The Demigod Diaries (The Heroes of Olympus)(26)

I shook my head. I may not see you for a while, the god had said, almost like he was warning me about something to come.

“Let’s just enjoy tonight,” I said. “Hermes will be teleporting us back at midnight.”

“Time for a walk along the river,” Annabeth suggested. “And Percy…feel free to start planning our two-month anniversary.”

“Oh, gods.” I felt panicky at the thought, but also really good. I’d survived a month as Annabeth’s boyfriend, so I guess I hadn’t screwed things up too badly. In fact, I’d never been happier. If she saw a future for us—if she was still planning to be with me next month, then that was good enough for me.

“How about we go for that walk?” I pulled out the credit card Hermes had tucked in my pocket—a black metal Olympus Express—and set it on the table. “I want to explore Paris with a beautiful girl.”

Interview with George and Martha, Hermes's Snakes

It’s such an honor to speak with you. You’re quite famous, you know.

GEORGE: That’s right, buddy. We are VISs—very important snakes. Without us, Hermes’s staff would be nothing but a boring old branch.

MARTHA: Shhhh…he might hear you. Hermes, if you’re listening, we think you’re wonderful.

GEORGE: Yes, we’re very glad you caught us, Hermes. Please don’t stop feeding us.

What’s it like to work for Hermes?

MARTHA: We work with Hermes, dear. Not for.

GEORGE: Yeah, just because he caught us and made us part of his caduceus doesn’t mean he owns us. We’re his constant companions and he’d be bored without us. And he’d look quite silly without his caduceus, now, wouldn’t he?

What’s the best part of your job?

MARTHA: I like talking with the young demigods. So sweet, those children. It’s sad to see when they turn bad, though.…

GEORGE: That Kronos business was a mess, but let’s not talk about the sad stuff. Let’s talk about the fun stuff, like lasers and traveling the world with Hermes.

Yes, what do you do while Hermes is off delivering packages, acting as a patron to travelers and thieves, and being a messenger of the gods?

GEORGE: Well, it’s not like we’re useless, you know. What, you think we just hang around and sunbathe on the caduceus all day?

MARTHA: George, hush, you’re being rude.

GEORGE: But he should know that we’re quite indispensible.

MARTHA: What George means is that we do a lot for Hermes. First of all, we provide moral support to Hermes, and I’d like to think that our soothing presence helps young demigods when Hermes is delivering so-so news.

GEORGE: We do cooler stuff than that. Hermes can use the caduceus as a cattle prod, a laser, even a cell phone, and when he does, yours truly is the antennae.

MARTHA: And when he delivers packages and customers need to sign their receipts, I—

GEORGE: She’s the pen, I’m the notepad.

MARTHA: George, don’t interrupt.

GEORGE: All I’m saying is that Hermes couldn’t do his job without us!

Phone, notepad, pen—it sounds like you guys wear a lot of hats.

GEORGE: Did you say rats?

MARTHA: No, no, he said hats. Because we do a lot of different things, we wear a lot of different hats.

GEORGE: Rats are delicious.

MARTHA: Not rats with an R, HATS with an—

GEORGE: All this talk about rats is making me hungry. Let’s go get lunch.

Leo Valdez and the Quest for Buford

LEO BLAMED THE WINDEX. He should’ve known better. Now his entire project—two months of work—might literally blow up in his face.

He stormed around Bunker 9, cursing himself for being so stupid, while his friends tried to calm him down.

“It’s okay,” Jason said. “We’re here to help.”

“Just tell us what happened,” Piper urged.

Thank goodness they’d answered his distress call so quickly. Leo couldn’t turn to anyone else. Having his best friends at his side made him feel better, though he wasn’t sure they could stop the disaster.

Jason looked cool and confident as usual—all surfer-dude handsome with his blond hair and sky-blue eyes. The scar on his mouth and the sword at his side gave him a rugged appearance, like he could handle anything.

Piper stood next to him in her jeans and orange camp T-shirt.

Her long brown hair was braided on one side. Her dagger Katoptris gleamed at her belt. Despite the situation, her multicolored eyes sparkled like she was trying to suppress a smile. Now that Jason and she were officially together, Piper looked like that a lot.

Leo took a deep breath. “Okay, guys. This is serious. Buford’s gone. If we don’t get him back, this whole place is going to explode.”

Piper’s eyes lost some of that smiley sparkle. “Explode? Um…okay. Just calm down and tell us who Buford is.”

She probably didn’t do it on purpose, but Piper had this child-of-Aphrodite power called charmspeak that made her voice hard to ignore. Leo felt his muscles relaxing. His mind cleared a little.

“Fine,” he said. “Come here.”

He led them across the hangar floor, carefully skirting some of his more dangerous projects. In his two months at Camp Half-Blood, Leo had spent most of his time at Bunker 9. After all, he’d rediscovered the secret workshop. Now it was like a second home to him. But he knew his friends still felt uncomfortable here.