LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE . . . hoo

VII.

AS SOON AS they left the dock, Mia's head started to hurt. By the time they passed the piers along the San Francisco Embarcadero, her head throbbed so much that she didn't know what she was looking at. They sped by a pack of sea lions lounging on the docks, and she swore she saw an old homeless guy sitting among them. From across the water, the old man pointed a bony finger at Percy and mouthed something like Don't even think about it.

Mia faintly remembered Thalia teasing Percy about some old man that he'd jumped while searching for her and Annabeth. That made her sad, and her gaze traveled to her backpack, where she picked at it.

"Did you see that?" Hazel asked.

Percy's face was bronze, somehow, with the sun setting behind him. "Yeah. I've been here before. I . . . don't know. I think I was looking for my friend."

Mia felt his gaze on her, and she determinedly sifted through her backpack for nothing in particular. Her eyes landed on the picture of her and Sophia and she let out a small sigh. She missed Soph. Technically, she wasn't supposed to appear a lot, since she was, you know, dead. Especially after they spent a couple of weeks with each other after Mia killed her.

"Annabeth," Frank said. "You mean, on your way to Camp Jupiter?"

He remembered Annabeth? Mia internally shrugged. It did make sense, after all. They are best friends, and they probably got closer after she betrayed them.

Percy frowned. "No. Before that." He scanned the city like he was still looking for Annabeth ( and Mia ) until they passed under the Golden Gate Bridge and turned north.

Mia tried not to look at him, but she noted things about Percy that had changed since she'd seen him last; he'd gotten taller, more leaner, more muscular. His skin didn't have a golden tint anymore from the River Styx, probably because he'd gotten it washed off at the Little Tiber. He looked anguished, probably because he couldn't remember anything ( duh, Mia ), and he honestly looked more tired.

The boat shuddered, jolting Mia back to the present. They entered the Pacific currents and skirted the rocky coastline of Marin County.

"You okay?" Frank asked Hazel. "You look queasy."

"Seasickness," Hazel confessed. "I didn't think it would be this bad."

Frank pouted like it was somehow his fault. He started digging in his pack, which was lying across his and Hazel's laps. I've got some nectar. And some crackers. Um, my grandmother says ginger helps . . . I don't have any of that, but—"

"It's okay." Hazel mustered a smile. "That's sweet of you, though."

Mia looked out at the horizon, hiding her smirk. She liked the idea of Hazel and Frank together — even if Hazel was her little sister, and technically thirteen, and Frank was sixteen, which is just a red flag. Mia probably shouldn't talk. She'd had a crush on Percy since she was twelve.

Frank pulled out a saltine. It snapped in his big fingers. Cracker exploded everywhere.

Hazel laughed. "Gods, Frank . . . Sorry. I shouldn't laugh."

"Uh, no problem," he said sheepishly. "Guess you don't want that one."

Percy wasn't paying much attention. He kept his eyes fixed on the shoreline. As they passed Stinson Beach, he pointed inland, where a single, familiar mountain rose above the green hills.

"That looks familiar," he said.

"Mount Tam," Frank said. "Kids at camp are always talking about it. Big battle happened on the summit, at the old Titan base."

Percy frowned. "Were any of you there?"

"No," Hazel said. "That was back in August, before I — um, before I got to camp, and Amelia and Nico found it at the beginning of September. Jason told me about it. The legion destroyed the enemy's palace and about a million monsters. Jason had to battle Krios — hand-to-hand combat with a Titan, if you can imagine."