ONE LAST TIME . . . heroes of olympus

14

KAT WANTED TO bolt for the elevator.

Her second choice: attack the weird princess now, because she was sure a fight was coming. The way the lady's face glowed when she'd heard Jason's name had been bad enough. Now Her Highness was smiling like nothing had happened, and Jason and Leo didn't seem to think anything was wrong. Piper had a troubled expression, which probably meant that she thought that something was wrong. Thank the gods for Piper McLean. If they made it out alive, Kat's changing her name to Piper Mikhailova. Or maybe Katerina McLean sounded better. Hm. She'd consider it.

The princess gestured toward the cosmetics counter. "Shall we start with the potions?"

"Cool," said Jason.

"Guys," interrupted Piper, "we're here to get the storm spirits and Coach Hedge. If this — princess — is really our friend—"

"Oh, I'm better than a friend, my dear," Her Highness said. "I'm a saleswoman." Her diamonds sparkled, and her eyes glittered like a snake's — cold and dark. "Don't worry. We'll work our way down to the first floor, eh?"

Leo nodded eagerly. "Sure, yeah! That sounds okay. Right, Piper?"

Piper glared daggers at him.

"Of course it's okay." Her Highness put her hands on Leo's and Jason's shoulders and steered them toward the cosmetics. "Come along, boys."

Piper started to follow, but then glanced back at Kat when she didn't follow. "Rina?" she asked. "You're not affected?"

Kat suppressed a shiver, like she did every time Jason or Piper called her that. This was not the time to go to horny jail, Katerina Mikhailova, shut the fuck up. "No," she whispered, then switching to French to tell Piper: "Stay calm, don't do anything rash, okay? We need to figure out what's happening."

Piper stared at her. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah. I'll follow you."

"Not a good idea, malyshka," Kat muttered under her breath, but she went to follow the boys and the bitchy princess, grabbing Piper's wrist and dragging her along with her.

"And here," the princess said, "is the finest assortment of magical mixtures anywhere."

The counter was crammed with bubbling beakers and smoking vials on tripods. Lining the display shelves were crystal flasks — some shaped like swans or honey bear dispensers. The liquids inside were every color, from glowing white to polka-dotted. And the smells — ugh! Some were pleasant, like fresh-baked cookies or roses, but they were mixed with the scents of burning tires, skunk spray, and gym lockers.

The princess pointed to a blood-red vial — a simple test tube with a cork stopper. "This one will heal any disease."

"Even cancer?" asked Leo. "Leprosy? Hangnails?"

"Any disease, sweet boy. And this vial" — she pointed to a swan-shaped container with blue liquid inside — "will kill you very painfully."

"Awesome," said Jason. His voice sounded dazed and sleepy.

"Jason," Piper said shakily. "We've got a job to do. Remember?"

"Job to do," muttered Jason. "Sure. But shopping first, okay?"

The princess beamed at him. "Then we have potions for resisting fire—"

"Got that covered," said Leo.

"Indeed?" The princess studied Leo's face more closely. "You don't appear to be wearing my trademark sunscreen . . . but no matter. We also have potions that cause blindness, insanity, sleep, or—"

"Wait." Piper was still staring at the red vial, but Kat's brain was short circuiting at the sunscreen thing. "Could that potion cure lost memory?"

The princess narrowed her eyes. "Possibly. Yes. Quite possibly. Why, my dear? Have you forgotten something important?"