asked her about it in the past, she would've said yes; not her first choice, but not her last either.

But right now? Greece was the last place she'd want to be.

The Greek landscape below was inhospitable. The hills were strewn with boulders and stunted cedars, all shimmering in the hazy air. The sun beat down as if trying to hammer the countryside into a Celestial bronze shield. Even from a hundred feet up, Briar could hear the drone of cicadas buzzing in the trees — a sleepy, otherworldly sound that made her eyes heavy.

She was also sweating so badly. She was wearing a silk tank top that was tied in the back like her favorite red dress and a short white skirt, yet she literally could not stop sweating. She definitely needed to take a cold shower later.

"Hot and steamy!" Leo grinned at the helm. "Makes me homesick for Houston! What do you say, Hazel? All we need now are some giant mosquitoes, and it'll feel just like the Gulf Coast!"

"Thanks a lot, Leo," Hazel grumbled. "We'll probably get attacked by Ancient Greek mosquito monsters now."

"Gods, I hope not," Briar shuddered, crossing her arms over herself. "I can't even handle regular mosquitoes."

Jason smirked. "Remember—"

"Of course I remember, Jay, do you think that I forgot the worst day of my life?"

"You forget a lot of stuff."

"Shut up, you—"

"There!" Nico's voice interrupted her. As usual, di Angelo was perched atop the foremast. He pointed toward a glittering green river snaking through the hills a kilometer away. "Maneuver us that way. We're close to the temple. Very close."

As if to prove his point, black lightning ripped through the sky, leaving dark spots before Briar's eyes and making the hairs on her arms stand up. She also needed to shave. Ugh.

Jason strapped on his sword belt. "Everyone, arm yourself. Leo, get us close, but don't land — no more contact with the ground than necessary. Briar, Hazel, get the mooring ropes."

"Yes, sir," Briar saluted him, then went to get the stupid ropes or whatever.

After she'd done that, she found herself at the prow with Reyna. The silence was awkward. They weren't leaning into each other.

But after Briar's talk with Nico, Reyna had been more warm to her. They've talked a couple times. Not enough to be like normal, but it was enough for Briar.

"Thanks for the sword," Reyna said, breaking the silence. "I never got the chance to say it."

"Hm?" Briar glanced over to look over at where the sword was strapped on Reyna's back. A shiver went down her spine when she thought about that day — the winter coming in, Jason getting frozen, Leo shooting up in the sky . . .

Briar didn't know how she was sweating profusely before. Now the only thing she felt was cold. Cold, cold, cold.

Then, she finally registered the words. "No problem," she finally said, her hand shooting out to pat Festus's head, to remind herself of the warmth that she'd felt when she'd nearly froze to death.

"Have you talked to someone about . . . Khione?" Reyna asked.

Briar hesitated.

That was answer enough. "Bri—"

"I've told Hazel about what happened," Briar said slowly. "And I've told Jason a million times."

"You've told them?" Reyna repeated.

"I'll talk to someone about it later," Briar ran her hand along Festus's head, just like she did to Aurum and Argentum. "Even if it's just Festus. Isn't that right?"

He snorted, and a smile pulled its way up her lips.

"Briar," Reyna warned.

"You haven't talked to me for a while, Rey," Briar finally made eye contact with Reyna. "Not since Split. And I understand if you need time to figure something out, but . . ." Briar looked away from her girlfriend, and down at the landscape below. "You could've told me first. You didn't talk to me for days. Nico di Angelo told me that you needed time."

Reyna forced Briar to look at her at that. "Nico talked to you?"

"Just that Split was complicated, and that you needed time." Briar summarized, her eyebrows raising slightly. "I just want you to know that I'm here for you. Even if you need space, even if you need time. I'll wait, because you're my girl. You'll always have me here, no matter my insecurity or daddy issues or if I spontaneously go missing again."

Reyna's eyes filled with tears. "Briar . . ."

Then, Briar saw a flash out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see a bunch of ruins in the distance, and then a dark lightning strike made her vision disappear for a split second. She rubbed her eyes, and when she opened them again the lightning was gone.

"Fuck," she muttered under her breath, before calling out: "Y'all should see this. Unless my vision's tripping, then don't trust anything I say."

The Argo II hovered directly over the river. A few hundred meters away at the top of the nearest hill stood a cluster of ruins. They didn't look like much — just some crumbling walls encircling the limestone shells of a few buildings — but from somewhere within the ruins, tendrils of black ether curled into the sky, like a smoky squid peeking from its cave. As Briar watched, a bolt of dark energy ripped through the air, rocking the ship and sending a cold shockwave across the landscape.

"The Necromanteion," Nico said. "The House of Hades."

Briar hugged her arms. "I kinda hate floating up here like this. Couldn't we set down in the river?"

"I wouldn't," Hazel said. "That's the River Acheron."

Reyna squinted in the sunlight. "I thought the Acheron was in the Underworld."

"It is," Hazel said. "But its headwaters are in the mortal world. That river below us? Eventually it flows underground, straight into the realm of Pluto — er, Hades. Landing a demigod ship on those waters—"

"Yeah, let's stay up here," Leo decided. "I don't want any zombie water on my hull."

Half a kilometer downstream, some fishing boats were puttering along. Briar guessed they didn't know or care about the history of this river. Must be nice, being a regular mortal.

Nico raised the scepter of Diocletian. Its orb glowed with purple light, as if in sympathy with the dark storm. Roman relic or not, the scepter troubled Briar. If it really had the power to summon a legion of the dead . . . well, Briar wasn't sure that was such a great idea.

"So, uh, Nico . . ." Frank gestured at the scepter. "Have you learned to use that thing?"

"We'll find out." Nico stared at the tendrils of darkness undulating from the ruins. "I don't intend to try until I have to. The Doors of Death are already working overtime bringing in Gaea's monsters. Any more activity raising the dead, and the Doors might shatter permanently, leaving a rip in the mortal world that can't be closed."

Coach Hedge grunted. "I hate rips in the world. Let's go bust some monster heads."

"Coach, you should stay on board, cover us with the ballistae," Frank ordered.

Hedge frowned. "Stay behind? Me? I'm your best soldier!"

"We might need air support," Frank said. "Like we did in Rome. You saved our braccae."

Hedge's scowl relaxed. Relief showed in his eyes.

"Well . . ." he grumbled, "I suppose somebody's got to save your braccae."

Briar looked over at Jason, raising her eyebrows. He just shrugged. Clueless idiot.

Jason clapped the coach on the shoulder. Then he gave Frank an appreciative nod. "So that's settled. Everybody else — let's get to the ruins. Time to crash Gaea's party."