ENTRAPPED ₂

12

ETHAN DIDN'T RELAX UNTIL THEY WERE OUT OF CHICAGO, AND THE SUBURBS GAVE WAY TO SNOWY FIELDS, AND THE SUN BEGAN TO SET. There was a prickle on the back of his neck that began with Nico bleeding to death and ended with Madeleine sleeping forever.

Leo kept looking back, his eyes wild. Eventually, because it was making him feel on edge, Ethan snapped, "Knock it off."

"Yeah," Leo said. "Sorry." He turned to Festus and patted his head, mumbling words that Ethan did not care enough to catch.

"Leo." Piper patted Leo's shoulder. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah... not bad for a brainwashed zombie. Thanks for saving us back there, guys. If you hadn't talked me out of that spell―"

"Don't worry about it," Piper said.

"Worry about it," Ethan said. "If something like that happens again, you need to learn to control yourself." He looked back at Jason. "You too, Grace."

They flew in silence after that. Ethan could tell that something had fundamentally shifted with the group. Piper was leaning into Ethan more, a clear indication that she trusted him more than the other two. Jason was uncharacteristically silent. Leo's shoulders were tight, and he did not look at any of them.

If Ethan hadn't been so fucked up about his own issues, he would've tried to talk to them about it; but he was tired of being their coach. Secrets, secrets, secrets. Well, Ethan Nakamura could play that game.

"We're going to have to put down soon," Leo warned. "Couple more hours, maybe, to make sure Medea's not following us. I don't think Festus can fly much longer than that."

"Yeah," Piper agreed. "Coach Hedge probably wants to get out of his canary cage, too. Question is―where are we going?"

"The Bay Area," Leo said. "Didn't Medea say something about Oakland?"

Piper winced. She looked at Ethan, but he just stared back blankly. He couldn't make this decision for her.

"Piper's dad," Jason put in. "Something's happened to your dad, right? He got lured into some kind of trap. And Ethan, your girlfriend―"

"Don't talk about my girlfriend," Ethan snapped, his voice harsher than it had been since he had first gotten on the dragon. He was feeling angry and destructive and helpless.

Piper let out a shaky breath. "Look, Medea said you and Leo would both die in the Bay Area. And besides... even if we went there, the Bay Ares is huge! First we need to find Aeolus and drop off the storm spirits. Boreas said Aeolus was the only one who could tell us exactly where to go."

Leo grunted. "So how do we find Aeolus?"

Jason leaned forward. "You mean you don't see it?" He pointed ahead of them, but Ethan didn't see anything except clouds and the lights of a few small towns glowing in the dusk.

"What?" Leo asked.

"That... whatever it is," Jason said. "In the air."

"Are you hallucinating?" Ethan asked Jason coldly. "Maybe getting hit in the head did more damage than you thought."

Jason frowned, pursing his lips. "No, really. It's like a vapor trail. Except it's glowing."

"Could you be more specific?" Leo asked.

"It's really faint," Jason said, "but it's definitely there. We've been following it since Chicago, so I figured you saw it."

Leo shook his head. "Maybe Festus can sense it. You think Aeolus made it?"

"Well, it's a magic trail in the wind," Jason said. "Aeolus is the wind god. I think he knows we've got prisoners for him. He's telling us where to fly."