¹𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 ━ 𝗽. 𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝗼𝗻

049

⋆ ˚｡⋆ʚ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 ɞ⋆ ˚｡⋆
─── ❛ getting kidnapped ❜ ───

AT THE EDGE OF THE dump, they found a tow truck so old it might've been thrown away itself. but the engine started, and it had a full tank of gas, so they decided to borrow it.

thalia drove. she didn't seem as stunned as zoë or grover or isabella or percy.

"the skeletons are still out there," she reminded them. "we need to keep moving."

she navigated through the desert under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look at. zoë sat up front with thalia. grover, isabella, and percy sat in the pickup bed, leaning against the tow wench. the air was cool and dry, but the nice weather just seemed like an insult after losing bianca.

percy's hand closed around the little figurine that had cost her life. he still couldn't even tell what god it was supposed to be. nico would know.

oh, gods... what was he going to tell nico?

he wanted to believe that bianca was still alive somewhere. but percy had a bad feeling that she was gone for good.

isabella seemed to be feeling the same way; she knew percy was feeling bad. she took his hand on her own, and percy prayed to any god that his blush wouldn't be so noticeable.

"it should've been me," he said. "i should've gone into the giant."

"don't say that!" grover panicked. "it's bad enough annabeth is gone, and now bianca. do you think i could stand it if..." he sniffled. "do you think anybody else would be my best friend?"

"ah, grover..."

he wiped under his eyes with an oily cloth that left his face grimy like he had on war paint. "i'm... i'm okay."

but he wasn't okay. ever since the encounter in new mexico—whatever had happened when that wild wind blew through—he seemed really fragile, even more emotional than usual. isabella was afraid to talk to him about it because he might start bawling.

the tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. that was just as well because the road was dead-ended.

thalia got out and slammed the door. immediately, one of the tires blew. "great. what now?"

isabella scanned the horizon. there wasn't much to see. desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there. the canyon was the only thing interesting. the river itself wasn't very big—maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids—but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. the rock cliffs dropped away below them.

"there's a path," grover said. "we could get to the river."

isabella tried to see what he was talking about, and finally noticed a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face. "that's a goat path," she said.

"so?" he asked.

"the rest of us aren't goats." percy said.

"we can make it," grover said. "i think."

she thought about that. she had done cliffs before, but didn't like them. then she looked over at thalia and saw how pale she'd gotten. her problem with heights... she'd never be able to do it.