The Mark of Janus (Book 2)

Chapter 8

Leo said we were "close" to the mile marker. We were not.

We had walked half a mile already, and I was dying. My lungs were not cooperating with the rest of my body, and my legs were burning. I was definitely slowing down the group, but in this heat, I didn't care.

We stopped by a billboard. I stared at the words on the sign, struggling to read them. I had always had trouble in school. I was never diagnosed, but Annabeth had told me that a lot of demigods had dyslexia.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this mean we have 8 more miles to go?" Percy stared at the sign.

"I can't walk 8 more miles." I gasped. "And I don't see any cars."

"We wouldn't want to hitchhike anyway." Jason shrugged.

"We've already spent too much time over land. We have to get off of Gaea's territory."

Jason bit his lip in thought. It took a great amount of self control to not grab him by the shirt and slam my lips into his. "I can call a ride." He suggested.

Percy nodded. "I have someone I can call too. Let's see who gets here first."

Piper rolled her eyes. I grinned. "How much are we betting?"

Jason whistled and thunder popped through the air. "Soon." He grinned.

Percy beamed, "Too late." In the distance, I could see a small black dot. As it got closer, I could see that it was a pegasus, trotting as it flew towards us.

"This is Blackjack." Percy grinned. "Blackjack, this is Piper and Jason." He grabbed me by the shoulders. "And my sister Pepper."

Blackjack whinnied. Percy sighed. "I would have told you if I knew. I forgot."

"You can talk to pegasi?" I asked.

"Yeah, you can't?"

"No. I thought you could just talk to sea creatures. Not fair. You got all the cool powers." I whined.

"You can make earthquakes." He stared at me.

"Still." I crossed my arms. "So, although Blackjack looks like an extremely strong, able bodied pegasus, I doubt that he can carry all four of us." I stated.

The air popper and Jason grinned. "Tempest." He stroked the horse's flank. "Long time no see."

Blackjack whinnied and Percy calmed him down. "Nice ride, Grace."

He shrugged. "I made friends with him during our fight at the wolf house. He's helped us out a couple of times, but he's mostly a free spirit."

Percy and Jason climbed on their respective steeds. I looked warily at Percy before climbing up behind Jason. "Sorry bro, but if both of us are flying through the air on the same horse then we will def be shot down by Zeus."

"He hates you too?" Percy beamed.

I snorted. "Oh yeah." I didn't bother to elaborate.

"Dude, you're right. I don't see the wine dude anywhere." Percy slid off of Blackjack's back.

"I beg your pardon?" A voice called out from the wheat field. I immediately uncapped my sword.

A man emerged from the crops. He wore a purple button down shirt and a hat with vines on it. He looked like a frat boy who had turned 40 and he had a beer belly that comes with years of drinking.

"Did someone call me 'the wine dude?'" He sighed, shaking his head. "It's Bacchus. Or Mr. Bacchus. Or Lord Bacchus. Sometimes it's even 'please-don't-kill-me Bacchus.'"