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𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟒
┏━━━━ ★ ━━━━┓ 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓬𝔂 𝓙. ┗━━━━ ★ ━━━━┛
It was Annabeth's idea.
She loaded all of them into the back of a Vegas taxi—which was a really tight fit, and told the driver, "Los Angeles, please."
The cabbie chewed his cigar and sized them up. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front."
"You accept casino debit cards?" Annabeth asked. He shrugged. "Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first."
Annabeth handed him her green LotusCash card. He looked at it skeptically.
"Swipe it," Annabeth invited.
He did.
His meter machine started rattling. The lights flashed. Finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.
The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth. He looked back at them, his eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles... uh, Your Highness?"
"The Santa Monica Pier." Annabeth sat up a little straighter. She was obviously pleased by the, Your Highness. "Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."
She probably shouldn't have told him that. The cab's speedometer never dipped below ninety-five the whole way through the Mojave Desert.
On the road, they had plenty of time to talk. He told the other three about his dream, but the details got sketchier the more he tried to remember them. It was like the Lotus Casino had snipped the wired in his brain.
He couldn't recall what the invisible servant's voice had sounded like, though he was sure it was somebody he knew. And they were talk about someone? A cursed girl? The servant had called the monster in the pit something other than "my lord."
"The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested. "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."
"Maybe..." Percy said, but they didn't sound right.
