ATLOP: Trial by Fire

We Have a Heart to Heart

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Come yell at me on tumblr: Percabeth4Life

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The War God was waiting for us in the diner parking lot. Along with the taste of blood and knives in my side there was a new sensation, burning shadows, faint but present.

My eyes narrowed.

"Well, well, well," he said. "You didn't do half bad."

He was smirking at us.

I pursed my lips but forced myself to follow my training from Triton.

"It was an interesting quest. Were our rating's good?" I held out his shield.

He laughed, "Through the roof."

He took the shield from me and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed forms to a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.

"See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner.

Studying it I noticed a faint buzz from it. I was willing to bet that he manipulated the drivers into parking there.

"That's your ride. It'll take you straight to L.A., well, with one quick stop in Vegas."

The eighteen-wheeler with a sign on the back. I gave a mental thank you to whoever designed the sign, in white on black, nice and easy to read. KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT, WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.

"Does it have air-conditioning," I muttered.

The heat out here was already killing me, that truck was gonna be miserable.

Ares snorted, "Sorry Cuz, you're outta luck there."

He snapped his fingers and the back door of the truck unlatched.

I blinked when I suddenly felt vague shifting sands, drifting across my skin like a faint breeze had stirred them.

"Here's the supplies I promised you."

He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to me.

It had a faint electric feel, barely noticeable.

I opened it, finding fresh clothes for all of us (did we really need leather pants though?), fifty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, two flashlights, and a lunch box that felt faintly chilly. I couldn't figure out where the magic in it was otherwise though.

I handed the bag to Grover, who slung it over his shoulder.

"We appreciate the reward for the quest. You also mentioned knowing something about my mom?" I questioned with a dip of my head, my fingers instinctively twisting into the proper motion of thanks before I realized that's an undersea thing, he probably wouldn't know it.

"Yeah," he said, gaze lingering on my hand. She's not dead."

My shoulders slumped, and I looked away, towards the diner.

I bit back a groan then when I saw the waitress who'd served us for dinner dragging a fry cook from the kitchen out to see us. He nodded and snapped a picture on his phone.

"What little cousin, you don't seem happy to hear that."

I tilted my head back to him, "My apologies, I already suspected that she was taken. The gold made me pretty convinced that she wasn't dead. It is nice to have confirmation now. Thank you for confirming it."