LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE . . . pjo

XXIII.

"THERMOS!" PERCY SCREAMED as they hurtled toward the water.

"What?" Annabeth yelled. She was holding on to the boat straps for dear life, her hair flying straight up like a torch.

Mia probably didn't look better, as she cursed silently in her mind as she held on to the boat straps. Her brain did not want to function.

But Tyson's mind was functioning. He managed to open Percy's duffel bag and take out Hermes's magical thermos without losing his grip on it or the boat.

Arrows and javelins whistled past them.

Percy grabbed the thermos. "Hang on!"

"I am hanging on!" Mia yelled.

"Tighter!"

"Do you see how white my knuckles are? I physically cannot hold on tighter!"

As Tyson grabbed Percy, Annabeth, and Mia by the backs of their shirts, Percy gave the thermos cap a quarter turn.

Instantly, a white sheet of wind jetted out of the thermos and propelled them sideways, turning their downward plummet into a forty-five-degree crash landing.

The wind seemed to laugh as it shot from the thermos, like it was glad to be free. As they hit the ocean, they bumped once, twice, skipping like a stone, then they were whizzing along like a speed boat, salt spray in their faces and nothing but sea ahead.

Mia heard a wail of outrage from the ship behind them, but they were already out of weapon range.

The Princess Andromeda faded to the size of a white toy boat in the distance, and then it was gone.

As they raced over the sea, Annabeth, Percy, and Mia tried to send an Iris-message to Chiron. They figured it was important they let somebody know what Luke was doing, and they didn't know who else to trust.

The wind from the thermos stirred up a nice sea spray that made a rainbow in the sunlight — perfect for an Iris-message — but their connection was still poor. When Annabeth threw a gold drachma into the mist and prayed for the rainbow goddess to show them Chiron, his face appeared all right, but there was some kind of weird strobe light flashing in the background and rock music blaring, like he was at a dance club.

They told him about sneaking away from camp, and Luke and the Princess Andromeda and the golden box for Kronos's remains, but between the noise on his end and the rushing wind and water on their end, Mia wasn't sure how much he heard.

"Percy," Chiron yelled, "you have to watch out for—"

His voice was drowned out by loud shouting behind him — a bunch of voices whooping it up like a middle aged lady winning an auction on a cute guy. Long story.

"What?" Percy yelled.

"Curse my relatives!" Chiron ducked as a plate flew over his head and shattered somewhere out of sight. "Mia, Annabeth, you shouldn't have let Percy leave camp! But if you do get the Fleece—"

"Yeah, baby!" somebody behind Chiron yelled. "Woo-hoooooo!"

The music got cranked up, subwoofers so loud it made their boat vibrate.

"—Miami," Chiron was yelling. "I'll try to keep watch—"

Their misty screen smashed apart like someone on the other side had thrown a bottle at it, and Chiron was gone.

An hour later they spotted land — a long stretch of beach lined with high-rise hotels. The water became crowded with fishing boats and tankers. A coast guard cruiser passed on their starboard side, then turned like it wanted a second look. Mia guessed it wasn't every day they see a yellow lifeboat with no engine going very quickly, manned by four kids.