ENTRAPPED ₂

92

THEY SPENT AN HOUR IN THE SICKBAY. While Jason and Piper bandaged Ethan's ribs and fed him ambrosia, Madeleine drank some nectar and took a long, hot shower. She could see no visible injuries where the blood might have come from, but she thought she would worry about that later.

Once she emerged, Ethan went to shower, and Madeleine stood in the mirror, trying to decide where to cut her hair. It had grown long and scraggly in Tartarus, and she was sick of it.

"Here," Piper said, sidling up. "Let me." She gently took the hairbrush from Madeleine and began to brush the knots out of her hair with surprising ease. Without a word, Madeleine passed her the scissors, and Piper cut her hair to her shoulders.

"Thanks," Madeleine said quietly.

"You're welcome," Piper responded, putting the hairbrush and the scissors down on the bathroom counter. "Your boyfriend needs to shave. He looks kind of stupid with a mustache."

"Hey!" Ethan called from the shower. "I heard that!"

Piper grinned. She really did have a beautiful smile. "Ethan and I were just discussing my chances with Reyna. What do you think?"

Madeleine couldn't help it. She actually laughed. "Gods, Piper. I think she'd be stupid not to like you."

Once Percy, Annabeth, Ethan, and Madeleine had all showered, shaved, cut their hair, and been bandaged up, they met on the hillside where they had shadow-traveled this morning.

Leo's new mechanical hoist system had lowered the Athena Parthenos onto the hillside with surprising ease. Now the forty-foot-tall goddess gazed serenely over the River Acheron, her gold dress like molten metal in the sun.

"Incredible," Reyna admitted.

She was still red-eyed from crying. Soon after she'd landed on the Argo II, her pegasus Scipio had collapsed, overwhelmed by poisoned claw marks from a gryphon attack the night before. Reyna had put the horse out of his misery with her golden knife, turning the pegasus into dust that scattered in the sweet-smelling Greek air. Maybe not a bad end for a flying horse, but Reyna had lost a loyal friend. Madeleine figured, with a glance at Jason, that she'd given up too much in her life already.

The praetor circled the Athena Parthenos. "It looks newly made."

"Yeah," Leo said. "We brushed off the cobwebs, used a little Windex. It wasn't hard."

Jason smiled, his eyes crinkling as he wrapped an arm around Leo's waist. Madeleine was glad to see them happy, but she didn't miss the way Reyna pointedly looked away from Jason. She had the same look in her eyes that Nico had when he looked at Percy and Annabeth. Madeleine remembered how heartbroken Reyna had been when Madeleine had met her, and how Madeleine had been so prepared to hate Jason for causing her that distress.

The Argo II hovered just overhead. With Festus keeping watch for threats on the radar, the entire crew had decided to eat lunch on the hillside while they discussed what to do. After the last few weeks, Madeleine figured they'd earned a good meal together―really anything that wasn't fire water or drakon meat soup.

"Hey, Reyna," Annabeth called. "Have some food. Join us."

The praetor glanced over, her dark eyebrows furrowed, as if the invite didn't quite compute. Madeleine had never seen Reyna look so human or vulnerable. She wore a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved purple Camp Jupiter shirt and looked almost like a normal teenager―except for the knife at her belt and that guarded expression, like she was ready for an attack from any direction.

Madeleine noticed that she wasn't the only one watching Reyna. Piper's multicolored eyes were glued to the other girl.

"Alright," Reyna relented. They scooted over to make room for her in the circle. She sat cross-legged between Piper and Annabeth, picked up a cheese sandwich, and nibbled on the edge. Piper looked very pleased about this.