“Are you sure?” Mr. Strada frowned. “It would be no trouble for you to stay here a couple more days, at least.”
“Yeah.” I shook my head. “I need to check in with my mom’s friend. It slipped my mind, but she might know something about all… this.”
It felt wrong to lie to the face of someone who genuinely wanted to help me. Vasco Strada felt like the first person I’d met that I could actually trust to be a good teacher. I’d known the man for barely a day, but I could already tell he was an awesome dude.
But as cool as potentially learning holy kung fu sounded, I had a time limit.
As much as I didn’t want to trust Loki the Asshole, the fact was that he knew Mom was alive.
If he could figure that out, then there was no doubt he knew more. And the few things Mr. Strada had explained to me about the Church made it pretty clear I wasn’t getting help from there.
“I see…” Mr. Strada sighed. “Can you wait an hour, then? I’d loathe to let you leave with only the clothes on your back. I’ll arrange a few things for you, at the very least.”
A part of me wanted to refuse, but Mr. Strada’s pleading look stopped me before I could say no.
“Alright… an hour shouldn’t hurt.”
—I waved through the window as the train began to move. Mr. Strada waved back from the platform, standing there until the station started slipping away.
In the seat beside me was a backpack full of clothes, money, and even a fake passport. On top of that, I clutched the small knife he’d handed me for “protection.” The smell of incense wafted from the blade.
I’d never thought I’d ever own a magical holy knife.
Mr. Strada was a cool fucking dude.
Which made it all the worse that I’d had to lie to his face. I was pretty sure he knew it too, but he hadn’t called me out on it.
Hopefully, I’d be able to make it up to him someday. I did kind of want to learn holy kung fu.
“Awww…” a snide voice said. “How touching.”
A man with dirty blond hair and a Red Sox jersey lounged against the train seat across from me.
“I don’t have any change, sorry.” I made sure to exaggerate as I put a protective hand over my backpack.
Loki blinked.
I guess gods didn’t often get accused of looking like homeless guys.
Laughter filled the air as Loki covered his mouth and fell back against the train seat. There was something wrong with the way he laughed. It sounded like nails scraping against a chalkboard.
“Well, well,” Loki chuckled. “Glad to see you didn’t become a cowering little dog. This wouldn’t be half as fun.” He leaned forward. “Still, are you sure you should be mouthing off like that?”
A hand settled on my shoulder.
His grip was like a vice, and the scent of fire and ash filled the train car so thickly my head started to ache. That same overwhelming presence pressed down on me again.
It felt like the sky was falling, and death was waiting inches away.
But I didn’t flinch. I just stared at Loki’s scarred face.
He’d had plenty of chances to kill me already. I wasn’t going to fall for this lunchroom intimidation tactic.
Loki let go of my shoulder, and the world seemed to turn back to normal. The man stared at me for a long second before clapping his hands.
“Good! I’m glad we can share jokes like this.”
This guy was freaking crazy.
“Sure,” I said. “Can you tell me who took my mom now? I got on the train like you wanted.”
“Percy, Percy.” Loki waggled a finger at me. “There’s an order to these things, you know. You can’t just jump to the finish line. Aren’t there some more basic questions you should be asking?”
I frowned at the avoidance, but there were things I needed to know. Mr. Strada had given me the basic rundown and some details, but he’d flat-out admitted he hadn’t told me everything. For my own safety, apparently.
But screw safety. I needed answers.
“I’m a demigod.”
“Astounding observational skills, boy.”
I ignored the sarcasm. “So what god am I the child of?”
“Really?” Loki palmed his face. “Sometimes you show at least a hint of wit, and then the next moment, none at all.”
“Can I just get a straight answer for once?”
Loki rolled his eyes as he rested his chin on his palm. “The Earthshaker. The King of Atlantis. Lord of the Seas. Ring a bell?”
I frowned as I tried to remember the vague bits and pieces of Greek lore Mr. Brunner used to talk about after class. There was only one god of the seas, right?
“My dad is Poseid—”
A snap rang out, and suddenly, no sound came out of my mouth.
I blinked as I tried to speak and failed.
“Congratulations. You have at least the bare wit required for some basic deductions.” Loki lightly clapped his hands. “Still, you almost made quite the foolish mistake, so let this be my first lesson to you, Percy.”
Loki leaned forward, his eyes boring down on me.
“Never, ever say a god’s name out loud. For mortals, it is like screaming directly into their ear. For a demigod like you, it is even worse. I expect you to refrain from doing that in my presence again, or you’ll find my mood quite foul. Nod if you understand.”
I nodded.
“Perfect.” Loki snapped his fingers.
“French fries,” I said as a test.
“That’s the first thing on your mind?”
“I’m kind of hungry,” I admitted.
That earned an exasperated sigh from Loki.
He snapped his fingers once more, and a bag of potato chips popped into existence. Loki threw it toward me.
“Can all gods just do that?” I asked, genuinely curious as I opened the bag and ate some chips. “Wave their hands and make things happen?”
Sour cream and onion. Nice.
“Gods’ powers are many and varied. What we can and cannot do is largely limited by our domains. Gods vary in strength just as much as mortals do.” Loki shrugged. “There are no abilities all gods share, save for our immortality and divine forms. Though certain abilities are rather common among gods of a certain status.”
Oh.
That was good, I think?
If they could all just hand-wave everything, there was no way I’d ever be able to complete [Bringer of the Age of Man]. Although completing that herculean task was still somewhere in the borderline impossible zone, I’d take any wins I could get.
“So… that means a god could’ve done that weird trick that took my mom.” I frowned. “But if my dad is the Lord of the Seas, shouldn’t I get some protection or something?”
Loki snorted. “Your father is an Olympian.”
“So?” I asked, confused.
Not really listening to Mr. Brunner was biting me in the butt here.
“Ah, blissful ignorance.” Loki patted me on the shoulder. “Let me rephrase this, then. Do you think a father who hasn’t appeared or visited you once in your entire life cares enough to protect you?”
“...Point taken.” I clenched my fist.
I could feel anger bubbling in my chest, but there was one fact that stuck out to me.
“If he doesn’t care about us, then why’d they abduct my mom? Shouldn’t we be nobodies, then?”
“Who knows?” Loki just smirked.
God, I wanted to punch him in the face so bad.
“All your questions will be answered in due time.” Loki leaned back and interlaced his fingers. “Patience, Percy.”
“Or maybe I could get answers now.” I glared. “I’ll go back to that camp and screw this.”
“Right.” Loki softly chuckled. “Like that went so well for you last time.”
“...”
“I’m a fair and righteous god, Percy.” Loki gave me a sincere smile. “As long as you do as I ask, you will get what you desire.”
That smelled like bullshit.
But could I really risk going back?
I didn’t know what the camp was like, but what if it was even worse than this asshole? That wasn’t even counting the fact that I might not make it back to New York at all and end up as monster food instead.
If I ran into something like that drakon again, I couldn’t count on Mr. Strada coming to save me.
If I died, Mom was as good as gone too.
And I’d never be able to bring Grover back.
I slumped and took a deep breath.
“I want to be powerful.” I clenched my fist. “I want to save my mom.”
Loki’s grin grew dangerously wide. “You know, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
“What do you need me to do?”
My answer earned a delighted peal of laughter from Loki, who clapped madly.
“Magnificent! That’s the type of resolve I like to see!” He waved his hand, and a piece of paper appeared between his fingers. “Now… what do you know about Devils?”