ONE LAST TIME . . . heroes of olympus

31

"JASON!"

Kat had scrambled off of Jason as soon as they'd fallen to the ground, mostly because he'd burned her skin where she'd been touching his. Piper took her place, calling his name as she held him. He'd been unconscious for two minutes now. His body was steaming, his eyes rolled back in his head. Kat couldn't tell if he was even breathing.

"It's no use, child." Hera stood over them in her simple black robes and shawl.

Kat hadn't seen the goddess go nuclear. She'd closed her eyes, but she could see the aftereffects. Every vestige of winter was gone from the valley. No signs of battle, either. The monsters had been vaporized. The ruins had been restored to what they were before — still ruins, but with no evidence that they'd been overrun by a horde of wolves, storm spirits, and six-armed ogres.

Even the Hunters had been revived. Most waited at a respectful distance in the meadow, but Thalia knelt by Piper's side, her hand on Jason's forehead.

Thalia glared up at the goddess. "This is your fault. Do something!"

"Do not address me that way, girl. I am the queen—"

"Fix him!"

Hera's eyes flickered with power. "I did warn him. I would never intentionally hurt the boy. He was to be my champion. I told them to close their eyes before I revealed my true form."

"Um . . ." Leo frowned. "True form is bad, right? So why did you do it?"

"I unleashed my power to help you, fool!" Hera cried. "I became pure energy so I could disintegrate the monsters, restore this place, and even save these miserable Hunters from the ice."

"But mortals can't look upon you in that form!" Thalia shouted. "You've killed him!"

Kat wrenched her gaze off of Jason to look at Hera. "That's what our prophecy meant. Death unleash through Hera's rage. You're a goddess, you should be able to bring him back. I don't care about if you like my family or not, but you have to bring him back."

"He's breathing!" Piper announced.

"Impossible," Hera said. "I wish it were true, child, but no mortal has ever—"

"Jason," Piper called, charmspeak woven in her voice. "Listen to me. You can do this. Come back. You're going to be fine."

Nothing happened.

"Healing is not a power of Aphrodite," Hera said regretfully. "Even I cannot fix this, girl. His mortal spirit—"

"Jason," Piper repeated. "Wake up."

He gasped, and his eyes flew open. For a moment they were full of light — glowing pure gold. Then the light faded and his eyes were normal again. "What — what happened?"

"Impossible!" Hera said.

Piper wrapped him in a hug until he groaned, "Crushing me."

"Sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all, she laughed while wiping a tear from her eye.

Kat and Leo exchanged small smiles, but they didn't join in on the cuddle pile. Not right now, thanks.

Thalia gripped her brother's hand. "How do you feel?"

"Hot," he muttered. "Mouth is dry. And I saw something . . . really terrible."

"That was Hera," Thalia grumbled. "Her Majesty, the Loose Cannon."

"That's it, Thalia Grace," said the goddess. "I will turn you into an aardvark, so help me—"

"Stop it, you two," Piper said. Amazingly, they both shut up.