The Mark of Janus (Book 2)

Chapter 9

I woke up on the ship, being hoisted up by Piper. She frowned at me, and in an instant, Annabeth had her knife pointed at my throat.

"What promise was Gaea talking about?" She glared at me.

I held up my hands and tried to step back, bumping into the railing. "I'm not working for Gaea. I wouldn't betray you like that."

"I've been betrayed before." She looked like I had killed someone she loved.

My breath hitched and I felt my hands start to shake. Now wasn't really the best time to be riddled with anxiety, but the fact that one of my friends was holding a knife to my throat wasn't really something that would keep me calm.

"I can't tell you yet. Please, Annie. You have to believe me." To my right Jason and Percy started to wake up. I kept my eyes level with Annabeth's. "I still don't know the whole plan."

Jason stepped forward, pulling me away from Annabeth's knife. "What's going on?" He held me at arm's length, trying not to grimace.

"I can't tell you yet." I wiped my eyes. "But I'm not the bad guy."

Jason furrowed his eyebrows, taking his hands off of my shoulders. "Why are you keeping things from us?"

I pulled the primrose from behind my ear, twirling it in between my fingers.

Annabeth warily put down her knife. "It's not primrose season. That shouldn't even be bloomed. Where did you get it?"

I looked directly into her eyes. They were stormy grey and thoughtful. She sheathed her knife and backed up a couple of steps. "If this backfires in any way, against us, I'm going to kill you."

I wiped away my tears, taking a deep breath. "You won't have to." I whispered heading down to my room.

I changed into sweatpants and a tank top, trying to avoid anyone as I went to the bathroom. I turned on the shower and stood under the spray, fully clothed. I grabbed a golden drachma, hoping that I would get some sort of answer.

As steam rose up through the shower, I threw the coin into the spray.

I had never personally done this before, but I had heard about how to do it, so I wasn't really sure if it would work.

"Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me the garden of Persephone." I waited a while and when nothing happened, I sat on the floor, the tears that were falling down my face barely noticeable when compared to the stream of the shower.

I heard a knock on the door. "Pepper? We're gonna have a meeting in the mess hall."

I sighed, standing up again, turning the shower off.

I didn't bother ringing out my hair or clothes as I padded over to the door, opening it.

"Woah, Pepper. You're soaked. Is the shower broken?" Leo chuckled.

"It's fine." I pushed past him, walking to the mess hall.

I stood in the doorway for a couple of seconds, before grabbing a Dr. Pepper and sitting in my usual spot.

I was tired of the gods only partially telling me things. If I was going to be the one dying, I wanted to know how it was going to happen. If I couldn't even control my life, they should at least let me tell the people who care about me that I'm going to die.

Piper quickly explained everything that had happened in Topeka.

"Of course." Hazel smacked the table and Frank almost dropped his burrito. It would have been funny if I wasn't in such a bad mood. "That's what happened to Leo."

"So WWIII wasn't my fault. It was just an evil demon possessing me." Leo sounded relieved.

"But the Romans don't know that. Would they believe us?"

"We should tell Reyna. She would believe us." Jason nodded.

I frowned. "We could try, but Octavian has got a lot of power over the people. I'm not sure Reyna could control him."

Frank nodded. "She's right. Today while we were scouting we saw more Roman eagles. They were trying to close in. Octavian is already taking the war path."

"It was like they could smell us." Hazel frowned.

"They can." Jason nodded. "Roman eagles can smell demigods by their magical scent, even better than monsters. The ship may almost completely conceal us from most monsters, but not from them."

Leo sighed. "Great. I should have installed a smoke screen that would make us smell like a giant chicken nugget."

"What's a chicken nugget?" Hazel asked.

"Oh man," Leo grinned. "I forgot that you missed like the last 70 years. You have a lot to learn, my apprentice. A chicken nugget is--"

"It doesn't matter." Annabeth was looking directly at me. I was a little scared still. "The point is that we'll have a hard time explaining this to the Romans. Even if they believe us--"

"You're right. We should keep going. Once we cross the Atlantic we should be safe from the Legion." Jason stated grimly. It sucked because we had to run from his family. He had grown up with these kids.

"How do you know they won't follow us?" I stated simply.

"You heard Reyna talk about the ancient lands. They're too dangerous. Roman demigods have been forbidden to go for generations. Even Octavian couldn't get around that rule."

Frank frowned. "So if we do go there--"

"We'll be traitors. Any Roman demigod that finds us will kill us. Until we reach the Mare Nostrum. Then they'll just assume we've died." Jason looked glum.

Percy pointed at him with his slice of Pizza. "You, sir, are a ray of sunshine."

I frowned, cracking open my third can of Dr. Pepper. Or my fifth. I wasn't really paying attention.

Percy continued. "So, let's plan ahead. And make sure none of us die." He took a big bite of his pizza.

I felt sick to my stomach for a second, but I swallowed it down, downing another can of Dr. Pepper. I was going to die. I didn't know when, and I didn't know how, but either way I knew they were going to be disappointed.

I opened another can. I was having a rough time dealing with this, and I knew it wasn't going to get any easier.

"Cool it, Dr. Pepper." Leo pulled the can out of my hand. "This is your 7th can." He seemed upset at my behavior, but kind of proud of the nickname. "What's up with you lately?"

"I can't tell you yet. I'll tell you as soon as they'll let me." I frowned, standing. "I have to go talk to the coach." I lied. "Fill me in later." I snatched the can back from Leo, leaving the room.