ENTRAPPED ₂

65

ETHAN HAD HAD A LOT OF AWFUL THINGS HAPPEN TO HIM. Madeleine's disappearance had been the absolute worst by a complete landslide.

When Ethan had met Madeleine, he had had nothing. After her, he had always had something, even when she wasn't around. He always knew how to find her. She always had a place for him.

Leaving her behind, unsure if she would be safe, was awful for him. Without Annabeth, he didn't think he would have had the ability.

Truthfully, Ethan was closer to Annabeth than most people. He could count the people he trusted on his fingers, and Annabeth was one of the very first. He had known her for years, and at first, they hadn't always gotten along. Particularly because of the way Ethan handled the Luke situation. He was brash, and cruel, and judgmental. For a few years, he had hated her.

And then Percy and Madeleine had been blown up in a volcano, and Ethan realized, in that moment, that Annabeth and Ethan would need each other. Forever.

He had been right. Here they were, years later, Ethan's arms around her waist, death looming just out of sight. Ethan hadn't ever really believed in soulmates or best friends or any of that bullshit, but then Madeleine had come along with the whole world in her palm.

If Ethan Nakamura had a best friend, it was Annabeth Chase. And he believed, very sincerely, that if Annabeth Chase had a best friend, it was the cruel boy sitting right behind her.

He didn't know how he had allowed her to get so close, but he had. He didn't regret it.

As the baby-blue scooter zipped through the streets of Rome, the goddess Rhea Silvia gave Annabeth and Ethan a running commentary on how the city had changed over the centuries.

"The Sublician Bridge was over there," she said, pointing to a bend in the Tiber. "You know, where Horatius and his two friends defended the city from an invading army? Now, there was a brave Roman!"

"And look, dear," Tiberinus added, "that's the place where Romulus and Remus washed ashore."

He seemed to be talking about a spot on the riverside where some ducks were making a nest out of torn-up plastic bags and candy wrappers.

"Ah, yes," Rhea Silvia sighed happily. "You were so kind to flood yourself and wash my babies ashore for the wolves to find."

"It was nothing," Tiberinus said.

Annabeth looked light-headed. Ethan sort of just wanted the gods to leave them alone. The less godly interaction he had, the better.

He knew Madeleine would have appreciated the history. Ethan wasn't like her. He was too busy coping with his own survival to think about the survival of others, hundreds and hundreds of years ago. He did his research, but that was only to keep himself moving.

Rhea Silvia pointed out a large modern apartment building. "That used to be a temple to Venus. Then it was a church. Then a palace. Then an apartment building. It burned down three times. Now it's an apartment building again. And that spot right there—"

"Please," Annabeth said. "You're making me dizzy."

Rhea Silvia laughed. "I'm sorry, dear. Layers upon layers of history here, but it's nothing compared to Greece. Athens was old when Rome was a collection of mud huts. You two will see, if you survive."

"Not helping," Annabeth muttered. Ethan seconded.

"Here we are," Tiberinus announced. He pulled over in front of a large marble building, the facade covered in city grime but still beautiful. Ornate carvings of Roman gods decorated the roofline. The massive entrance was barred with iron gates, heavily padlocked.