Reconnected [Book 3]

5 - Forgiveness

Adelia was glaring at Leo so hard she thought her brain might explode due to his lack of awareness and her pounding head.

"One more time," she said. "Exactly what happened?"

Leo slumped against the mast. The beautiful new ship was in shambles. The aft crossbows were piles of kindling. The foresail was tattered. The satellite array that powered the onboard Internet and TV was blown to bits, which had really made Coach Hedge mad. Their bronze dragon figurehead, Festus, was coughing up smoke like he had a hairball, which Adelia guessed was not good.

He choked back a sob. "I don't know. It's fuzzy."

Adelia's eyes softened and said, "Look Leo, just try to remember." Everyone's eyes were on him and she felt bad, he had once admitted he thought she was scarier than the gods which made her decide she liked him and now she felt bad for being scary, he was starting to be like a little brother to her. Annabeth seemed the most angry and the big guy, Frank

She wasn't sure what to make of Frank. He looked like a baby sumo wrestler, though no one was stupid enough to say that aloud.

Annabeth crossed her arms. "You mean you don't remember?"

"I..." Leo looked like he was trying to swallow a marble. "I remember, but it's like I was watching myself do things. I couldn't control it."

Coach Hedge tapped his bat against the deck. In his gym clothes, with his cap pulled over his horns, he looked just like he used to at the Wilderness School, where he'd spent a year undercover as Jason, Piper, and Leo's P.E. teacher. The way the old satyr was glowering, Leo almost wondered if the coach was going to order him to do push-ups.

"Look, kid," Hedge said, "you blew up some stuff. You attacked some Romans. Awesome! Excellent! But did you have to knock out the satellite channels? I was right in the middle of watching a cage match."

"Coach," Annabeth said, "why don't you make sure all the fires are out?"

"But I already did that."

"Do it again." Adelia said, stepping forward and Coach gulped.

The satyr trudged off, muttering under his breath. Even Hedge wasn't crazy enough to defy Adelia.

She knelt next to Leo. Her caramel eyes were hard but she made sure some softness shone through. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders, Leo had told her her since he'd met Adelia at the Grand Canyon last winter, when she'd marched toward him with that Give me Percy Jackson or I'll kill you expression, Leo thought of her as the scariest person he'd ever met.

"Leo," she said calmly, "did Octavian trick you somehow? Did he frame you, or—"

"No." Leo could have lied and blamed that stupid Roman, but he obviously didn't want to make a bad situation worse. "The guy was a jerk, but he didn't fire on the camp. I did."

The new kid, Frank, scowled. "On purpose?"

"Lay off," Adelia said, turning to him.

"No!" Leo squeezed his eyes shut. "Well, yes...I mean, I didn't want to. But at the same time, I felt like I wanted to. Something was making me do it. There was this cold feeling inside me—"

"A cold feeling." Annabeth's tone changed. She sounded almost...scared.

"Yeah," Leo said. "Why?"

Behind him, the stairs creaked. Percy climbed up, his face grim. He threw a look to Adelia who just ignored him, helping Leo stand up.

Leo's heart stumbled. "Is Jason—?"

"He's resting," Annabeth said. "Piper's keeping an eye on him, but he should be fine."