Daughter of Neptune, Book one

XXXIII

Leo's pov

I hoped the taxi could take us all the way to the top.

No such luck. The cab made lurching, grinding sounds as it climbed the mountain road, and halfway up we could the ranger's station closed, a chain blocking the way.

"Far as I can go," the cabbie said. "You sure about this? Gonna be a long walk back, and my car's acting funny. I can't wait for you."

"We're sure." I was the first one out. I had a bad feeling about what was wrong with the cab, and when I looked down I saw I was right. The wheels were sinking into the road like it was made of quicksand. Not fast—just enough to make the driver think he had a transmission problem or a bad axle—but I knew different.

The road was hard-packed dirt. No reason at all it should have been soft, but already my starting to sink. Gaea was messing with us.

While my friends got out, I paid the cabbie. I was generous—heck, why not? It was Aphrodite's money. Plus, I had a feeling I might never be coming off this mountain.

"Keep the change," I said. "And get out of here. Quick."

The drive didn't argue. Soon all we could see was his dust trail.

The view from the mountain was pretty amazing. The whole inland valley around Mount Diablo was a patchwork of towns—grids of tree-lined streets and nice middle-class suburbs, shops, and schools. All these normal people living normal lives—the kind I had never known.

"That's Concord," Tori said, pointing to the north. "Walnut Creek below us. To the south, Danville, past those hills. And that way..."

She pointed west, where a ridge of golden hills held back a layer of fog, like the rim of a bowl, then Jason jumped in. "That's the Berkeley Hills. The East Bay. Past that, San Francisco."

"Jason?" Piper touched his arm. "You remember something? You've been here?"

"Yes...no." He gave Piper an anguished look. "It just seems important."

Tori looked at the west with a longing look. Like the Berkeley Hills were calling her home.

"That's Titan land." Coach Hedge nodded toward the west. "Bad place, Jason. Trust me, this is as close to 'Frisco as we want to get."

But Tori and Jason looked toward the foggy basin with such longing that I felt uneasy. Why did they seem so connected with at place—a place Hedge said was evil, full of bad magic and old enemies? What if they came from here? Everyone kept hinting they were enemies, that their arrival at Camp Half-Blood was a dangerous mistake.

No, I thought. Ridiculous. Tori and Jason are our friends.

I tried to move my foot, but my heels were now completely embedded in the dirt.

"Hey, guys," I said. "Let's keep moving."

The others noticed the problem.

"Gaea is stronger here," Hedge grumbled. He popped his hooves free from his shoes, then handed them to me. "Keep those for me, Valdez. They're nice."

I snorted. "Yes, sir, Coach. Would you like them polished?"

"That's varsity thinking, Valdez." Hedge nodded approvingly. "But first, we'd better hike up this mountain while we still can."

"How do we know where the giant is?" Piper asked.

Jason pointed toward the Peak. Drifting across the summit was a plume of smoke. From a distance, I had thought it was a cloud, but it wasn't. Something was burning.