The Half-Blood Project

21- Tunnels Of Love

Percy Jackson

The truck came to a rolling stop and I jolted awake. Was this a rest stop or where we in Denver, the supposed Mile-High-City? 

Annabeth shot to her feet and so did Grover, who had a can in his mouth. I don't understand how he finds them delicious, but I also have a recipe to make blue-cookies so I can't judge him.

"We have to free them." Grover tugged on the cages of the animals, he looked urgent, angry at what happened to those animals and how they're where treated. 

"They won't hurt us?" I said uncertainly, Grover nodded and I uncapped Riptide, the sword cutting through the chains and locks of the poor, mistreated animals. Before the drivers could get out of the truck, we burst through the doors and ran, the animals spilling out behind us. 

There were muffled screams, the roar of a free, happy lion, and some yelling in the background as we ran, ran from our free taxi ride to Denver. We stopped at a green park, it was early in the morning, empty, but morning traffic in the city wasn't bad either. Sitting on a bench I capped Riptide. Annabeth sat next to me. 

"That was one hell of a ride." She muttered as there were sirens in the background. I looked around, at my surroundings, tall skyscrapers, just a handful, touched the morning sky, art was sprayed onto brick walls of little restaurants and shops. The mountains, breathtaking, shot into the sky, snow-capped. I'd never seen anything like it. Grover looked around wistfully. 

"Haven't been this close to home in almost a year." He says and runs his hand in his curly mass of brown hair. I forgot he grew up in Colorado. 

"Where'd you grow up Grover?" 

"Estes Park, it's about two-ish hours from here, up the Big Thompson Canyon. I have two sisters up there." 

"Maybe after this, you can go home." 

Grover laughed. "Right. My mom would only be happy with me coming back if I had found Pan. Not chaperoning demigods across the country." 

That's sort of sad. 

"There's a taqueria over there, we need to eat." Annabeth pointed to the tiny little shop across the park, it looked closed, but maybe we could sneak inside and get some food, my stomach rumbled angrily at me. The food from the Lotus Hotel wasn't sitting right. Maybe it was magicked to make us sick? Hope not. 

We walked through the green, a rusted jungle-gym and a pair of swings that swung eerily in the breeze. The taqueria was indeed closed, it was old too, graffiti sprayed over on the sidewalls, most of them painted over but ugly words I couldn't repeat were everywhere. 

"Ah darn." Annabeth sighed and rested on the tree, looking tired despite sleeping through the long car ride here. I don't think she slept.

"We can just break it and make our tacos," I suggested but Annabeth shook her head. 

She opened her mouth to speak but a dark, heavy voice interrupted them. "Wouldn't do that if I were you, kid." I felt angry just hearing that voice and whipped my head around to find the source of it. 

Standing on the road, leaning on a Harley, a heavyset man with a bikers jacket, sunglasses, and looked to be one of those lone Texas bikers who was too prideful to join a biker gang. 

"Who are you?" My hand inched towards Riptide in my pocket, this guy was dangerous, I could smell it from several feet away. The biker just chuckled like I told a dirty joke he appreciated. Just looking at him made a surge of hot red anger run up my spine. Who was this guy? 

"Don't even recognize your dear cousin Perseus? I'm Ares, the god of war and you three are in big trouble."

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