Burning Passion: A Leo Valdez Love Story

Chapter 10

"I know, I'm an idiot!" Leo moaned. "A brilliant idiot, but still an idiot."

{NAIA}

"Hey Naia, what's that?" Lou asked.

"What?" I snapped. Okay, I knew I shouldn't be short-tempered with her, but we had been walking for like four hours lugging our heavy backpacks around, and being the celebrity child that I was, it was not something I was used to. It wasn't something Lou'd do much either, in our old life, but I supposed Camp Half-Blood had toughened her up. It hadn't gotten to me yet, a fact that irritated me to no end.

And as for Leo... well, he wasn't exactly a rich kid. I was pretty sure Aislin had told me he'd ran from a lot of orphanages in his past, plus he had been at Camp for a while. He didn't seem too tired. You'd think that huge tool belt of his would wear him down, but he didn't seem to notice it at all.

"I saw something in those trees," she said, pointing to the woods along the path. "Something... or maybe, someone."

"It's probably just a hiker or a jogger or some animal. Don't worry," I reassured her.

She didn't look very reassured. "It looked big, though..."

I patted her on the back comfortingly. Or at least I hoped so.

"So, Leo," I called to him. He was a couple feet ahead of us. "Where do you think we'll find the entrance to this Labyrinth?"

I was pushing my feelings for him aside now, as hard as I could, for obvious reasons. I wasn't going to act awkward around him anymore.

I'd leave that to Lou.

"I literally have no idea, but it'll probably appear randomly in the air for us at some point. I'm pretty sure quests are supposed to be simple, right?"

"How are they simple?" I asked.

"Maybe that's not the best word for it. I'm a mechanic, not an intellect!" he reminded me.

"That much is evident," I muttered.

"I heard that!" he said.

"Enough, you two. I'm the one who's supposed to tell Leo around," Lou sniffed.

I laughed. "Sorry, Lou, you're right."

"Yup. Tell me what to do," Leo ordered, smiling teasingly.

Lou giggled, as she always did.

I quickened my pace to catch up with Leo, Lou at my heels.

"This is tiring." I shifted my backpack higher onto my shoulder.

"Yes, it is. Let's sing or something like that to pass the time!" Lou suggested.

"I can't sing," Leo objected.

"Whatever, Naia sings well enough for all of us. Show him, Naia!" Lou looked at me pointedly.

I started singing the first thing that came into my head: Ezetz by Gose. It had a fairly good beat, and I remembered I used to use it as an alarm for school, because it always woke me up.

"Naaaaiiiiiiaaaa," Lou whined. "I can't sing along to that, as I'm sure you're fully aware of."

"Sorry," I apologized. I switched to "Row, Row, Row, Your Boat".

Lou sang along with her high, average voice, and Leo just laughed at us. "I ain't singing with you," he told us.

"Fine, be boring," I replied cheerfully. I skipped along, linking elbows with Lou.