ONE LAST TIME . . . heroes of olympus

49

THE HORSE MADE it on deck — it had fucking ran up the ladder vertically, Kat had nearly fallen off but she'd gripped onto Leo for dear life, the motherfucker — and immediately she hopped off, unsteadily balancing on her feet for a second before helping Leo lug the sheet of bronze down to the doorway of Jason's room.

Kat noticed Jason was awake and grinned at him, smiling wider as he smiled back at her.

"Gods of Olympus." Piper stared at Leo. "What happened to you?"

Kat glanced over at her best friend. His hair was greased back. He had welding goggles on his forehead, a lipstick mark on his cheek, tattoos all over his arms, including the one she'd drawn of a small pp, and a T-shirt that read HOT STUFF, BAD BOY, and TEAM LEO.

"Oh my gods, you are so letting me take a picture of you," she declared. "I'm going to keep it on my wall forever."

Leo rolled his eyes at her. "Long story," he said to Piper, not giving Kat an answer which was fucking rude. "Others back?"

"Not yet," said Piper.

Leo cursed. Then he noticed Jason sitting up, and his face brightened. "Hey, man! Glad you're better. I'll be in the engine room."

He ran off with the sheet of bronze, leaving Kat and Hazel in the doorway.

Piper raised an eyebrow at Kat. "Team Leo?"

"We met Narcissus," Hazel explained. "Also Nemesis, the revenge goddess."

Jason sighed. "I miss all the fun."

On the deck above, something went THUMP, as if a heavy creature had landed. Annabeth and Percy came running down the hall. Percy was toting a steaming five-gallon plastic bucket that smelled horrible. Annabeth had a patch of black sticky stuff in her hair. Percy's shirt was covered in it.

"Roofing tar?" Piper guessed.

Frank stumbled up behind them, which made the hallway pretty jam-packed with demigods. Frank had a big smear of the black sludge down his face.

"Ran into some tar monsters," said Annabeth. "Hey, Jason, glad you're awake. Kat, Hazel, where's Leo?"

Kat nodded in Leo's direction. "Engine room."

Suddenly the entire ship listed to port. The demigods stumbled. Percy almost spilled his bucket of tar.

"Uh, what was that?" he demanded.

"Oh . . ." Hazel looked embarrassed. "We may have angered the nymphs who live in this lake. Like . . . all of them."

"It was Leo's fault," Kat said immediately.

"Great." Percy handed the bucket of tar to Frank and Annabeth. "You guys help Leo. I'll hold off the water spirits as long as I can."

"On it!" Frank promised.

The three of them ran off, leaving Kat and Hazel at the cabin door. The ship listed again, and Hazel hugged her stomach like she was going to be sick.

"I'll just . . ." She swallowed, pointed weakly down the passageway, and ran off.

Kat watched her go for a second, before stumbling over to the empty chair next to Jason's bed, collapsing in it gratefully.

"Oh my gods, I feel like I've just done a five hour workout," she groaned, flexing her bicep to see if she gained any muscle. It seemed like it, to be honest. "I haven't skipped arm or leg day today."

Piper, who seemed a little better from the last time Kat saw her, took her arm and stretched it toward her, running her fingers up and down her arm. "My strong hero," Piper teased.