WINGED ₁

75

PERCY GRABBED WILL AND ORDERED THE REST OF HIS SIBLINGS TO KEEP SEARCHING FOR MICHAEL. Madeleine knew it was hopeless. It was the wreckage all over again. It was Bianca di Angelo. It was a flood. Michael was dead.

Percy and Ethan stole a motorized bike from a sleeping person. It only seated two, but they squeezed in. Percy drove and Ethan sat in the back, keeping one arm around Madeleine. Will wrapped her neck in bandages, his fingers trembling.

Percy parked and swerved to a stop by a fountain. The statue at the top of the fountain called down, "Oh, fine. I suppose you want me to watch your bike too!"

Madeleine slowly looked up. A bronze statue the size of a person stood in the middle of a granite bowl. She wore only a bronze sheet around her legs, and she held a metal basket of fruit. 

"Are you supposed to be Demeter?" Percy asked.

The statue threw a bronze apple at Percy. He ducked.

"Everyone thinks I'm Demeter!" the statue complained. "I'm Pompona, the Roman Goddess of Plenty, but why should you care? Nobody cares about the minor gods. If you cared about the minor gods, you wouldn't be losing this war! Three cheers for Morpheus and Hecate, I say!"

"Buzz off that," Ethan snapped. "Hecate does what she wants, not what you want."

"Watch the bike," Percy told the statue.

Pompona cursed in Latin and threw more fruit as the four demigods ran toward the hotel.

⎯⎯ ୨ winged ୧ ⎯⎯

Madeleine had never been inside the Plaza. It was a place for the rich to do rich things, and she approved mildly of the decision to commandeer it for headquarters. 

The lobby was impressive, full of crystal chandeliers and unconscious people in dark suits and frilly dresses. A pair of Hunters that Madeleine didn't recognize gave them directions to the elevators.

Demigods had completely taken over the top floors. Campers and Hunters were asleep on sofas, washing up in the bathrooms, ripping silk draperies to bandage their wounds, and helping themselves to snacks and sodas from the minibars. Two wolves were drinking toilet water. Madeleine kept looking around for her friends, but everyone's face was a blur.

Jake approached Percy, so Madeleine clapped him on the shoulder. "Find Annabeth. Please make sure she's okay."

Percy nodded, his expression still distant and unknowable. Madeleine trusted he would take care of Annabeth. She had her own people to take care of.

Ethan led her to an empty room and closed the door behind them. She sat on the bed, hard. Her heart was in her throat, in her mouth, in her eyes. She couldn't breathe.

She knew, dimly, that she was having an anxiety attack. It had been nearly a year since she'd had one this bad. Usually, she could talk herself down. Or someone else would be there to. Or she'd hit a blunt.

Thinking of blunts made her think of Lee. His broken body flashed in and out of her vision. She put her hands on her knees, body hunched over. Her ears were ringing. She felt like someone was laying on her chest. She couldn't breathe.

Distantly, she was aware of Ethan crouching by her. "Madelene," he was saying, his cool hands pressed against her face. "Madeleine, look at me. You're okay."

She lifted her head. Her vision was a blur of tears. "He could touch me," she rasped. "He shouldn't have been able to touch me. I don't know where our friends are, Ethan."

"Okay," Ethan said. His voice was calm, an anchor. "I need you to breathe. Ready? In. One, two, three, four. Hold it. One, two, three, four. Exhale. One, two, three, four."