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annabeth loaded us into the back of a vegas taxi.
"los angeles, please." she said.
the cabbie chewed his cigar and sized us up. "that's three hundred miles. for that, you gotta pay up front."
"you accept casino debit cards?" annabeth asked.
i smirked. i liked where she was going with this.
he shrugged. "some of 'em. same as credit cards. i gotta swipe 'em through first."
annabeth handed him her green lotuscash card.
he looked at it skeptically.
"swipe it," annabeth invited.
he did.
his meter machine started rattling. the lights flashed. finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.
that's when i decided not to burn my lotuscash card.
the cigar fell out of the driver's mouth. he looked back at us, his eyes wide. "where to in los angeles... uh, your highness?"
"the santa monica pier." annabeth sat up a little straighter. i could tell she liked the 'your highness' thing. i snickered. she glared daggers at me. "get us there fast, and you can keep the change."
maybe she shouldn't have told him that. the cab's speedometer never dipped below ninety-five the whole way through the mojave desert.
percy and i explained our dream to them. it was as if the hotel had mushed up my memories. i could remember that the invisible servant sounded familiar. i couldn't remember his voice, but i knew it was someone close to me. they called the voice something else. something other than 'my lord.'
"the silent one?" annabeth suggested. "the rich one? both of those are nicknames for hades."
