The Demigod Files(14)

‘Did you see all the treasure in the Ant Hill?’ Beckendorf asked. ‘The magic weapons? The armour? That stuff could really help us.’

‘And the bracelets,’ Silena said. ‘And the necklaces.’

I shuddered, remembering the smell of those tunnels. ‘I think that’s an adventure for later. It would take an army of demigods even to get close to that treasure.’

‘Maybe,’ Beckendorf said. ‘But what a treasure…’

Silena studied the frozen dragon. ‘Charlie, that was the bravest thing I ever saw – you jumping on that dragon.’

Beckendorf swallowed. ‘Um… yeah. So… will you go to the fireworks with me?’

Silena’s face lit up. ‘Of course, you big dummy! I thought you’d never ask!’

Beckendorf suddenly looked a whole lot better. ‘Well let’s get back, then! I bet capture the flag is over.’

I had to go barefoot, because the acid had eaten completely through my shoe. When I kicked it off I realized the goo had soaked into my sock and turned my foot red and raw. I leaned against Annabeth and she helped me limp through the woods.

Beckendorf and Silena walked ahead of us, holding hands, and we gave them some space.

Watching them, with my arm around Annabeth for support, I felt pretty uncomfortable. I silently cursed Beckendorf for being so brave, and I don’t mean for facing the dragon. After three years, he’d finally got the courage to ask Silena Beauregard out. It wasn’t fair.

‘You know,’ Annabeth said as we struggled along, ‘it wasn’t the bravest thing I’ve ever seen.’

I blinked. Had she been reading my thoughts?

‘Um… what do you mean?’

Annabeth gripped my wrist as we stumbled through a shallow creek. ‘You stood up to the dragon so Beckendorf would have his chance to jump – now that was brave.’

‘Or pretty stupid.’

‘Percy, you’re a brave guy,’ she said. ‘Just take the compliment. I swear, is it so hard?’

We locked eyes. Our faces were, like, centimetres apart. My chest felt a little funny, like my heart was trying to do jumping jacks.

‘So…’ I said. ‘I guess Silena and Charlie are going to the fireworks together.’

‘I guess so,’ Annabeth agreed.

‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Um, about that –’

I don’t know what I would’ve said, but just then, three of Annabeth’s siblings from the Athena cabin burst out of the bushes with their swords drawn. When they saw us, they broke into grins.

‘Annabeth!’ one of them said. ‘Good job! Let’s get these two to jail.’

I stared at him. ‘The game’s not over?’

The Athena camper laughed. ‘Not yet… but soon. Now that we’ve captured you.’

‘Dude, come on,’ Beckendorf protested. ‘We got sidetracked. There was a dragon, and the whole Ant Hill was attacking us.’

‘Uh-huh,’ said another Athena guy, clearly unimpressed. ‘Annabeth, great job distracting them. Worked out perfectly. You want us to take them from here?’

Annabeth pulled away from me. I thought for sure she was going to give us a free walk back to the border, but she drew her dagger and pointed it at me with a smile.

‘Nah,’ she said. ‘Silena and I can get this. Come on, prisoners. Move it.’

I stared at her, stunned. ‘You planned this? You planned this whole thing just to keep us out of the game?’

‘Percy, seriously, how could I have planned it? The dragon, the ants – you think I could’ve figured all that out ahead of time?’

It didn’t seem likely, but this was Annabeth. There was no telling with her. Then she exchanged glances with Silena, and I could tell they were trying not to laugh.

‘You – you little –’ I started to say, but I couldn’t think of a name strong enough to call her.

I protested all the way to the jail, and so did Beckendorf. It was totally unfair to be treated like prisoners after all we’d been through.

But Annabeth just smiled and put us in jail. As she was heading back to the front line, she turned and winked. ‘See you at the fireworks?’

She didn’t even wait for my answer before darting off into the woods.

I looked at Beckendorf. ‘Did she just… ask me out?’

He shrugged, completely disgusted. ‘Who knows with girls? Give me a haywire dragon any day.’

So we sat together and waited while the girls won the game.

  Interview with
CONNOR and TRAVIS STOLL,
Sons of Hermes

What’s the best practical joke you’ve ever played on another camper?

Connor: The golden mango!

Travis: Oh, dude, that was awesome.

Connor: So anyway, we took this mango and spray painted it gold, right? We wrote: ‘For the hottest’ on it and left it in the Aphrodite cabin while they were at archery class. When they came back they started fighting over it, trying to figure out which of them was the hottest. It was so funny.

Travis: Gucci shoes were flying out the windows. The Aphrodite kids were ripping each other’s clothes and throwing lipstick and jewellery. It was like a rabid herd of wild Bratz.

Connor: Then they figured out what we’d done, and they tracked us down.