LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE . . . hoo

XXVII.

MIA WALKED INTO the middle of a story being told — something about a nymph named Echo or whatever. The room immediately went silent as she glanced around, nodding at the room, biting back a wince at the images of Camp Half-Blood, before holding out her wrists to Annabeth.

"Can I use the bathroom now, your Highness?" Mia drawled. "Seriously, it's been, like, hours. And I can't do it with handcuffs on."

"You're late," Annabeth noted.

"I've been trying not to piss myself on this beautiful ship," Mia shrugged as she glanced around again, ignoring all the eyes on her. "You can tell that you've helped design it, Annabeth. A shame that you gave me the blandest room on the ship. But, seriously, can you, like, take these off?"

"Why should I trust you?"

Oh, for God's sake . . . "Because I can't let my brother die before I do," she snapped. "Is that enough of a reason for you?"

Annabeth stared at Mia, probably trying to find the lie, but then she sighed and took out the key to the handcuffs, taking them off. "You come right back," she ordered. "And—"

"Spare me the pleasantries," Mia tossed her backpack, and it landed right in the only empty chair. "Also, Nemesis is a complicated goddess," she called behind her as she went to leave. "I would take what she says with a grain of salt."

She went to the bathroom, then she washed her face with a small groan. She already can't handle the people in that room, and she's barely been in it.

"Stars help me," she muttered, looking at herself in her reflection. She didn't have any makeup on, her eye bags were showing, and her eyes looked . . . haunted. Well, at least she had makeup.

She walked back into the room, dutifully putting on the handcuffs, then sitting down in her chair and summoning a salmon on her plate, just how her chef liked to make it. She ate it slowly as she curled up in her chair, listening to whatever the others were saying.

"So where to now?" The Narcissus tricker — Leo — asked with food in his mouth. "I did a quick repair job to get us out of the lake, but there's still a lot of damage. We should really put down again and fix things right before we head across the Atlantic."

Percy was eating a piece of pie, which was completely blue — filling, crust, even the whipped cream. "We need to put some distance between us and Camp Jupiter," he said, and as he spoke, Mia looked away from him, focusing on literally anything else. "Frank spotted some eagles over Salt Lake City. We figure the Romans aren't far behind us."

"I don't suppose we should go back and try to reason with the Romans?" The pretty girl asked — her name must've been Piper. That was what that Cyclops had said in front of Iris's shop. "Maybe — maybe I didn't try hard enough with the charmspeak."

Jason Grace took her hand. "It wasn't your fault, Pipes. Or Leo's," he added quickly. "Whatever happened, it was Gaea's doing, to drive the two camps apart."

"Maybe if we could explain that, though—"

"With no proof?" Annabeth asked. "And no idea what really happened? I appreciate what you're saying, Piper. I don't want the Romans on our bad side, but until we understand what Gaea's up to, going back is suicide."

"She's right," Hazel said. She looked a little queasy — probably from seasickness, but she was trying to eat a few saltine crackers. The rim of her plate was embedded with rubies. "Reyna might listen, but Octavian won't. The Romans have honor to think about. They've been attacked. They'll shoot first and ask questions post hac."

"You're right," Piper decided. "We have to keep going. Not just because of the Romans. We have to hurry."

Hazel nodded. "Nemesis said we have only six days until Nico dies and Rome is destroyed."