ENTRAPPED ₂

95

JASON GRACE WAS A HIDEOUS OLD MAN.

Truthfully, Madeleine didn't have a lot of experience with old people. Her mortal father was dead, and most of her friends that had living parents had parents that were rather young, like Sally Jackson. (Fucking hell, she missed Sally.) The oldest people Madeleine knew were thousand-year-old immortal deities, but they didn't typically take the shape of an older person.

All of this considered, Madeleine was a little put off by old people. This was how she felt while she watched a balding, wrinkled Jason Grace wheeze and creak up the hillside. He smelled like mothballs and chicken soup.

"I'm never going to be able to look at you the same way again," Madeleine told him sagely.

He wheezed in reply.

Piper was, of course, kinder than Madeleine. She smiled encouragingly at Jason. "Almost there. You're doing great."

Piper, Annabeth, and Madeleine had not, thankfully, gotten the old person treatment. They were disguised as lovely Greek serving maidens, each adorning a white sleeveless gown and laced sandals. Piper's mahogany hair was pinned up in a braided spiral. Silver bracelets decorated her arms. She resembled an ancient statue of her mom, Aphrodite, which Madeleine did not appreciate. She sort of hated Aphrodite. She liked Piper better when she wasn't dressed for slaughter.

Annabeth looked uncomfortable in her serving-maiden outfit. She kept hunching her shoulders to keep the dress from slipping. Her pinned-up freshly-bleached blonde bun had come undone in the back and her hair dangled like curly spider legs. Knowing her hatred of spiders, Madeleine decided not to mention that.

Madeleine herself wore similar silver bracelets, but she had insisted that they just braid her hair down her back, a style she had adopted from Zoe.

"Worst idea ever," Jason mumbled, leaning against a cedar tree and wiping his gleaming forehead. "Hazel's magic is too good. If I have to fight, I'll be useless."

"Maybe it'll wear off if you do something aggressive," Madeleine suggested.

"It won't come to that," Annabeth promised.

Madeleine was very impressed by Hazel's ability to manipulate the Mist. It was another stark reminder that Madeleine wasn't the only person that had changed in the last two weeks. Before Hazel, Thalia Grace had been the most powerful person, magically, that Madeleine knew. Now, Hazel could put Thalia to shame. Not that Madeleine would ever say that out loud.

"We infiltrate the palace," Annabeth said. "We get the information we need, and we get out."

Piper set down her amphora, the tall ceramic wine jar in which her sword was hidden. "We can rest for a second. Catch your breath, Jason."

Madeleine did not want to rest. She was feeling antsy and ready for battle, no matter what Annabeth said. But Jason had a strangely good read on Madeleine, and she didn't want to make him feel bad, so she made a big show of gazing up toward the summit of the hill.

Annabeth slung her own amphora off her shoulder. She too had a concealed sword; but even without a visible weapon, she looked deadly. Her stormy gray eyes scanned the surroundings, alert for any threat. If any dude asked Annabeth for a drink, Madeleine figured she was more likely to kick the guy in the balls. And good for her, honestly.

Jason was still breathing laboriously, poor guy. Madeleine would have felt bad for him if she hadn't still been drowning in her own self-pity.

Below them, Afales Bay glittered, the water so blue it might've been dyed with food coloring. A few hundred yards offshore, the Argo II rested at anchor. Its white sails looked no bigger than postage stamps, its ninety oars like toothpicks. Madeleine imagined their friends on deck following their progress, taking turns with Leo's spyglass, trying not to laugh as they watched Grandpa Jason hobble uphill. Madeleine couldn't help but smile at the idea.