Where You Go ― Jason Grace

xxv. ophelia and jason come home (kind of)

OPHELIA PROBABLY SHOULD have been terrified by the idea of Leo, an unlicensed and inexperienced teenage boy, flying a helicopter into battle, but honestly—it was one of the least terrifying things that had happened over the course of the last few days.

"Going okay?" Piper asked from the co-pilot's seat.

"Aces," Leo said. "So, what's the Wolf House?"

Jason knelt between their seats. "An abandoned mansion in Sonoma Valley. A demigod built it—Jack London."

"He an actor?" Leo asked.

"Writer," Piper said. "Adventure stuff, right? Call of the Wild? White Fang?"

Ophelia nodded. "He's a child of Mercury, like me. He traveled the world, even lived as a hobo for a while. Then he got rich from writing, bought a ranch in the country and decided to build this huge mansion—the Wolf House."

"Named that 'cause he wrote about wolves?" Leo guessed.

"Partially," Jason said. "But the site, and the reason he wrote about wolves—he was dropping hints about his personal experience. There're a lot of holes in his life story—how he was born, who his dad was, why he wandered around so much—stuff you can only explain if you know he was a demigod."

The bay slipped behind them, and the helicopter continued north. Ahead of them, yellow hills rolled out as far as the eye could see.

"So Jack London went to Camp Half-Blood," Leo guessed.

"No," Ophelia said. "He didn't."

"Okay, you're both freaking me out with the mysterious talk," Leo said. "Are you guys getting your memories back or what?"

"Pieces," Jason said, grimacing slightly to himself. "Just pieces. None of it good. The Wolf House is sacred ground."

"It's where London started his journey—where he found out he was a demigod," Ophelia said, unsure how she knew all of this but certain it was the truth. "That's why he went back. He thought he could live there, claim that land, but it wasn't meant for him. The Wolf House was cursed—it burned down a week before London and his wife were supposed to move in. A few years later, London died, and his ashes were buried on the site. His ghost haunts it to this day."

"So," Piper said, "how do you guys know all this?"

Jason looked at Ophelia, something electric passing between them. "We started our journeys there," he said. "It's a powerful place for demigods, a dangerous place. If Gaea can claim it, use its powers to entomb Hera on the solstice and raise Porphyrion—that might be enough to awaken the earth goddess fully."

It was quiet for a few moments as that sank in, then Leo said, "Thirty minutes out. If you want to get some rest, now's a good time."

Ophelia didn't need to be told twice. She leaned her head on Jason's shoulder and was out in seconds.

❖

After a blissfully dreamless nap, Ophelia woke to the sound of something—multiple somethings—hitting the helicopter's windshield.

"An ice storm?" Piper shouted over the engine and the wind. "Is it supposed to be this cold in Sonoma?"

Jason had been startled awake by the commotion as well. "We've got to be getting close."

Leo was too busy trying to steer the copter to respond. The aircraft shuddered in the icy wind and they began to lose altitude.

Below them, the ground was a dark quilt of trees and fog. The ridge of a hill loomed in front of them and Leo yanked the stick, just clearing the treetops.