The Shadow Summoner | Book Three - PJO Universe

fifteen

PREPERATIONS

The Hunters of Artemis bedded down in the griffin roosts after setting trip wires and motion-sensor alarms.

Thalia, Emmie, and Josephine sat together at the kitchen table for a long while, conversing in hushed tones.

Ariana hoped they were discussing more Hunter secrets some deadly weapons they could use against Commodus's armies. Moon-ballistic missiles, perhaps. Or moon-napalm.

Meg hadn't bothered finding a guest room. She'd crashed on the nearest couch and was snoring away.

Ariana and Apollo stood nearby, not ready to go back to the room they shared with Leo Valdez or Calypso.

They watched the moon rise through the giant rose window above Josephine's workstation.

A voice at Apollo's shoulder said, "Not tired?"

Ariana turned, Jimmy stood next to him, a dapper apparition in brown. The moonlight gleamed copper on his scalp. His necklace of red and white beads peeked from beneath the collar of his dress shirt.

"Oh!" Apollo said. "Um...Nah." He leaned against the wall. Unfortunately, he missed the wall.

Jimmy was kind enough to pretend not to notice but Ariana smirked at him.

"You two should try to sleep," he rumbled. "The challenge you face tomorrow..." Worry lines creased his forehead. "I cannot imagine."

"Oh, I don't sleep much. I used to be a god, you know." Apollo informed him."And you? Are you a demigod?"

Jimmy grunted. "An interesting word. I would say I am e lo mìiràn- one of the others. I am also a graduate accounting student at Indiana University."

"But Sssssarah said you worked for Commodus?" Ariana recalled. "You're a gladiator?"

The edges of his mouth tugged downward. "Not a gladiator. I only fight on weekends for money. Mixed martial arts. Gidigbo and Dambe."

"I don't know what those are." Apollo spoke.

He chuckled. "Most people don't. They are Nigerian martial-art forms. The first, Gidigbo, is a wrestling style of my people, the Yoruba. The other is a Hausa sport, more violent, but I like it."

"I see." Apollo paused. "You fight for money?"

"To pay my tuition," Jimmy agreed. "I did not know what I was getting into with this emperor person."

"And yet you survived."Apollo noted. "You can see that the world is, uh, much stranger than most mortals realize. You, Jimmy, must have lots of igboyà."

His laughter was deep and rich. "Very good. My name is actually Olujime. For most Americans, Jimmy is easier."

"Well, Olujime," Ariana said, "I'm pleased to meet you. We are lucky to have such a defender."

"Mmm." Olujime nodded gravely. "If we survive tomorrow, perhaps the Waystation can use an accountant. A piece of real estate so complex... there are many tax implications."

"Uh-"

"I am joking," he offered. "My girlfriend says I joke too much."

"Uh. Your girlfriend."

"Yes."

"Will you excuse us?"

Apollo fled, forcing Ariana to follow him.

Exhausted but restless, the pair wandered the shifting corridors until they stumbled upon a small library.

It was the old-fashioned kind without books, just scrolls stacked in cubbies.