ENTRAPPED ₂

64

WHEN MADELEINE WAS FIRST INTRODUCED TO THE DEMIGOD WORLD, SHE HAD ALWAYS TRIED TO TALK BEFORE FIGHTING. She wanted to get to know her enemies, figure them out, find their weaknesses. It was almost a replica of Annabeth's methods. Madeleine was the daughter of Hermes, and she was an excellent manipulator.

This logic slowly faded. When Camp Half-Blood had been invaded through the Labyrinth, Madeleine had murdered many monsters and an enemy demigod to protect her friends. Without her, Castor and Lee both would have died, and that would have killed Madeleine. She learned then that it was easier not to talk.

Luke's death had been the final blow, the nail in the coffin. She had pleaded with him for so long, begged and bruised and bludgeoned her way into his soul. She had even been begging when he died, his knuckles wrapped around her wrist.

Ethan wasn't like that. Once, when Luke had been about to murder Madeleine, he had slammed his head into a concrete wall so hard Madeleine thought he'd killed him. Of the two of them, Ethan had always been more vicious, more willing to strike. He would hurt first and figure out why later. It was fight or flight, survival. It was the reason Ethan Nakamura had survived this long.

Since Hera had taken Madeleine away, their roles had reversed. Ethan, who had always been quiet, was louder now. He was brasher, flashier, more cunning. He didn't immediately decide to hurt someone with his knives.

Madeleine was the opposite. She defended without thinking. So being hunkered down on the ship Leo Valdez had built, disarmed and threatened, she wanted to scream.

A day ago, she had murdered Hercules. Now she was just a girl.

Ethan and Madeleine were excellent at balancing each other out.

"You know," Ethan said conversationally, "I'm really surprised you lot are all still alive."

There was a pause. The dolphin crew shifted uneasily. Chrysaor turned his golden mask onto Ethan, slow and unnerving.

"Why?" the golden warrior asked. "Because you have such great fighters on your team?" He threw back his head and laughed. His dolphin warriors chittered along with him.

"No," Ethan said calmly. "Just... I can't believe how tolerant our sponsor is being."

There was a second pause, this one a little colder than the first. Chrysaor tilted his head. "Your sponsor? You mean Hera? That knockoff queen of Olympus has no power here."

"I don't mean Hera," Ethan said, his voice a little angrier now. He hated Hera. "Think about it, Chrysaor. Who does your crew fear? Not you."

Madeleine felt a current running through the ship, understanding passing between them: Percy, Annabeth, Ethan, Madeleine. They were an old team, but they were the very best of them.

"Yeah," Percy said, smirking a little. "Take us away, if our sponsor will let you."

Chrysaor turned his golden mask back to Percy. "There is no sponsor, Percy Jackson. You have no defenses left. My men searched this ship. There is no one else."

Madeleine thought of Frank. There was an angle there, something they could play. Maybe she could even get Dionysus to help.

Percy raised his hands dramatically. "The god only appears when he wishes. But he is our leader. He runs our camp for demigods. Doesn't he, Annabeth?"

Annabeth was quick. "Yes!" She nodded enthusiastically. "Mr. D! The great Dionysus!"

A ripple of uneasiness passed through the dolphin-men. One dropped his sword.

"Stand fast!" Chrysaor bellowed. "There is no god on this ship. They are trying to scare you."

"You should be scared!" Percy looked at the pirate crew sympathetically. "Dionysus will be severely cranky with you for having delayed our voyage. He will punish all of us. Didn't you notice the girls falling into the wine god's madness?"