The Legacies

Chapter 8

"So then I heard that Luke used these, these...um..."

"Enchanted throwing knives." Luke explains dully.

"Yeah! Enchanted throwing knives! He threw two of them. One went in each of Lamia's shoulders and pinned her to the wall! The magic in them made it so Lamia couldn't pull them out! She was stuck! And then he ran into the burning gym and saved everybody!"

Luke shrugs, somewhat embarrassed. "Not really, Jem. My parents did most of the work."

"How did you know to bring the magic knives?" Jem asks.

"Um, I don't know. I just had them with me. Gotta be prepared for anything, you know?"

Jem considers this. "Oh, that makes sense! Does Selena know that? She wasn't very prepared..."

"UGH!" I groan. Would the kid ever shut up?

"I heard that Selena, Essie and Chuck would've died if it wasn't for you Luke!" Jem exclaims excitedly.

Luke blushes. "I just called for help when I heard the screaming start. That's all I did."

"And your mom was so cool! She ran up to Lamia when she arrived and sent her to Tartarus in no time!"

"How would you know if she was cool? You weren't even there!" I snap.

"Selena!" My mom scolds from the passenger's seat of the car. "Don't be rude!"

I slam my head into the back of my seat in frustration.

Jem continues like nothing happened.

"And then your dad was awesome! He controlled the water and put all the fires out! And then Essie's mom came and sang a really pretty song that healed everybody's wounds! And then Essie's dad fixed up the burnt gym!"

"We know!" I yell. "We were all there!"

"Selena!" My mom scolds, giving me the evil eye.

Jem isn't fazed by my mood.

"Man, I wish I had been there!" He looks at me and giggles. "You messed up so bad Selena!"

"Can we please let it go?!" I yell.

My dad snickers from the driver's seat. My mom glares at me from the seat in front of me.

"This is the result of your own actions, Selena. You were reckless and arrogant and you almost got yourself and your friends killed because of it!" My mom scolds.

"I know! I messed up, ok? We've been over it a million times though! Can we please just drop it?"

"No, we can't just drop it! I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation! Your own ignorance put you all in severe danger!"

"It has been three days, Annabeth. I think she gets the idea." My dad interjects.

Thank you! I think.

My mom turns on my dad with wide eyes. "She could have died!"

He rolls his eyes. "When aren't we about to die?"

"Percy!" My mother yells.

He shrugs sheepishly, backing down. "Just saying."

My dad pulls into a rest stop.

"How come you didn't have Essie add magical protection to the net, Selena? Did you not know that Lamia had magic?" Jem asks innocently.

I bang my head on the window. "Can I ride in the Valdez's car?"

"No!" My mom says sternly. "Calypso has made it quite clear that she doesn't want you anywhere near her daughter for the time being! Besides, Chuck is riding in their car as well and the three of you have made it quite clear that you can't be trusted together as a group without adult supervision."

Luke, my dad and I all groan. Everyone's gotten a little sick of my mom's endless rant. Jem sits in the middle seat between Luke and me, grinning. He's so naive he doesn't realize that anything's wrong. He's eleven, almost two years younger than me.

My dad steps out of the car to get gas. My mom sits in the front seat with her arms crossed. The Valdez's car pulls into a parking space near ours and a black pick-up truck moves into a parking spot further down. We're all on our way cross country to Camp Half-Blood for the summer.

Usually Nico would simply shadow travel to camp, but not this time. This time he has a passenger. Tevi Zoe.

It was annoying and utterly embarrassing when Essie, Chuck and I couldn't defeat Lamia, but then the Fates had to rub salt in the wound.

Lamia didn't come to our school looking for us. That was just a coincidence. She was really there for Tevi, who apparently is a demigod. I've been fuming over it the whole ride up. Tevi took the news surprisingly well. This will be her first year attending camp.

"I can't wait until we get to Camp Half-Blood!" Jem bounces in his seat in excitement. "It's so much fun there! Camp Jupiter's Legion is really strict!"

Luke looks at Jem sideways. "But your dad's one of the praetors."

"Sure, but Reyna's also a praetor." He shivers slightly. "She makes sure I get no special privileges..."

******

Rain pours outside the car as we drive along the highway. My mom reads from a Greek book while my dad navigates through the rain. Luke works on his over the summer homework. It's always homework with him.

Jem is fast asleep with his head using my lap as a pillow. The kid can be overenthusiastic and annoying sometimes, but he still is pretty cute. Particularly when he's not running his mouth...

I lean my head against the window of the car and listen to the drumming of the rain. I wonder if I could control it right now if I tried. I don't bother though. I'm too exhausted and I'll have plenty of time to practice once we get to camp.

I close my eyes and let the beating of the rain pull me into sleep.