𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗔 𝗦𝗘𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗗 • 𝘗𝘑𝘖

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗘𝗡

"𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧 to know," Thalia said, looking at Bianca, "is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them."

Bianca shook her head. "I don't know. I just stabbed it and it went up in flames."

"Maybe there's something special about your knife," Percy said.

"It is the same as mine," Zoë said. "Celestial bronze, yes. But mine did not affect the warriors that way."

"Maybe you have to hit the skeleton in a certain spot," Percy tried again.

Bianca looked uncomfortable with everybody paying attention to her.

"Never mind," Zoë told her. "We will find the answer. In the meantime, we should plan our next move. When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas."

Percy and Grover blanched. They both looked panicked at the suggestion, and Jackie had just enough time to question that when Bianca said: "No! Not there!"

She looked really freaked out, like she'd just been dropped off the steep end of a roller coaster.

Zoë frowned. "Why?"

Bianca took a shaky breath. "I. . . I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were traveling. And then, I can't remember. . ."

Percy's expression got even more worried, and he leaned forward, like he could find answers in the campfire.

"Bianca," he said, green eyes dark in the dim light of the fire. "That hotel you stayed at. Was it possibly called the Lotus Hotel and Casino?"

Her eyes widened. "How could you know that?"

"Oh, great," Marielle scoffed, running a hand through her hair.

"Wait," Thalia said. "What is the Lotus Casino?"

"A couple of years ago," Percy said, "Grover, Annabeth and I got trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave. We stayed for about an hour. When we came out, five days had passed. It makes time speed up."

"No," Bianca said. "No, that's not possible."

But Jackie knew Percy would never lie about this. He'd walked into that casino, and walked back out five days later. It was terrifying, the fact that so much time had been lost in the blink of an eye. What had Biance missed?

"You said somebody came and got you out," Percy remembered.

"Yes."

"What did he look like? What did he say?"

"I. . . I don't remember. Please, I really don't want to talk about this."

Zoë sat forward, her eyebrows knitted with concern. "You said that Washington, D.C. had changed when you went back last summer. You didn't remember the subway being there."