My Boyfriend is a Dead Roman Hero | Jason Grace

I Make a Deal

Julie snatches her backpack and tries to transform, but her reserves are pretty much depleted. Not even a tingle. She doesn't even have to look at Jason to communicate her panic before she's swept over his shoulder alongside a half asleep and startled Piper. Jason looks to Leo in fear.

"Take the girls and fly out of here!" Leo shouts, fidgeting with an open panel in Festus' neck.

"What about you?!" Jason yells over the roaring wind.

Leo waves them off impatiently. "I may be able to reboot Festus, but he's carrying too much weight!"

"Leo, no!" Piper shrieks. "If you can't reboot him-"

"I'll be fine! Just follow me to the ground. Now, go!"

Jason takes off without another word, and both sisters screech in surprise. He flies them just below Festus as the dragon soars on a crash course towards a mansion surrounded by snow-covered fields. The dragon isn't slowing down. Julie watches in horror.

"He's gonna crash!" She breathes out. "Jason, drop me, he's gonna crash!"

Jason shakes his head, but she can't see his face. "Are you crazy? I'm not dropping you."

"My instincts will figure it out, just go save Leo!"

"I'm not dropping you, Juliette, that's insane!"

Julie looks back at Festus in terror.

The bronze construct collides with the field in a firey blast.

Piper screams, and the rare curse escapes Jason. He kicks off the air and zooms to the ground. Leo's about thirty feet away from the wreckage, unconscious. Julie wriggles out of Jason's hold the moment his feet touch the ground and swings her backpack off to start treating him.

He's alive. No burns, obviously. His wrist is bruising. Looks like a sprain, not a break. He landed face first after rolling, but seems to have only a rapidly blackening eye to show for it. When he sputters and opens his eyes, his pupils match in diameter. No concussion.

"You are one lucky moron, Leo Valdez." hisses Juliette.

He blinks blearily at her. Then his eyes widen, and he shoots up. "Festus!"

"Lie down, you infuriating-"

"Where's Festus?!"

"Seriously, Leo," Jason pushes him gently back to the ground. "You could be hurt. Let Juliette-"

"Where is he?!" Leo snaps, pushing them off of him. He leaps to his feet and takes in the wreckage.

Julie watches his shoulders slump. The boy stumbles to the ruined pieces of his dragon and kneels beside Festus' weakly clicking, damaged head. A strangled sob escapes him.

"No," Leo shakes his head. "You can't go. You're the best thing I ever fixed."

Waves of grief crest and crash against Julie's shins. She allows it in, tugging on it as Leo falls to his knees and sobs over Festus' broken form. She tries to pull the pain from him, but her abilities feel shakey at best. Still, Julie hopes her efforts might give him any relief at all.

Leo looks to the sky, holding Festus' head tightly to his chest. "Take him back to the bunker, Dad, please...I've never asked you for anything."

Julie closes her eyes. New demigods always ask. It hurts to watch every time they inevitably go unheard.

Then, Piper gasps. Julie looks back at the wreckage just in time to watch it float away into the sky before their eyes. Her mouth drops open in shock.

"He-" She chokes. "He...answered you."