ENTRAPPED ₂

30

AS SOON AS THEY LEFT THE DOCK, MADELEINE'S HEAD STARTED TO BUZZ. She felt like she was high―though, she supposed, that wasn't very accurate. She couldn't remember what being high felt like, or if she'd ever been high in her life.

They passed the piers along the San Francisco Embarcadero. They sped by a pack of sea lions lounging on the docks, an old man sitting among them. From across the water, he pointed a bony finger at Percy and give him a scathing look.

"Did you see that?" Hazel asked.

Percy's face was red in the sunset. "Yeah. I've... Madeleine and I, I think we've been here before. I... I don't know. I think we were looking for my girlfriend."

"Annabeth," Frank said. "You mean, on your way to Camp Jupiter?"

Percy frowned. "No. Before that." He scanned the city like he was still looking for Annabeth as they passed under the Golden Gate Bridge and turned north.

Madeleine knew the feeling. She felt like she had a giant hand in her head, squeezing her brain. Images were flashing through her mind―a girl with bronze skin and dark hair, holding Madeleine's hand; a boy with blonde hair so pale it was gray, holding a knife to a different girl's throat: this girl was younger than the other one, with curly hair and darker skin. There was a girl with spiky black hair and bared teeth. The sound of bullets was ringing in Madeleine's ears.

"You okay?" Frank asked Hazel. "You look queasy."

She did look queasy; Madeleine couldn't believe she had failed to notice. Madeleine noticed everything. That was her thing. It was kill-or-be-killed, inches for miles.

"Seasickness," Hazel confessed. "I didn't think it would be this bad."

Frank pouted. He started digging in his pack. "I've got some nectar. And some crackers. Um, my grandmother says ginger helps... I don't have any of that, but―"

"It's okay." Hazel mustered a smile. "That's sweet of you, though."

Frank pulled out a saltine. It snapped in his big fingers. Cracker exploded everywhere.

Hazel laughed. "Gods, Frank... sorry. I shouldn't laugh."

"Uh, no problem," he said sheepishly. "Guess you don't want that one."

Percy was uncharacteristically silent. He kept his eyes fixed on the shoreline. As they passed a beach, he pointed inland, where a single mountain rose above the green hills. It was sickeningly, world-liltingly familiar. Madeleine had never been seasick in her life, but now she felt nausea crawling up her throat.

"That looks familiar," Percy said, a voice to her thoughts.

"Mount Tam," Frank said. "Kids at camp are always talking about it. Big battle happened on the summit, at the old Titan base."

Percy frowned. "Were either of you there?"

"No," Hazel said. "That was back in August, before I―um, before I got to camp. Jason told me about it. The legion destroyed the enemy's palace and about a million monsters. Jason had to battle Krios―hand-to-hand combat with a Titan, if you can imagine."

There was a knife in Madeleine's gut. Luke had golden eyes. Ethan was crumpled, a bleeding heap somewhere far away. No one was coming for her.

"I can imagine," Percy said darkly. He looked back at Madeleine, his eyes shadows.

Madeleine keeled over, head between her knees. She could smell eucalyptus. She felt the boat quaking, but it wasn't the boat. Her entire body was trembling.

A curly-haired satyr. Grover Underwood. Professor Chase, Annabeth Chase's dad. A coffee table. A war game. A future. Zoe Nightshade gripping Madeleine's hand under Professor Chase's table. Zoe Nightshade, who would be dead in less than two hours.