heavy bones [jason grace]

13. the return of gleeson hedge

A screaming satyr comes into my line of sight. And not just any screaming satyr. A screaming satyr wielding a baseball bat. Gleeson Hedge.

"Show yourself!" he demands. I raise my hand weakly. He stomps over, stepping over a piece of Festus to get to me. "Whoa! Who are you?"

My throat is scratchy but I finally manage to find my voice. "Cordelia Yorkes. I'm friends with Jason, Piper, and Leo. Please, I need help."

Hedge stares at me as if trying to decide whether I'm telling the truth. Then he nods to himself and lowers himself down on his haunches. He presses his hands to the chunk of Festus weighing me down. "Alright, push in 3, 2, 1!"

On 1, we push together. The chunk of Festus creaks and lifts just enough for me to wiggle out a little bit. You know what? Fuck it. My friends trust Hedge, so I do too. Knowing I'm in safe hands, I summon the warmth again and blast the piece of Festus off of me. I hear it hit the ground again just before my vision goes black.

*

"Oh, thank the Gods."

I open my eyes to see Jason's face peering over me. It's so dumb, but seeing him instantly makes me smile. "Oh. Hey."

"I was starting to think you weren't going to wake up," he says softly, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear.

"Can't get rid of me that easily," I laugh. I sit up. They must've given me a fuck ton of nectar because I have no trouble moving my legs. I check our surroundings. We're in a shallow cave. Outside, the wind is howling and the snow is whirring like we're trapped in a snowglobe in the hands of an overenthusiastic kid. Leo's tending to a campfire. Hedge hovers by Piper, who, like Leo, is swaddled in blankets. Piper also looks like she's recently taken a dip, which, given the temperature outside, doesn't seem like the greatest idea.

"What happened to her?" I ask, settling back onto Jason's chest. He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me closer.

"Her and Leo got turned into gold by King Midas," Jason explains. "The rain fixed Leo, but we had to dunk her in the river."

I nod, then stiffen. "Wait, did you say King Midas?"

"Yeah, you missed a lot," Leo comments. He has this weird little smirk on his face that widens every time he looks at me and Jason. I roll my eyes. It's not like Jason and I are cuddling because we're in love or whatever. We're cuddling because it's fucking cold outside and Leo and Piper are hogging all the blankets.

A few minutes later, Piper wakes up. "Oh, God. He turned me to gold!"

"Hey, you're okay, now," I assure her as I lean over her. I pull her blankets tighter around her.

"Cordy?" she gasps. "We-We thought..." She trails off. None of us need her to finish her sentence to know where she was going with it. "L-L-Leo?"

"Present and un-gold-ified," Leo says. "I got the precious metal treatment too, but I came out of it much faster. Dunno why.  We had to dunk you in the river to get you back completely. Tried to dry you off, but...it's really, really cold."

Jason chimes in, "You've got hypothermia. We risked as much nectar as we could. Coach Hedge did a little nature magic—"

"Sports medicine," Hedge corrects. "Kind of a hobby of mine. Your breath might smell like wild mushrooms and Gatorade for a few days, but it'll pass. You probably won't die. Probably."

I curl up into Jason once again as Piper questions, "Thanks. How did you defeat Midas?"

Jason tells the story and I can't lie. I'm feeling incredibly attracted to him right now. Then I remember how, just before our fall, I friend-zoned him. I'm so fucking stupid.