Would that I ──── Leo Valdez [2]

𝟔: 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

─────𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐲—which wasn't saying much, since his day had sucked. The horse's hooves turned the surface of the lake to salty mist. Leo put his hand against the horse's side and felt the muscles working like a well-oiled machine. For the first time, he understood why car engines were measured in horsepower. Arion was a four-legged Maserati.

Ahead of them lay an island—a line of sand so white, it might have been pure table salt. Behind that rose an expanse of grassy dunes and weathered boulders.

Leo sat behind Hazel, one arm around her waist. The close contact made him a little uncomfortable, but it was the only way he could stay on board (or whatever you called it with a horse). Behind him, Vincent sat with both arms circling Leo's waist. Unlike with Hazel and Leo, the two of them were pretty casual with close contact. 

Still, Leo couldn't help the way his heart skipped a beat every time Vincent touched him these days. He tried not to think about it. It was all stupid. Just a little crush that would go away. Leo really wanted it to go away. He couldn't handle the stolen glances and awkward contact any longer. 

He didn't want to ruin the best thing in his life— their friendship.

Leo decided to focus on Hazel.

Before they left, Percy had pulled him and Vincent aside to tell him Hazel's story. Percy made it sound like he was just doing them a favor, but there'd been an undertone like If you mess with my friend, I will personally feed you to a great white shark.

According to Percy, Hazel was a daughter of Pluto. She'd died in the 1940s and been brought back to life only a few months ago.

Leo found that hard to believe. Hazel seemed warm and very alive, not like the ghosts or the other reborn mortals Leo had tangled with.

She seemed good with people, too, unlike Leo, who was much more comfortable with machines. Living stuff, like horses and girls? He had no idea what made them work.

Arion thundered onto the beach. He stomped his hooves and whinnied triumphantly, like Coach Hedge yelling a battle cry.

Hazel, Vincent and Leo dismounted. Arion pawed the sand.

"He needs to eat," Hazel explained. "He likes gold, but—"

"Gold?" Vincent asked.

"He'll settle for grass. Go on, Arion. Thanks for the ride. I'll call you."

Just like that, the horse was gone—nothing left but a steaming trail across the lake.

"Fast horse," Leo said, "and expensive to feed."

"Not really," Hazel said. "Gold is easy for me."

Leo raised his eyebrows (yes he had to raise both because he couldn't raise one). "How is gold easy? Please tell me you're not related to King Midas. I don't like that guy."

Hazel pursed her lips, as if she regretted raising the subject. "Never mind."

That made Leo even more curious, but he decided it might be better not to press her. He knelt and cupped a handful of white sand. "Well... one problem solved, anyway. This is lime."

Hazel frowned. "The whole beach?"

"Yeah. See? The granules are perfectly round. It's not really sand. It's calcium carbonate." Leo pulled a Ziploc bag from his tool belt and dug his hand into the lime.